California State Route 14

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For the original Sign Route 14, see California State Route 14 (1934-1964).
State Route 14
Antelope Valley Freeway
Defined by S&HC § 314, maintained by Caltrans
Length: 118.38 mi[1] (190.51 km)
Formed: 1964 renumbering (from US 6)[2]
South end: I-5 near Santa Clarita
Major
junctions:		 SR 138 in Palmdale
SR 58 near Mojave
North end: US 395 near Inyokern
State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 13 I-15 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 14 is a north-south state highway largely in the Mojave Desert of the U.S. State of California, also known as the High Desert, just east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada in its northern part. It connects U.S. Route 395 in Inyokern to Interstate 5 Golden State Freeway in Santa Clarita. With US 395 it connects the western part of Greater Los Angeles with such places as Reno, Nevada. While its southern part runs through the suburbanized and rural canyon areas that can have heavy commuter traffic, its northern section generally affords an attractive, stark view of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It is in mostly desert terrain, so those who travel it should make the appropriate precautions for travel upon it, especially in the thinly-settled portions north of Mojave during the hot summers.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[3].

Contents

[edit] Route description

Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs

The freeway begins in the Santa Susana Mountains at the Newhall Pass interchange by splitting from the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5) and proceeding in a northerly direction. Forming the eastern boundary of the city of Santa Clarita along its route, it continues to the northeast and crosses the western San Gabriel Mountains via the canyon of the seasonal Santa Clara River. After entering the Antelope Valley, it turns due north, crossing the California Aqueduct and passing through Palmdale and Lancaster. In the Antelope Valley, SR 14 runs concurrently with SR 138 from Palmdale to north of Lancaster. It continues across the Los Angeles/Kern County line and passes through Rosamond and to the west of Edwards Air Force Base before the freeway terminates south of Mojave. In the town of Mojave, SR 14 runs along the former alignment of SR 58 before it was rerouted onto a newly built bypass running north and east of the town. SR 14 intersects with the SR 58 bypass of Mojave before it passes through Red Rock Canyon State Park and the city of Ricardo. SR 14 continues north toward U.S. Route 395 in Inyokern, much of its routing as an expressway. Towards its northern terminus, SR 14 runs concurrently with State Route 178 near the town of Freeman. At its northern terminus, SR 14 merges with US 395 as it turns into an expressway heading north to Bishop[4][5].

[edit] History

[edit] Prior to 1975

Route 14, known as the Antelope Valley Freeway south of the community of Mojave, is the designation for old U.S. Route 6 between US 395 and Interstate 5 after California truncated US 6 at Bishop in 1963. Route 14 was also once used on the length of State Route 91 from Hermosa Beach to Anaheim along Artesia Bl and Lincoln Ave until 1964. The former routing south of and in Mojave is still known as Sierra Highway (Sierra Highway is also signed as unrelinquished State Route 14U in Santa Clarita). North of Mojave, State Route 14 is a segment of the trans-continental Midland Trail. As part of the former transcontinental US 6, non-freeway segments are also known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. The earliest section is completed in 1963 and the newest section is completed in 1975. Its first section, from just east of Solemint Junction to Red Rover Mine Road was completed in 1963. Further portions in the intercanyon areas of Acton to Soledad Pass (this part of historical Saugus is now referred to as Santa Clarita and Canyon Country) were completed by 1965. By 1966 the freeway was complete as far north as Avenue P-8 in Palmdale. The completed freeway route to Mojave was finished by 1972. Before the Antelope Valley Freeway was constructed, Sierra Highway was generally primarily used, and today remains a prime alternate route.

[edit] 1975 to present

It passes through Palmdale, Lancaster, and Rosamond, all of which have grown rapidly beginning in 1983. It is co-routed with Route 138 from Palmdale Boulevard (138 East) in Palmdale to Avenue D (138 West) north of downtown Lancaster. The route also intersects with the new Route 58 bypass north of downtown Mojave, as well as Route 178's west and east legs north of Red Rock Canyon.

This is an unfinished route, as the definition in the California Streets and Highways Code states that the route begins at Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH), near Sunset Blvd. in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles and even though there is no right of way purchased there. Temescal Canyon Drive seems to be the actual south end of the route, but the wide road leading inland from PCH dead-ends in the Presbyterian Conference Grounds on the north side of Sunset Blvd approximately two miles inland from State Route 1. The only proof that this proposal was considered is the mileposts on Route 14, which do not go to zero at I-5 at its present terminus, whereas the exit numbers do go to zero, which means that the segment between Route 1 and Route 5 will never be built. This portion was intended to be the Reseda Freeway, as it would have gone through that area of Los Angeles.

The long offramps at the Sierra Highway interchange near Santa Clarita were meant to be a freeway-to-freeway connection with Route 126, but due to successful opposition by Santa Clarita Valley residents, it was blocked and all that was built were the long ramps.

The high viaduct connecting the Antelope Valley Freeway with the Golden State Freeway was nearly complete when the February 9, 1971 Sylmar earthquake completely destroyed its interchange with the Golden State Freeway and wrecked large portions of its route through the San Gabriels. Rebuilt to stronger specifications, it again collapsed during the 1994 Northridge earthquake and was closed, but reopened within a year. The interchange of SR 14 and I-5 is dedicated as the "Clarence Wayne Dean Memorial Interchange." Dean was an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department who was killed at the interchange in a traffic accident on a transition road that collapsed as a result of the Northridge quake, January 17, 1994.

[edit] October 12, 2007 tunnel fire

Main article: Newhall Pass interchange

Around 11 PM Pacific on October 12, 2007, two trucks collided in the truck tunnel on Interstate 5 near the interchange with SR 14. A resulting fire started, soon encompassing the entire tunnel along with 30 big rigs and one passenger vehicle that were in the tunnel at the time. [6]

[edit] Future

 This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

Rapid exurban growth in Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and Palmdale has made the Antelope Valley Freeway one of the most congested in southern California, with average rush hour speeds well below 20 miles per hour (30 km/h). In response, the government of Palmdale has successfully campaigned for the proposed high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco to follow the Antelope Valley Freeway's right-of-way and stop in Palmdale before crossing the Tehachapi Mountains at Tehachapi Pass. Such a route would add 20 minutes to the train's travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco, but would be considerably safer than the earthquake-prone Grapevine Canyon route along the Golden State Freeway's right-of-way, and facilitate the much-discussed development of the Palmdale Regional Airport as an alternative to LAX.

Since the 1950s, proposals have also been made to bypass the Antelope Valley Freeway by boring a massive tunnel underneath the San Gabriels and extending the Glendale Freeway through it to the Antelope Valley Freeway just south of Palmdale. The difficulty of such a project, and the costs of insuring it against earthquakes and terrorism, would likely make its cost prohibitively expensive to perpetually cash-strapped Caltrans. Recently, the idea has been advanced as a combination toll tunnel and surface highway, and it was deemed economically feasible, although no environmental studies have begun on the project. It is unclear how many will be willing to pay at least $8 each way to save an hour each way, although it should be enough to lessen the congestion from Vincent down to Interstate 5 on the Antelope Valley Freeway. [7]

A third alternative worth looking into would be to run the high-speed rail through such a tunnel route, a solution that would only add less than five minutes to travel time between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, compared with the Grapevine Canyon route, but would increase the cost of a ticket compared to either of the other two alternatives. The tunnel route between Montrose and Vincent would be a shorter western parallel to the existing windy mountain route of the Angeles Crest Highway and Angeles Forest Highway.

[edit] Major intersections and exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
County Location Postmile
[8][9][10]		 #[11] Destinations Notes
Los Angeles
LA R24.79-R77.01		 Los Angeles R24.79 1 I-5 (Golden State Freeway) – Los Angeles, Sacramento Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north)
1A The Old Road Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Santa Clarita R27.05 2 San Fernando Road Former SR 126 west
R28.08 3 Placerita Canyon Road
R29.68 5 Golden Valley Road
R30.81 6A Sierra Highway – Canyon Country Northbound exit and southbound entrance
R30.89 6B Via Princessa Signed as exit 6 southbound
Santa Clarita 33.42 9 Sand Canyon Road
35.71 11 Soledad Canyon Road
39.85 15 Agua Dulce Canyon Road
43.29 19 Escondido Canyon Road
46.76 22 Sierra Highway, Red Rover Mine Road
R48.61 24 Crown Valley Road – Acton
R50.75 26 Santiago Road
R52.17 27 Soledad Canyon Road
R54.54 30 Angeles Forest Highway (CR N3), Pearblossom Highway
Palmdale R58.17 33 Avenue S
R59.80 35 SR 138 east (Palmdale Boulevard, CR N2) – Palmdale South end of SR 138 overlap
R61.37 37 Rancho Vista Boulevard Northbound exit and southbound entrance
R61.77 37 10th Street West Southbound exit and northbound entrance
R63.67 39 Avenue N
Lancaster R64.68 40 Avenue M
R65.68 41 Avenue L
R66.73 42 Avenue K
R67.39 43 20th Street West Northbound exit and southbound entrance
R67.96 43 Avenue J (CR N5) Southbound exit and northbound entrance
R68.97 44 Avenue I
R69.99 45 Avenue H
R70.99 46 Avenue G
R72.00 47 Avenue F
R74.00 49 SR 138 west (Avenue D) – Gorman North end of SR 138 overlap
R77.01
R0.00		 52 Avenue A
Kern
KER R0.00-64.56
Rosamond R3.02 55 Rosamond, Edwards AFB
R6.12 58 Dawn Road
R9.14 61 Backus Road
R12.15 64 Silver Queen Road
North end of freeway
Mojave 16.06
SR 58 Bus. east – Barstow		 South end of Bus. 58 overlap
L17.38
16.07
SR 58 Bus. west – Bakersfield		 North end of Bus. 58 overlap
19.24 71 SR 58 – Bakersfield, Barstow Interchange
California City 21.29 73 California City Boulevard, Randsburg Cutoff Road At-grade intersection; interchange under construction[citation needed]
57.77 SR 178 west – Lake Isabella, Bakersfield South end of SR 178 overlap
60.57 SR 178 east to US 395 south – Inyokern, Ridgecrest, Hesperia North end of SR 178 overlap
64.56 US 395 north – Bishop, Reno Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance

[edit] Other names

  • Aerospace Highway: From the Pearblossom Highway (Route 138) to Route 395.[12]
  • The Antelope Valley Freeway is Route 14 from Route 5 to Avenue D, north of Lancaster, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 57, Chapter 96 in 1957.[13] Note that the segment from Avenue D north of Lancaster to Mojave is still legally unofficial.

[edit] References

  1. ^ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
  2. ^ California Highways: State Route 14
  3. ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
  4. ^ Thomas Brothers. California Road Atlas and Driver's Guide [map]. (2000) Page 80,89,90.
  5. ^ Rand McNally. The Road Atlas [map]. (2008) Page 15.
  6. ^ [1][dead link]
  7. ^ http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a55/news/an552005012.htm[dead link]
  8. ^ California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
  9. ^ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
  10. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2004, 2005, and 2006
  11. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-14 Northbound and SR-14 Southbound, accessed February 2008
  12. ^ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans, 66. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. 
  13. ^ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans, 58. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. 
  • David, Brodsly (1981). LA Freeway: An Appreciative Essay. University of California Press. 

[edit] External links

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