California State Route 168
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Map of eastern California with SR 168 highlighted in red
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| Route information | ||||
| Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 468 | ||||
| Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
| Length: | 124.00 mi[1] (199.56 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1934 – present | |||
| Section 1 | ||||
| West end: |   SR 41 / SR 180 in Fresno |
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| East end: | Huntington Lake | |||
| Section 2 | ||||
| West end: | Lake Sabrina | |||
| Major junctions: |
 US 395 in Bishop |
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| East end: |  SR 266 at Oasis |
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| Highway system | ||||
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→State Route 168 is a state highway in California, USA, which is separated into three distinct segments, in part by the Sierra Nevada mountains. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.[3]
Route description
The westernmost segment of SR 168 begins in southeast Fresno at the interchange with State Route 180, where it is known as the Sierra Freeway until it becomes Tollhouse Road near the northeast edge of Clovis. Tollhouse Road is a 4-lane expressway from the end of the freeway to Shepherd Avenue, east of which the highway is mostly an undivided 2-lane road. This segment continues east up into the Sierra Nevada, ending at Huntington Lake along the western slope of the range.
Before the reconstruction of urban Route 168 as a freeway, the route started at SR 41 and Shaw Avenue in Fresno. SR 168 ran along Shaw Avenue, Clovis Avenue, Third Street (Clovis), and Tollhouse Road to the current end of the freeway.
SR 168 cannot be used to cross the Sierra Nevada. The closest crossings of the Sierra Nevada are SR 120 via Tioga Pass to the north and Sherman Pass (California) to the south. Both of these passes are accessible in warmer months only.
The middle segment of SR 168 has its western terminus at Lake Sabrina on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. This rural mountain road runs east to US Highway 395 in Bishop.
The easternmost segment of SR 168 begins in Big Pine at US 395, and climbs into the White Mountains through Westgard Pass, passing the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. From here it traverses Deep Springs Valley, home of Deep Springs College, before crossing into Fish Lake Valley, where the segment ends at State Route 266, just west of the Nevada Border.
History
Although conceived as a trans-Sierra highway connecting Fresno and Bishop the two segments were never connected. The rugged Sierra crest would have made construction very difficult and today two congressionally designated wilderness areas block the way.[4]
Major intersections
Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).[5] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [5][6][7] |
Exit [8] |
Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno FRE R0.29-65.84 |
Fresno | R0.29 | 1 | SR 41 (Yosemite Freeway) / SR 180 (Sequoia-Kings Canyon Freeway) – Lemoore, Paso Robles, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Kerman, Mendota |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east); west end of SR 168; SR 41 exit 128A; SR 180 east exit, west exit 60 | ||
| R0.99 | 1C | McKinley Avenue | Signed as exit 1 eastbound | ||||
| R2.02 | 2 | Shields Avenue | |||||
| R3.04 | 3 | Ashlan Avenue | |||||
| R4.26 | 4 | Shaw Avenue | Former SR 168; serves California State University, Fresno | ||||
| Clovis | R5.63 | 6 | Bullard Avenue | ||||
| R6.87 | 7 | Herndon Avenue | |||||
| R8.04 | 8 | Fowler Avenue | |||||
| R9.15 | 9 | Temperance Avenue | |||||
| East end of freeway | |||||||
| | 15.47 | Academy Avenue – Sanger, Kingsburg | |||||
| | T24.70 | Millerton Road – Friant | |||||
| Prather | T30.20 | Auberry Road – Millerton Lake | |||||
| Huntington Lake | 65.84 | Kaiser Pass Road – Mono Hot Springs, Edison Lake, Florence Lake | |||||
| Gap in route | |||||||
| Inyo INY R0.00-54.70 |
| R0.00 | Lake Sabrina | ||||
| Bishop | 18.31
115.40[N 1] |
US 395 north (Main Street) / East Line Street – Bridgeport, Reno |
West end of US 395 overlap; former US 6 north; East Line Street serves Eastern Sierra Regional Airport | ||||
| Big Pine | 100.83[N 1]
18.32 |
US 395 south / County Road – Big Pine, Independence, Los Angeles |
East end of US 395 overlap; former US 6 south | ||||
| | 20.81 | Death Valley Road – Saline Valley, Eureka Valley, Scotty's Castle | |||||
| Mono MNO 0.00-1.45 |
Oasis | 1.45 |  SR 266 to US 95 – Fish Lake Valley |
SR 266 north was former SR 168 east; east end of SR 168 | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ↑ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
- ↑ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
- ↑ CA Codes (shc:260-284)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
- ↑ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
- ↑ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-168 Eastbound and SR-168 Westbound, accessed February 2008
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to California State Route 168. |
