State Route 75 (California)
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State Route 75 (SR 75) is a north-south
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
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 ...
in the U.S. state of
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 ...
. It is a loop route of
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) that begins near
Imperial Beach Imperial Beach is a beach city in San Diego County, California, United States, with a population of 26,137 as of the 2020 census. It is in the South Bay area of San Diego County, south of downtown San Diego and northwest of downtown Tiju ...
, heading west on Palm Avenue. The route continues north along the Silver Strand, a thin strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and
San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
, through Silver Strand State Beach. SR 75 then passes through the city of
Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...
as Orange Avenue and continues onto the San Diego–Coronado Bay Bridge, which traverses the bay, before joining back with I-5 near downtown
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 ...
. The Silver Strand Highway was constructed and open to the public by 1924. What would become SR 75 was added to the state highway system in 1933, and designated Legislative Route 199 in 1935. SR 75 was not officially designated until the 1964 state highway renumbering. The Coronado Bay Bridge opened in 1969, and provided a direct connection between San Diego and Coronado. Since then, various proposals have taken place to relieve commuter traffic between San Diego and
Naval Air Station North Island Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...
that traverses the city of Coronado. However, none of these proposals have gained support, including an attempt in 2010.


Route description

SR 75 begins as Palm Avenue at I-5 in the Nestor neighborhood of
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 ...
, heading westbound from the Southland Plaza shopping center. The route travels between the communities of
Palm City Palm City is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 25,883 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Palm City i ...
and Nestor before entering the city limits of
Imperial Beach Imperial Beach is a beach city in San Diego County, California, United States, with a population of 26,137 as of the 2020 census. It is in the South Bay area of San Diego County, south of downtown San Diego and northwest of downtown Tiju ...
. There, SR 75 curves to the north, becoming Silver Strand Boulevard and crossing into
Coronado Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) Coronado is a Spanish surname derived from the village of Cornado, near A Coruña, Galicia. People with the name * Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred t ...
. SR 75 continues onto the peninsula containing
Coronado Island Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 20,192 in 2020. Coronado ...
, separated from the mainland by
San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...
. The highway passes through the
Silver Strand Training Complex Silver Strand Training Complex (SSTC) is a training facility for U.S. Special Operations Forces. Located between Imperial Beach, California, and Silver Strand State Beach near San Diego. The area is part of Naval Base Coronado and commanded by th ...
and the South Bay Study Area before entering the Coronado Cays subdivision and paralleling Silver Strand State Beach. After this, SR 75 passes through the United States Naval Amphibious Base for a few miles before entering downtown Coronado. The highway becomes Orange Avenue and turns north-northeast as the main street through Coronado. SR 75 intersects SR 282 at the
one-way couplet A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...
of Third and Fourth Streets; SR 282 continues west on Third Street and returns to SR 75 on Fourth Street, while SR 75 continues east on Fourth Street and heads west towards Orange Avenue on Third Street. The one-way couplet is brief, and SR 75 becomes a divided highway before crossing the
Coronado Bridge Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) * Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred to simply as "Coronado" * Coronado Chávez (1807–1881), President of Honduras from 1845 to 1847 Places United S ...
. While on the bridge, SR 75 crosses into the city of San Diego again. Once on the mainland, SR 75 has a northbound exit to National Avenue and a southbound entrance from Cesar E. Chavez Parkway. Through traffic is directed onto I-5 south or north in Logan Heights, where SR 75 ends. SR 75 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. It is officially designated as a scenic route for nearly its entire length, from the Imperial Beach city limit to Avenida del Sol in Coronado, and the portion across the Coronado Bridge 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. SR 75 is also 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 ...
. In 2013, SR 75 had an
annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...
(AADT) of 66,000 on the Coronado Bridge (the highest AADT for the highway), and 16,000 between Rainbow Drive and 7th Street in Imperial Beach (the lowest AADT for the highway).


History


Construction

The intersection of Third Street and Orange Avenue dates back to at least 1890. The process of paving portions of Orange Avenue began in 1893, with an estimated cost of $50,000 (about $ in dollars); of
sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...
s were also included. The plan was to make the avenue "one of the most beautiful in Southern California." From Palm City to Imperial Beach, the road was paved by 1920. The Silver Strand Highway opened in 1924 during a festival at the Tent City summer resort in Coronado, and went from Coronado to Palm City. By 1928, all streets in the city of Coronado had been paved, which was expected to encourage people to visit Tent City. Plans to transfer the Silver Strand Highway to state maintenance were in place as early as November 1931, and were to take effect once Silver Strand State Park was completed and open. In 1933, the highway from the San Diego–Coronado Ferry to Route 2 (now I-5) was added to the state highway system, and was designated as Legislative Route 199 two years later. By that same year, Sign Route 75 was posted from
U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...
(US 101) in Palm City to the ferry landing. After a subsequent highway project around 1939, SR 75 passed through Tent City and, according to William Cecil, the city's public works director in 1998, "contributed to its demise." The first contract for widening the highway between Coronado and Coronado Heights was awarded in 1944, as this part of the road was "now too narrow and dilapidated to meet traffic requirements." The State Highway Commission allocated $25,000 (about $ in dollars) to install
traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...
s at the intersection of SR 75 and US 101 in March 1951. Plans to widen the road to four lanes were put on hold in July. By July 1952, it had been disclosed that some local businesses near Palm City had lodged opposition to the widening of the highway after $500,000 (about $ in dollars) had been allocated to the project. Following protests from local businessmen regarding the design of the median, the planned removal of access to intersecting streets, and the planned changes to street parking, Governor
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...
wrote to the San Diego Public Safety Committee, hoping to have the dispute resolved. In November, funds were allocated to acquire land for the construction in the 1953–1954 state budget. A year later, $430,000 (about $ in dollars) had been allocated to the widening project. A contract was given to the Daley Corporation to carry out the construction in 1955. The highway was to be widened to four lanes, and would add three
pedestrian crossing A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...
s. The completion of the widening project was announced on August 10, 1956. The final cost of the project was $850,000 (about $ in dollars), with money from the City of Coronado and the state.


Designation and bridge construction

Discussion regarding a bridge dates back to 1926; however, the Navy opposed the plan over concerns that an enemy could destroy the bridge and trap ships in the harbor. In 1955, the California Senate approved $200,000 (about $ in dollars) to conduct a study regarding a possible vehicular tunnel from San Diego to Coronado. Later, in June 1961, a proposal for an underwater tube along SR 75 was formally proposed, and would not have needed the approval of the residents of Coronado. Interviews of commuters were planned in August, to determine the traffic patterns along SR 75. The survey took place on October 2 along Silver Strand Boulevard. The SR 75 designation was originally established in 1963 with two segments: from I-5 to the ferry across San Diego Bay from Coronado to downtown, and from SR 125 to I-5. In 1967, the Coronado Bridge was scheduled to be added to the route once it was completed, and the portion from Fourth Street to the ferry was deemed as temporary until the bridge opened. Construction began in February. Coronado residents largely opposed the bridge, but Governor
Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...
"overrode their wishes" according to former city councilman Bob Odiorne, who also claimed that the opposition caused the city to lose opportunities to move the approaches to the bridge away from residential areas. Following attempts from Barbara Hutchinson, the vice president of the Kearny Mesa Town Council, to ask the Coronado and San Diego city councils to intervene in the construction, San Diego city attorney Edward Butler stated that the state had the ultimate authority to decide whether or not to build the bridge, and that the City of San Diego could not interfere. Before the bridge opened, in 1968, the changes originally proposed by the Legislature in 1967 were made to the law; the designation came into effect on February 21, 1969. The bridge eventually opened on August 3, 1969. By 1969, Palm Avenue was the primary commercial street in Imperial Beach, and was described by the ''
San Diego Union ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' as "a strip of large signs and businesses. It is not a 'downtown.'" Plans were under way to add an interchange at Silver Strand State Beach for the Coronado Cays development. In September, the City of Coronado added Orange Avenue south of Third Street as a truck route leading to the base. By May 1970, the part of SR 75 on the Coronado Bridge had been declared a scenic highway. President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
and Mexican president Díaz Ordaz used Orange Avenue as a
motorcade A motorcade, or autocade, is a procession of motor vehicles. Uses can include ceremonial processions for funerals or demonstrations, but can also be used to provide security while transporting a very important person. The American presidenti ...
route on September 3, 1970, en route to the
Hotel del Coronado The Hotel del Coronado, also known as The Del and Hotel Del, is a historic beachfront hotel in Coronado, California, just across San Diego Bay from San Diego. A rare surviving example of an American architectural genre—the wooden Victorian be ...
.


Proposals and renumbering

Proposition N was proposed in 1974 to attempt to resolve concerns regarding traffic in Coronado. The plan was to build another highway along the northern and eastern shore of Coronado Island, to bypass the busy residential and commercial districts and provide easy access to the Silver Strand from the western end of the bridge. The proposition asked voters whether the City Council should "actively pursue" the matter. Critics contended that the highway would block the view of San Diego Bay, and that the city would be unable to alter traffic patterns in the meantime. Coronado mayor Rolland McNeely opposed the proposal in early November 1974 as it would require approval from over thirty government agencies and would force the city to continue with building this road, although some declared it "impossible to build." The voters rejected this plan. The portion of SR 75 from Pomona Avenue in Coronado to Imperial Beach was also recommended to become a scenic highway in February 1974. Future improvements to the Imperial Beach – Coronado portion were cancelled in April. In 1976, the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
renumbered the portion from I-5 to SR 125 as SR 117, which later became SR 905. The change took effect at the beginning of 1977. The renumbering was to reduce confusion with the Coronado portion, according to Caltrans regional director Jacob Dekema; new signs were to be put into place shortly thereafter. The bridge and the resulting traffic continued to be a hotly debated issue in the early 1980s. A plan in 1981 to convert Fourth Street into an expressway leading to the naval station was strongly opposed by the public due to the required demolition of structures and a lack of evidence that the plan would succeed in reducing traffic; by this time, Third and Fourth streets had been converted into one-way streets between the bridge and the naval station. A major renovation of the bridge was scheduled for late 1992, which would include a movable barrier to prevent head-on collisions and necessary resurfacing of the roadway. Work was underway in January 1993 on the $4 million project (about $ in dollars), but it was behind the three-month schedule by 11 days due to rainfall and was expected to be completed by March. When the Coronado Bridge opened, a toll of 60 cents was charged to use the bridge. In 1980, the toll became $1.20, charged only in the westbound direction towards Coronado. A seventh toll booth was to be constructed in September 1987. The toll dropped to $1 in 1988. The bridge tolls ended at 10 p.m. on June 27, 2002, after the San Diego Association of Governments decided to stop collecting tolls; drivers paid a total of $197 million throughout the years. The speed limit was decreased to in October 2005 along Third and Fourth streets, after traffic increased by 20 percent following the removal of the toll. Traffic barriers along Third Street to block traffic from turning onto intersecting streets were removed in November 2004, following voter approval. The City of Coronado has attempted to have a tunnel built from the Coronado bridge to the San Diego Naval Base numerous times, and hired Ledford Enterprises to help with the lobbying process in 2002 and 2006. The city endorsed a proposed study in 2004 to determine possible alternatives to resolve the traffic issues, which included keeping the status quo. On June 8, 2010, Coronado voters decided against Proposition H, which would have advised the city to undergo further investigation into building the tunnel. This concluded ten years of studies and proposals by the city of Coronado to find a way to reduce traffic to the naval station during rush hour. Critics of the proposal did not believe that the tunnel would resolve the traffic issues on the northern part of SR 75 or on SR 282. Following this, the Coronado City Council voted to abolish the Tunnel Commission that had been formed to study the issue. Efforts were underway by Imperial Beach city officials to improve the reputation and economic standing of the Palm Avenue area in the first decade of the 21st century. The area was described by the ''
San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' as a "hodgepodge of vacant land and aging apartment buildings and businesses, many in need of a coat of paint" in 2003. Residents hoped to revitalize the area, providing commerce right next to an entrance to the beach. City officials offered local business owners loans for necessary construction or rehabilitation in 2005. The Imperial Beach city council approved the redevelopment of the Palm Avenue corridor in 2008, following a study in 2003. A Palm Avenue Commercial Corridor Master Plan was endorsed in February 2009, in efforts to improve the commercial area. In September 2012, the Imperial Beach city council raised objections over the Caltrans decision to increase the speed limit on SR 75 to from on the portion of the highway from Delaware Street to the western Imperial Beach city limit due to concerns about safety. The rest of the highway was to retain the speed limit.


Major intersections


See also

*


References


External links

{{CASR external links, SR, 75
California @ AARoads.com - State Route 75
075 State Route 075 075 075