State Route 198 (California)

State Route 198 (SR 198) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from U.S. Route 101 (US 101) south of King City to Sequoia National Park. It connects the California Central Coast to the mid– Central Valley through Hanford and Visalia, although the most developed portion is in the Central Valley itself. SR 198 intersects the major north–south routes in the Central Valley, including Interstate 5 (I-5), SR 33, and SR 99.

The highway that would become SR 198 was approved for construction in the 1910s through three bond issues, and was added to the state highway system in 1934. Parts of the highway were upgraded to freeway during the 1960s. Another portion was converted to an expressway in between Hanford and Visalia, and was completed in late 2012.

Route description

The road begins at a remote interchange with US 101 south of King City in the Salinas River Valley. Leaving US 101, SR 198 passes through the Priest Valley, climbs the Diablo Range as a two-lane road and crosses over an unnamed pass. It then descends along Warthan Canyon to the town of Coalinga in the agricultural Central Valley, where it briefly runs concurrently with SR 33 and crosses the Anticline Ridge. On both sides of Coalinga the road passes through the enormous Coalinga Oil Field.

SR 198 then intersects Interstate 5 (I-5) in Fresno County near the Harris Ranch Airport before becoming a freeway west of Lemoore. The landscape becomes a bit less rural as it goes through Hanford and passes near the Hanford Municipal Airport, where it continues as a four-lane expressway from the intersection with SR 43 until SR 198 encounters a freeway-to-freeway interchange with SR 99 as it enters Visalia, the largest city it passes through, and goes by the Visalia Municipal Airport. It remains a freeway until east of Visalia, intersecting SR 65 and passing by College of the Sequoias. SR 198 starts to climb the forested Sierra Nevada and ends at the Sequoia National Park boundary, near Lake Kaweah, where the road continues through the park as the Generals Highway. This is one of the main routes providing access to Sequoia National Park, the other being SR 180 to the north.

SR 198 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 198 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.

History

All of SR 198 was added to the state highway system in the three bond issues floated to pay for the construction of the system. The first bond issue, approved by the state's voters in 1910, included the road from Visalia west to Hanford, connecting the two county seats with the central north–south highway (Route 4, now SR 99). As part of the 1916 bond issue, the route was extended west from Hanford through Coalinga to the coast trunk highway ( Route 2, now US 101) near San Lucas, and assigned it the Route 10 designation. The third bond issue, passed in 1919, included a further extension east from Visalia to Sequoia National Park. The entire length of Route 10 was marked as Sign Route 198 in 1934. This number was adopted legislatively in the 1964 renumbering. The portion east of Interstate 5 near Coalinga was added to the California Freeway and Expressway System in 1959, and parts of it have been built as such.

As early as 1938, Visalia identified the need for a highway through the city. Due to congestion along SR 198 through Visalia, the California Highway Commission announced in June 1950 plans to convert Mineral King Avenue into a limited-access freeway. After objection from the Visalia city council over the width of the right-of-way, the state temporarily halted its plans. In December 1950, the California Highway Commission condemned a Safeway store under construction in the proposed right-of-way, signaling that the state was continuing with its plans despite the city's objections. Over the next few years, the state continued acquiring property in the city. By 1956, the condemnations had affected roughly 180 people. In October 1956, the California legislature approved $1.1 million toward building a four-lane divided highway way along SR 198, beginning with a portion connecting SR 99 with downtown Visalia. The legislature also approved funding toward acquiring the right of way for extending the highway east of Visalia toward Farmersville. The projected cost in 1958 of the entire freeway east of Visalia was $13 million, and was scheduled to be completed by 1964. As construction of the new highway began, Visalia residents protested the removal of oak trees for the project; as a result, the plans were adjusted to avoid cutting down the trees. On May 29, 1958, the first portion of the freeway opened.

In May 1959, the California Division of Highways announced a plan to rebuild of SR 198 in eastern Tulare County; the older roadway would be submerged under the Terminus Dam, which was later finished in 1962. In July 1959, the state announced plans to build a freeway through Hanford. Later that year in November, state officials announced plans that a portion of the SR 198 freeway in Visalia would be buried in a trench from Mooney Avenue to Ben Maddox Way, eliminating the need to construct overpasses. In November 1960, the California legislature authorized $3.4 million toward obtaining right-of-way in both Visalia and Hanford. The relocated roadway around Terminus Dam opened in January 1961. Also that month, the construction of the freeway east of Visalia to Road 192 was approved, with the remainder of the freeway unplanned at that time as contingent on the routing of SR 65. The latter road was originally planned as a freeway along the eastern side of the county, a project that was ultimately canceled. In February 1962, a large rockslide near the Terminus Dam forced drivers to temporarily use the old route, which was not removed after its relocation. In November 1962, California awarded the $1.95 million construction contract to finish the freeway through Visalia. In June 1965, the new freeway from Lemoore to Hanford opened, which was later extended through Hanford in 1967. In July 1965, the new freeway through Visalia opened.

The California Division of Highways unveiled plans in September 1969 to rebuild the SR 198 interchange with SR 99. CALTRANS approved the $8.9 million project in 1975, which was completed in 1977. Ahead of the completion in 1972, a portion of SR 198 was expanded to four lanes from the 99 interchange, west to Road 68.

Construction began in November 2009 on a project to widen a two-lane, section of SR 198 between SR 43 and SR 99 into a four-lane expressway. The $60 million project was completed in December 2012.

Future

The Kings County Association of Governments has plans to improve the state highways within the county. Developers are interested in building distribution warehouses in Kings County because of its strategic location midway between the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, but they are currently turned off by the lack of freeway access. For SR 198, the plan is to extend the freeway segment from Naval Air Station Lemoore to I-5. However, Kings County voters have shown little interest in passing any transportation taxes to fund these projects.

Major intersections

See also

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References

External links

California @ AARoads.com - State Route 198



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Streets in Visalia, California
Transportation in Visalia, California
U.S. Route 99