California State Route 58
State Route 58 is a major east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the Coast Ranges, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains, which border the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert. It runs between U.S. Route 101 near Santa Margarita and Interstate 15 in Barstow. It has junctions with Interstate 5 near Buttonwillow, State Route 99 in Bakersfield, State Route 202 in Tehachapi, State Route 14 near Mojave, and U.S. Route 395 at Kramer Junction. SR 58 also provides access to Edwards Air Force Base. At various points it is known as the Calf Canyon Highway, Carrisa Highway, Bakersfield-McKittrick Highway, Rosa Parks Highway, Rosedale Highway, Barstow-Bakersfield Highway, Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, and Mojave-Barstow Highway.
Route description
State Route 58 between Santa Margarita and Buttonwillow is a winding mountain road through a thinly populated area. From its westernmost terminus at US 101 near Santa Margarita, a few miles north of San Luis Obispo, SR 58 heads east along the former US 101 for one mile. SR 58 then heads east and up the winding mountain road, passing through a thinly populated area and an intersection with SR 229. Alternatives such as SR 46 to the north or SR 166 to the south are recommended, as much of this section of SR 58 is prohibited to truck traffic. However, this section of SR 58 does pass through the Carrizo Plain, which is known for its scenic beauty and geological features, including the San Andreas Fault. SR 58 then takes another winding road before joining with State Route 33 in the small town of McKittrick. SR 33 then splits at the north end of McKittrick before SR 58 then enters another, but brief winding road. SR 58 then proceeds northeast for several miles before changing to an east-west alignment and reaching Buttonwillow. A few miles later, SR 58 has an interchange with Interstate 5. Approximately east of I-5, SR 58 briefly joins SR 43 before continuing east and eventually reaching the Bakersfield city limits.State Route 58 joins State Route 99 for about through Bakersfield before splitting as a freeway and heading east. SR 58 briefly enters expressway status with two at-grade intersections in the Caliente area before resuming freeway status east of Caliente. SR 58 then reaches the Tehachapi city limits and traverses the Tehachapi Pass before dropping out of the Tehachapi Mountains into the Antelope Valley at the town of Mojave. Shortly after an interchange with State Route 14, SR 58 reverts to an expressway east of Mojave before resuming freeway status bypassing North Edwards, Edwards Air Force Base, Boron, and Kramer Junction. Approximately east of an interchange with U.S. Route 395, SR 58 resumes expressway status with two lanes in each direction until just before reaching the easternmost terminus at Interstate 15 in Barstow.
State Route 58 is a freeway from its south junction with SR 99 in Bakersfield to several miles east of Mojave, except for two at-grade intersections apart in the Caliente area. There is another at-grade intersection east of Mojave and west of the main Edwards AFB north gate exit where California City Boulevard intersects it. Other freeway segments are bypasses of Boron, Kramer Junction, and Barstow. Except for the Boron-Kramer Junction freeway bypass, SR 58 is primarily a four-lane expressway from just east of Kramer Junction up to the Barstow bypass segment.
State Route 58 takes the southernmost route through the Sierra Nevada and allows motorists to travel between Northern California and points to the east, such as Las Vegas and Interstate 40, without having to face the extreme traffic congestion of greater Los Angeles. State Route 58 and Interstate 80 are the only freeways to cross the Sierra Nevada. The route also offers an alternative to the often treacherous Donner Pass to truckers traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area to points eastward; prior to the construction of Interstate 80, the road was heavily used for this purpose.
SR 58 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and east of I-5 is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 58 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation. SR 58 has several names throughout its length, including the Blue Star Memorial Highway ; the Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, for the section from SR 184 to the Kern County/San Bernardino County Line; and the Rosa Parks Highway, for the section between SR 99 and SR 184. The Korean War Veterans name honors the approximately 8,120 veterans from Kern County, while the section named for Rosa Parks honors the civil rights activist. The portion of SR 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield is sometimes referred to as the Barstow–Bakersfield Highway.
History
State Route 58 did not exist as a California sign route until 1964, although previous to 1964, it was part of California Legislative Route 58. The other part of Legislative Route 58 is California's segment of Interstate 40; previous to 1964 it was a segment of US 66.Prior to 1964 the segment of State Route 58 between Bakersfield and Barstow was signed U.S. Route 466. Also at that time, the segment of SR 58 between State Route 33 at McKittrick and State Route 99 in Bakersfield was signed as State Route 178. Although it was proposed for signing as Route 178 in 1934, the segment of Legislative Route 58 between US 101 near Santa Margarita and State Route 33 at McKittrick was not signed prior to 1964.
Note that US 466 was co-signed with US 99, now State Route 99, between Bakersfield and Famoso Junction. Between Famoso and US 101 at Paso Robles, US 466 largely became SR 46.
The eastern terminus was originally at I-15 in northeastern Barstow. SR 58 was rerouted to I-15 in Barstow south of the I-40 interchange. The former eastern terminus is now known as "Old Highway 58."
Future
Extending I-40 westward to I-5: the missing link
California has long sought federal funds for an extension of Interstate 40 west of Barstow; any such extension would use the general path of SR 58, if not existing highway, at least as far west as Bakersfield, whose rapid growth has made it a significant generator of traffic in its own right. The desired highway is being built piecemeal as Caltrans has funds available, at least between Mojave and Barstow. Two at-grade intersections within of each other around mile 76, roughly halfway between Bakersfield and Mojave, would have to be either closed or upgraded to interchanges for the whole of SR 58 to be up to Interstate standards. Caltrans has built bypasses of Mojave and Barstow up to Interstate standards.In the Kramer Junction area, Caltrans planned to realign and widen a 13.3-mile segment of State Route 58 from 0.4 miles west of the Kern/San Bernardino County line to a point approximately 7.5 miles east of Kramer Junction from a two-lane conventional highway to a four-lane expressway, and construct an interchange at the SR 58/US 395 junction to replace the then at-grade junction of SR 58 and US 395 in Kramer Junction. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Kramer Junction Expressway was held on January 19, 2018. The bypass was opened to traffic on October 24, 2019.
In western Bakersfield, the Westside Parkway, a freeway running from the intersection of Heath Road and Stockdale Highway east to Truxtun Avenue, was completed on April 15, 2015, with interchanges in between at Allen Road, Calloway Drive, Coffee Road, and Mohawk Street. Opening in stages since 2013, the road is currently under the jurisdiction of the city of Bakersfield. As part of the Centennial Corridor project, Caltrans is building an eastern extension of the Westside Parkway to the current junction of highways 58 and 99 at the West Bakersfield Interchange, but construction has been controversial since it displaced dozens of homes and businesses; by September 2017, all but a few buildings in the path had been demolished. Once the connection to Highway 99 is completed, Highway 58 will then be rerouted onto Stockdale Highway and the Westside Parkway, with later plans to upgrade Stockdale Highway from Heath Road west to Interstate 5 as a freeway.
The San Luis Obispo Planning Commission is considering a permit application for the California Valley Solar Ranch and has released a Draft Environmental Impact Report with a public comment period closure date November 1, 2010. Among the points raised in the DEIR is the aesthetic impact on the viewshed which would be particularly troublesome if large industrial scale arrays of solar panels are placed north of Route 58 in the section of road just east of Soda Lake Road.