State Route 163 (SR 163), or the Cabrillo Freeway, is a state highway in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. The stretch of the former

US 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395), also known as U.S. Highway 395, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that traverses the inland areas of the western states of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. It travels for over from a junctio ...

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

runs from

downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...

just south of an interchange with

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

(I-5), extending north through historic Balboa Park and various neighborhoods of San Diego to an interchange with

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...

in the neighborhood of Miramar. The freeway is named after

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (; 1497 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore presen ...

, the first European to navigate the coast of present-day

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The historic section of freeway through Balboa Park south of I-8 was the first freeway in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

and one of the first in California. Prior to 1964, this was the southernmost section of U.S. Route 395 (US 395), which was truncated to Hesperia when it was replaced by I-15. This section is also designated as a State Scenic Highway.

Route description

SR 163 begins in

at an at-grade intersection with A Street and 11th Avenue. Shortly after, the freeway has an interchange with I-5 before entering Balboa Park. This section of SR 163 is built to

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

standards, featuring a wide, grassy

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

with trees, four through traffic lanes, and several very sharp curves, also passing under the Cabrillo Bridge. Shortly after leaving Balboa Park, SR 163 has an interchange with I-8 in

Mission Valley Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the City of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Mi ...

. North of this interchange, SR 163 becomes a modern, Interstate-standard, eight-lane freeway. Continuing north, the freeway climbs uphill from Mission Valley to Linda Vista, where it has a partial interchange with I-805; traffic northbound on one freeway can only transfer only onto northbound of the other and southbound traffic can only transfer onto southbound direction of the other freeway. In

Kearny Mesa Kearny Mesa is a community in the central part of San Diego, California. It is bounded by State Route 52 to the north, Interstate 805 to the west, Aero Drive to the south, and Interstate 15 to the east. Adjacent communities include Serra Mesa, ...

, the freeway has a partial interchange with SR 52, one of the biggest bottlenecks in

. The freeway then heads north to and merges with

near Miramar, where the southern terminus of the high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes of I-15 are located. Ramps were built to allow traffic on SR 163 to enter and exit the express lanes of I-15. SR 163 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both state highways and federal highways in California. It was defined by Article 2 (comme ...

and 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 The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. SR 163 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, and is designated as a scenic highway in Balboa Park by the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

(Caltrans), meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.

History

The southernmost portion of the highway, running through Balboa Park, began construction in 1942 and opened in 1948 as part of US 395; it was the first freeway in

and one of the first in California. The Cabrillo Freeway was also part of US 80 from the late 1940s until 1964. This stretch of road has been called one of America's most beautiful parkways, and was designated a California Historic Parkway in 2002. On May 17, 1995, former US soldier and plumber Shawn Nelson stole a tank from the National Guard armory and went on a destructive rampage throughout

. Driving onto SR 163, the tank was eventually disabled when it became stuck on a

traffic barrier Traffic barriers (known in North America as guardrails or guard rails, in Britain as crash barriers, and in auto racing as Armco barriers AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them from co ...

, where Nelson was shot and killed by San Diego police.

Exit list

References

External links

State Route 163
from California @ AARoads.com

from California Highways {{Balboa Park

163 Year 163 ( CLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laelianus and Pastor (or, less frequently, year 916 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 163 for this y ...

State Route 163

Balboa Park (San Diego) Transportation in San Diego U.S. Route 80 U.S. Route 395

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links