Interstate 680 (California)

I-680 begins at a junction with I-280 and US 101 (Bayshore Freeway), and heads northeast and north-northwest through the northeast part of that city. After passing SR 237 in Milpitas and SR 262 in Fremont, I-680 abruptly turns northeast (where a connection to a SR 238 freeway was planned) and enters a hilly area. The highway crosses over Mission Pass, also known as the Sunol Grade, and descends into the Sunol Valley, where it meets SR 84 near Sunol. From Sunol, I-680 again heads north-northwesterly through valleys, including the San Ramon Valley, along the Calaveras Fault. Junctions along this portion include I-580 in Dublin and SR 24 in Walnut Creek. Beyond the latter interchange, a three-way directional junction with the SR 24 freeway west to Oakland, I-680 heads north into Pleasant Hill, where SR 242 splits and I-680 again heads northwesterly. After junctioning with SR 4 in Martinez, the highway crosses the Carquinez Strait on the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, immediately meeting the east end of I-780 on the Benicia end. The remainder of I-680, from Benicia to I-80 at Cordelia, lies between a hilly area to the west and a marshy area (along the Suisun Bay and Cordelia Slough) to the east.^[3]

History

At Martinez, the Martinez-Benicia Ferry took automobiles across the Carquinez Strait to Benicia, where Route 7, one of the original state highways from the 1910 bond issue, led north and northeast past Cordelia towards Sacramento and Oregon.^[7] The portion north from Benicia to Cordelia became part of Route 74 in 1935, when Route 7 was realigned to the more direct American Canyon route that is now I-80.^[8] None of the aforementioned roads were given state sign route numbers in 1934, when that system was laid out,^[9] but by 1937 they had been numbered Sign Route 21.^[10] This route began at the intersection of Warm Springs Boulevard and Brown Road in Warm Springs, where Route 5 and Route 69 (SR 17) split, follewed Route 5 along Mission Boulevard to Mission San Jose (this part later became an overlap with SR 9), and then continued to US 40 (Route 7) at Cordelia. The routing was very close to the present I-680, following such roads as Pleasanton Sunol Road, San Ramon Valley Boulevard, Danville Boulevard, and Pacheco Boulevard.^[11]

The portion of SR 21 between Pleasant Hill and Martinez was finally added to the state highway system in 1949, as a branch of Route 75.^[12] The ferry approach in Benicia became a spur of Route 74 in 1947,^[13] and in 1953 it was transferred to Route 75. The same law, effective immediately as an urgency measure, authorized the Department of Public Works to acquire the ferry system, then operated by the city of Martinez, which was planning to shut it down.^[14] Ownership was transferred just after midnight on October 6, 1953.^[15]

The Bureau of Public Roads approved urban routes of the Interstate Highway System on September 15, 1955, including a loop around the San Francisco Bay, soon numbered I-280 and I-680. The east half (I-680) began at the interchange of US 101 north of downtown San Jose and followed the Nimitz Freeway (SR 17/Route 69, now I-880) to the split at Warm Springs (the present location of SR 262), SR 21 to Benicia, and Route 74 (no sign route number) to I-80 in Vallejo.^[16]^[17]^[18] The first piece of I-680 freeway built, other than the pre-existing Nimitz Freeway, was in the late 1950s, along the SR 24 overlap between North Main Street in Walnut Creek and Monument Boulevard in Pleasant Hill.^[19]^[20] A southerly extension, bypassing downtown Walnut Creek to South Main Street, opened on March 22, 1960, connecting with the SR 24 freeway to Oakland.^[21] In the next decade, the freeway was completed from Vallejo south to SR 238 at Mission San Jose, and the roadway north from Benicia to Cordelia, which became the only remaining piece of SR 21, was also upgraded to freeway standards.^[22]^[23]

In the 1964 renumbering, the legislative designation was changed to Route 680. SR 17 was officially moved to former Route 5 between San Jose and Warm Springs, which had not had a signed designation since the Nimitz Freeway (then I-680) was constructed,^[24] but this was instead marked as part of SR 238 (which replaced SR 9 north of Mission San Jose), and SR 17 remained signed along the Nimitz Freeway.^[25] This was very short-lived, as the Bureau of Public Roads approved a shift in the south end of I-680 in October 1964.^[17] The legislature changed the routes in 1965, swapping Routes 17 and 680 south of Warm Springs, and creating a new SR 262 on the short roadway at Warm Springs where they had overlapped to switch sides.^[26]^[27] However, until I-680 was completed in the early-to-mid 1970s,^[22] it remained signed along the Nimitz Freeway, and the old road between San Jose and Warm Springs continued to be marked as SR 238.^[23]^[28] One more change was made to the routing of I-680: in July 1973, the remainder of SR 21, from Benicia to Cordelia, was added to the Interstate Highway System. This became the new alignment of I-680, and the old route to Vallejo became I-780. The corresponding changes were made by the state legislature in 1976.^[29]

Names

The portion of this route from the Route 280/US101 junction to the Santa Clara/Alameda County line is named the Sinclair Freeway. Joseph P. Sinclair was District Engineer for the District 4 Division of Highways (now Caltrans) from 1952 to 1964. Named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 104, Chapt. 168 in 1967.

The portion of this route between Alcosta Boulevard and the intersection with I-580 is officially named the "Officer John Paul Monego Memorial Freeway." It was named after Dublin Police Officer John Paul Monego, who died on December 12, 1998, in the line of duty at the age of 33 years, while responding to a takeover robbery. Named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 60, enrolled August 18, 2000.

The portion of this route from Route 24 to Route 4 is historically part of "El Camino Sierra" (The Road to the Mountains).

The portion of this route from about the Livorna Road interchange in Walnut Creek/Alamo to the Alcosta Blvd. interchange in San Ramon appears to be named the "Donald D. Doyle Highway". While serving in the California Assembly from 1953 to 1958, Donald D. Doyle co-authored the Short-Doyle Mental Health Act and authored legislation creating the ferry boat transportation system between Benecia and Martinez. The signs indicating this were erected in 1998.

Of the above names, only the name Sinclair Freeway for its designated portion usually appears on maps, and the other portions on maps are always unnamed, referred to as simply I-680.

Exit list

References

^ ^a ^b California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
^ California Department of Transportation, Route 680 - Scenic Highway, accessed February 2008
^ Google Maps street maps and USGS topographic maps, accessed February 2008 via ACME Mapper
^ Rand McNally & Company, San Francisco and Vicinity, 1927
^ "An act...relating to...the addition of certain highways to the State system.", 1933 chapter 767, p. 2036: "State Highway Route 75 near Walnut Creek to State Highway Route 5 near Stockton via Antioch." "State Highway Route 75 near Walnut Creek to Livermore-San Jose Mission Road near Scotts Corners." "State Highway Route 5 near Mission San Jose to State Highway Route 5 near Livermore."
^ "An act to establish a Streets and Highways Code...", 1935 chapter 29, p. 281, 283: "Route 75 is from: (a) Oakland to Route 5 near Stockton via Walnut Creek and Antioch..." "Route 107 is from: (a) Route 75 near Walnut Creek to Route 108 near Scotts Corners..." "Route 108 is from Route 5 near Mission San Jose to Route 5 near Livermore."
^ Howe & Peters, Engineers' Report to California State Automobile Association Covering the Work of the California Highway Commission for the Period 1911-1920, pp. 11-16
^ "An act...relating to State highways.", 1935 chapter 274, p. 959, 281: "Route 74 is from a point on Route 8 near the Napa Y to Cordelia via Vallejo and Benicia."
^ California Highways and Public Works, State Routes will be Numbered and Marked with Distinctive Bear Signs, August 1934
^ Oakland Tribune, classified ads, August 15, 1937: "one acre on Highway 21, south of Walnut Creek"
^ United States Geological Survey, 1942 San Jose, 1940 Livermore, 1942 Mount Diablo, 1941 Concord, 1940 Carquinez Strait (scale 1:62500)
^ "An act...relating to state highway routes.", 1949 chapter 1467, p. 2555: "Route 75 is from:...(b) Route (a) above, north of Walnut Creek to Martinez..."
^ "An act to amend Section 374 of, and to add Sections 512 and 543 to, the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways.", 1947 (1st extraordinary session) chapter 13, p. 3812: "Route 74 is from:...(b) (a) above near M and East Second Street to East Fifth and C Streets, in Benicia."
^ "An act authorizing the acquisition by the Department of Public Works of the ferry system across Carquinez Straits between Benicia and Martinez...", 1953 chapter 1737, p. 3486-3488: "Route 75 is from:...(b) Route (a) above, north of Walnut Creek to a connection with Route 74 in Benicia." [Note that this law accidentally deleted portion (c) of Route 75; an urgency measure passed at the 1954 1st extraordinary session (chapter 8) corrected this error.]
^ San Mateo Times, State Set to Take Over Benicia Ferry, September 29, 1953
^ Bureau of Public Roads, General Location of National System of Interstate Highways, 1955: San Francisco
^ ^a ^b California Department of Transportation, State Highway Routes: Selected Information, 1994 with 1995 revisions, pp. 342, 348
^ H.M. Gousha Company, California, 1963
^ Oakland Tribune, Lafayette Bypass to Slash Travel Time for Commuters, September 9, 1956: "With another freeway link now under construction northward from Walnut Creek to the Monument..."
^ United States Geological Survey, Walnut Creek (scale 1:24000), 1959
^ Oakland Tribune, Ceremony Salutes New Freeway Link, March 23, 1960
^ ^a ^b ^c California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
^ ^a ^b H.M. Gousha Company, San Francisco, 1968
^ "An act...relating to routes on the state highway system.", 1963 chapter 385, p. 1173, 1189: "Route 17 is from: (a) Route 1 near Santa Cruz to Route 101 near Story Road. (b) Route 101 near San Jose to Route 680 near Warm Springs. (c) Route 680 near Warm Springs to Route 580 in Oakland..." "Route 680 is from Route 280 in San Jose to Route 80 in Vallejo passing near Warm Springs, Mission San Jose, Scotts Corners and Sunol, and via Walnut Creek and Benicia."
^ Oakland Tribune, Highway 9 Has a New Number, April 19, 1964
^ "An act...relating to state highways.", 1965 chapter 1371, p. 3268, 3269: "Route 262 is from Route 17 to Route 680 near Warm Springs." "Route 680 is from Route 101 near San Jose to Route 80 in Vallejo passing near Warm Springs, Mission San Jose, Scotts Corners and Sunol, and via Walnut Creek and Benicia."
^ "An act...relating to state highways.", 1965 chapter 1372, p. 3273: "Route 17 is from: (a) Route 1 near Santa Cruz to Route 80 in Oakland..."
^ Division of Highways, San Jose, 1968
^ "An act to amend...the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways.", 1976 chapter 1354, p. 6176, 6178: "Route 680 is from: (a) Route 101 near San Jose to Route 780 at Benicia passing near Warm Springs, Mission San Jose, Scotts Corners, and Sunol, and via Walnut Creek. (b) Route 780 at Benicia to Route 80 near Cordelia." "Route 780 is from Route 680 at Benicia to Route 80 in Vallejo."
^ I-680 Smart Lane
^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, I-680 Northbound and I-680 Southbound, accessed February 2008

Contents

Route description

History

Names

Exit list

References

External links