Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
California State Route 79
State Route 79 (SR 79) is an approximately 91-mile (146 km) north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 8 (I-8) at the Descanso Junction in San Diego County. Its northern terminus is at Interstate 10 (I-10) in the city of Beaumont in Riverside County. In San Diego County, SR 79 connects with Lake Cuyamaca and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the communities of Julian and Warner Springs. In Riverside County, the highway runs through the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Hemet, and San Jacinto before reaching Beaumont. Though some maps and signs may still mark SR 79 as continuous through the cities of Temecula and San Jacinto, control of segments within those cities were relinquished to those local jurisdictions and are thus no longer officially part of the state highway system.
SR 79 begins at I-8, about 35 miles (56 km) east of San Diego. The road runs along Old Highway 80 in the town of Descanso, until splitting to the north at a T intersection. The route then traverses Cuyamaca and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on its way north. This portion of the route is very serpentine, with hairpin turns, as it follows the contours of the land by moving laterally, rather than up-and-down or via cuts.
It then overlaps SR 78 between Santa Ysabel and Julian, a distance of about eight miles (13 km). At Julian, both routes join at a T intersection just south of town, thus requiring a turn to stay on SR 79, and turn at an intersection in the northern portion of downtown. At Santa Ysabel, SR 79 comes to a T intersection with SR 78 running east–west. SR 79 continues northwest, meeting the eastern terminus of SR 76 near Lake Henshaw at the settlement of Morettis and passing through Warner Springs before crossing into Riverside County. SR 79 then meets the western terminus of SR 371 before going through Aguanga. It then passes Vail Lake and parallels Temecula Creek as it approaches the Temecula city limits, where it becomes a city-maintained road.[citation needed]
It overlaps I-15 for about three miles through Temecula. The ramps connecting SR 79 to I-15 are the first and third ramps northbound (second and fourth southbound) of those located between the Riverside/San Diego county line and the I-15/I-215 junction. In both cases, to enter SR 79 from I-15, one must head slightly east (although SR 79 is signed as a north–south highway). The southern exit from I-15 is known as Temecula Parkway. SR 79 exits from I-15 in the northern area of Temecula as Winchester Road. It then runs along the eastern city limits of Murrieta before passing by the reservoir at Diamond Valley Lake. SR 79 continues through the community of Winchester and turns east on SR 74 (Florida Avenue) west of Hemet. The section between the concurrencies with I-15 and SR 74 is signed as Winchester Road.
In Hemet, SR 79 overlaps SR 74/Florida Avenue, following it eastward for a few miles before heading north again through San Jacinto, where it also is a city-maintained road.[citation needed] SR 79 then goes over a range of hills (Lambs Canyon) and ends in Beaumont at Interstate 10. SR 79 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and from the northern I-15 junction to I-10 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. It is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System; however, it is not a scenic highway as defined by Caltrans. In 2012, SR 79 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 1,550 between Paso Picacho Campground and Sunrise Highway, and 30,500 at Murrieta Hot Springs Road, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.
A stage road went through Oak Grove, and stagecoaches ran from 1858 to 1861 on a route from San Francisco to St. Louis and Memphis. A ranch house, Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs was a stop on both the San Antonio–San Diego Mail and the Butterfield Overland Mail. A railroad line to Cuyamaca was under construction by 1887, though in 1889 the project encountered problems from workers departing to work in the nearby gold mines. By 1906, the stage road ran from Temecula through Warner Springs into Santa Ysabel and Ramona, and regularly scheduled automobile service was to begin in 1908 between San Diego and Warner Hot Springs.
That year, at a meeting between citizens of Oceanside and Escondido, each city proposed that a road from it to Warner Springs be constructed; the roads would meet somewhere in the San Luis Rey River valley. The president of the Escondido National Bank proposed a route from Escondido to Warner Springs shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, in 1911 The San Diego Union described the future road to Descanso, and described a "branch of the highway" that went through the Valley of the Pines "which for beauty cannot be surpassed in the United States" before continuing to Julian, the beginning of the San Luis Rey River, and Oceanside. However, the next year, the county highway commissioners determined that more funding would be needed to complete the road to Warner Springs.
By November 1912, the road to Warner Springs from San Diego was completed, including the part from Santa Ysabel, which had been widened. The road south of Julian to Decanso was open by 1916, but had a narrow crossing at the Cuyamaca dam, making the trip difficult. In 1922, the Automobile Club of Southern California noted that from Santa Ysabel to Julian, the road was in good repair, as well as from Cuyamaca to Descanso, even though the latter was a dirt road; the Julian to Cuyamaca road had "several soft spots". Seven years later, Julian residents expressed a desire to have the road from there to Descanso paved. Between Descanso and Temecula, what was to become SR 79 was defined as Route 78 in 1933. The Butterfield Overland Mail stage road was selected as the route of Imperial Highway.
Hub AI
California State Route 79 AI simulator
(@California State Route 79_simulator)
California State Route 79
State Route 79 (SR 79) is an approximately 91-mile (146 km) north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 8 (I-8) at the Descanso Junction in San Diego County. Its northern terminus is at Interstate 10 (I-10) in the city of Beaumont in Riverside County. In San Diego County, SR 79 connects with Lake Cuyamaca and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the communities of Julian and Warner Springs. In Riverside County, the highway runs through the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Hemet, and San Jacinto before reaching Beaumont. Though some maps and signs may still mark SR 79 as continuous through the cities of Temecula and San Jacinto, control of segments within those cities were relinquished to those local jurisdictions and are thus no longer officially part of the state highway system.
SR 79 begins at I-8, about 35 miles (56 km) east of San Diego. The road runs along Old Highway 80 in the town of Descanso, until splitting to the north at a T intersection. The route then traverses Cuyamaca and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on its way north. This portion of the route is very serpentine, with hairpin turns, as it follows the contours of the land by moving laterally, rather than up-and-down or via cuts.
It then overlaps SR 78 between Santa Ysabel and Julian, a distance of about eight miles (13 km). At Julian, both routes join at a T intersection just south of town, thus requiring a turn to stay on SR 79, and turn at an intersection in the northern portion of downtown. At Santa Ysabel, SR 79 comes to a T intersection with SR 78 running east–west. SR 79 continues northwest, meeting the eastern terminus of SR 76 near Lake Henshaw at the settlement of Morettis and passing through Warner Springs before crossing into Riverside County. SR 79 then meets the western terminus of SR 371 before going through Aguanga. It then passes Vail Lake and parallels Temecula Creek as it approaches the Temecula city limits, where it becomes a city-maintained road.[citation needed]
It overlaps I-15 for about three miles through Temecula. The ramps connecting SR 79 to I-15 are the first and third ramps northbound (second and fourth southbound) of those located between the Riverside/San Diego county line and the I-15/I-215 junction. In both cases, to enter SR 79 from I-15, one must head slightly east (although SR 79 is signed as a north–south highway). The southern exit from I-15 is known as Temecula Parkway. SR 79 exits from I-15 in the northern area of Temecula as Winchester Road. It then runs along the eastern city limits of Murrieta before passing by the reservoir at Diamond Valley Lake. SR 79 continues through the community of Winchester and turns east on SR 74 (Florida Avenue) west of Hemet. The section between the concurrencies with I-15 and SR 74 is signed as Winchester Road.
In Hemet, SR 79 overlaps SR 74/Florida Avenue, following it eastward for a few miles before heading north again through San Jacinto, where it also is a city-maintained road.[citation needed] SR 79 then goes over a range of hills (Lambs Canyon) and ends in Beaumont at Interstate 10. SR 79 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and from the northern I-15 junction to I-10 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. It is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System; however, it is not a scenic highway as defined by Caltrans. In 2012, SR 79 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 1,550 between Paso Picacho Campground and Sunrise Highway, and 30,500 at Murrieta Hot Springs Road, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.
A stage road went through Oak Grove, and stagecoaches ran from 1858 to 1861 on a route from San Francisco to St. Louis and Memphis. A ranch house, Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs was a stop on both the San Antonio–San Diego Mail and the Butterfield Overland Mail. A railroad line to Cuyamaca was under construction by 1887, though in 1889 the project encountered problems from workers departing to work in the nearby gold mines. By 1906, the stage road ran from Temecula through Warner Springs into Santa Ysabel and Ramona, and regularly scheduled automobile service was to begin in 1908 between San Diego and Warner Hot Springs.
That year, at a meeting between citizens of Oceanside and Escondido, each city proposed that a road from it to Warner Springs be constructed; the roads would meet somewhere in the San Luis Rey River valley. The president of the Escondido National Bank proposed a route from Escondido to Warner Springs shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, in 1911 The San Diego Union described the future road to Descanso, and described a "branch of the highway" that went through the Valley of the Pines "which for beauty cannot be surpassed in the United States" before continuing to Julian, the beginning of the San Luis Rey River, and Oceanside. However, the next year, the county highway commissioners determined that more funding would be needed to complete the road to Warner Springs.
By November 1912, the road to Warner Springs from San Diego was completed, including the part from Santa Ysabel, which had been widened. The road south of Julian to Decanso was open by 1916, but had a narrow crossing at the Cuyamaca dam, making the trip difficult. In 1922, the Automobile Club of Southern California noted that from Santa Ysabel to Julian, the road was in good repair, as well as from Cuyamaca to Descanso, even though the latter was a dirt road; the Julian to Cuyamaca road had "several soft spots". Seven years later, Julian residents expressed a desire to have the road from there to Descanso paved. Between Descanso and Temecula, what was to become SR 79 was defined as Route 78 in 1933. The Butterfield Overland Mail stage road was selected as the route of Imperial Highway.