California State Route 46
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| Route 46 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 111 mi (188 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Formed: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major cities: | Paso Robles, CA Wasco, CA |
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| Direction: | East-West | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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State Route 46 (SR 46) is an east-west highway in the U.S. State of California that is routed from the Pacific coast at Cambria through the western part of the southern San Joaquin Valley.
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[edit] Route description
CA-46 begins near the Pacific Ocean at the Pacific Coast Highway and leads to California State Highway 99 about five miles east of Wasco in the community of Famoso. It has an interchange with Interstate 5 near Lost Hills. Between Paso Robles (junction U.S. Route 101) and its eastern terminus on California 99, or most of its route, it is the former U.S. Highway 466 The segment between Cambria and Paso Robles was never part of US-466 and was not a state highway until US 466 was decommissioned; parts of that segment were unpaved until the 1970s. Aside from a short segment coinciding with US 101, all of CA-46 is surface highway.
CA-46 is one of the easiest crossings of the Coast Range between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This has made it a very popular choice for freight haulers and Central Valley-dwellers going to and from the beach resorts of the Central Coast
Since it is mostly an undivided two-lane road with narrow shoulders and passes through isolated areas far from emergency services, it has suffered from a spate of high-profile accidents. The road has some notoriety as the highway upon which the promising young film star James Dean died in a freakish traffic accident in 1955 at the intersection of CA-41 in Cholame, California. There is a memorial located there now. The interchange is now called the James Dean Memorial Interchange.
The highway is now a Caltrans "safety corridor," with rumble strips and occasional sections of jersey barriers placed along the median line. Also, much of the highway has been designated a Daytime Running Light area.
[edit] Other names
- Eric Seastrand Memorial Highway: From Route 1 near Cambria to Route 101 near Paso Robles.
- Jack O'Connell Highway: From Route 101 near Paso Robles to Route 41 near Cholame. Named for politician Jack O'Connell.
Source: 2004 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances In California
[edit] State law
Legal Definition of Route 46: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 346
| Route 46 is part of the Freeway and Expressway System, as stated by section 253.4 of the California State Highway Code. |
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Route 46 is part of the Scenic Highway System, as stated by section 263.5 of the California State Highway Code. |
