List of unconstructed state highways in California


The following state highways in the U.S. state of California are entirely or partially unconstructed; in other words, their routings have been defined by state law, but no route has been adopted by the California Department of Transportation.

Entirely unconstructed

The following California state highways are entirely unconstructed. Their routings are only defined in state law. In almost all cases, Caltrans has no plans to adopt the highways by either constructing new roads along those corridors or take over the maintenance of existing routes from local jurisdictions.

State Route 48

State Route 48 is completely unconstructed, stretching 8.5 miles from the northern junction of SR 14 and SR 138 near Lancaster east to proposed SR 122.
SR 48 was originally planned to run from Ridge Route Road near Quail Lake in Los Angeles County to SR 122 near the Los Angeles / San Bernardino County Line. The segment between Ridge Route Road and SR 14 was signed as SR 138, which was defined on a southeasterly course through or paralleling Oakdale and Pine Canyons to meet SR 14 in Palmdale opposite the easterly continuation of Route 138. The planned rerouting was known as the Metropolitan Bypass Freeway. In 1965, because of constructability issues on the proposed realignment of Route 138 through or near Oakdale and Pine Canyons, the proposed junction, and thus the west end of SR 48, was moved east to 170th Street West. In 1996, the segment of SR 48 between 170th Street West and SR 14 was transferred to SR 138, leaving only the unconstructed portion. A locally maintained traversable route is East Avenue E, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over.

State Route 64

State Route 64 is an unconstructed highway connecting SR 1 near Malibu Beach with I-5 at SR 170 south of San Fernando. It was legislated in 1959 as Route 265, and renumbered Route 64 in 1964. It was proposed as a 30.9-mile freeway. The section from SR 1 to US 101 was deleted from the Freeway and Expressway system on November 23, 1970. The remainder was deleted from the Freeway and Expressway system on January 1, 1976. A locally maintained traversable route is Las Virgenes Road/Malibu Canyon Road, Bell Canyon Fire Road, Saddlebow Road, Bell Canyon Road, Valley Circle Boulevard, Roscoe Boulevard, and Tuxford Street, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over. The route concept report recommends deletion of the route from the highway system.

State Route 81

State Route 81 is an entirely unconstructed 30.9-mile freeway from I-215 southeast of Riverside west and north around the south and west sides of Riverside to I-15 south of Devore. Although the legislation noted that Sierra Avenue is Route 81, it is not signed as Route 81 and doesn't appear to be formally part of the route. The route was defined in 1959 as Legislative Route 276 and renumbered to Route 81 in 1964.

State Route 93

All of State Route 93 is unconstructed, on a 17.9-mile route from the proposed SR 77 near Moraga northwest, west, and southwest to I-580 in Richmond. It is Moraga Way, Camino Pablo, San Pablo Dam Road, and an undetermined routing from there, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over. In the 1990s, Richmond officials assembled $200 million in state and local funds to build Richmond Parkway between Interstate 80 and Interstate 580. While it mostly functions as an expressway, parts of Richmond Parkway do not meet state expressway standards. For this reason, Caltrans has refused to take the parkway over and officially designate it as part of SR 93 until these local officials bring it up to the state's standards.

State Route 100

State Route 100 is a completely unconstructed beachfront loop in Santa Cruz, stretching 4.5 miles from SR 1 west of downtown to SR 1 near SR 17. It was proposed as a freeway, but in August 1975, the freeway was canceled due to local opposition.

State Route 102

State Route 102 is a 37.5-mile unconstructed freeway that would generally parallel I-80, beginning at I-5 near SR 99 north of Sacramento and heading east across I-80 and northeast to I-80 near Auburn. It is currently in the design process.

State Route 122

State Route 122 is a completely unconstructed 61.3-mile freeway, defined to run from SR 14 south of Palmdale northeast and east past the east end of proposed SR 48 to SR 58 west of Barstow. A locally maintained traversable route is along Pearblossom Highway, SR 138, and 50th Street East, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over.

State Route 143

State Route 143 is a 19.7-mile unconstructed highway of Sacramento, beginning at SR 99 near Elk Grove and ending at the east end of SR 244 near Carmichael. In 1994, it extended north, replacing a section of SR 244, to Auburn Boulevard. It was proposed as a freeway, but that was canceled in 1975 due to opposition. The existing arterials Grant Line Road and Bradshaw Road approximating the route are currently utilized, and in 2002 Caltrans recommended removing the route definition from the state highway system.

State Route 148

State Route 148 is an unconstructed highway of Sacramento, stretching 16.3 miles from I-5 east to proposed SR 65. It was proposed as a freeway, but that was canceled in 1975 due to opposition. The City of Sacramento proposed Cosumnes River Boulevard and Calvine Road for this highway. In 2002, Caltrans recommended removing the route definition from the state highway system, but this has yet to happen. In 2010, local Sacramento agencies brought the corridor back as the Capital SouthEast Connector. Phase I is projected to be completed by 2025, with phase II around 2030–40, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over.

State Route 179

State Route 179 is a 13.8-mile routing along Cherry Glen Rd and Pleasants Valley Rd, connecting I-80 near Vacaville with SR 128 near Lake Berryessa.

State Route 181

State Route 181 is an entirely unconstructed 9.5-mile route, from SR 116 near Forestville to US 101 north of Santa Rosa. A locally maintained traversable route has been defined via Mirabel Road and River Road, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over.

State Route 230

State Route 230 is a 4.1-mile completely unconstructed route in southeastern San Francisco and San Mateo counties, linking US 101 with I-280 along the San Francisco Bay. Except for the southern end, the route was part of SR 87 until 1970, when SR 87 was canceled north of SR 237. Some of the plans for a Southern Crossing across the bay would have used SR 230. It was proposed as a freeway, but the freeway option was canceled on October 21, 1976 due to opposition.

State Routes 234 and 235

State Route 234 and State Route 235 are unconstructed southern and northern bypasses of Stockton, each linking I-5 with SR 99. Caltrans has no plans to build either, but has identified locally maintained traversable routes: French Camp Road for the 3.4-mile SR 234, and Eight Mile Road for the 6.4-mile SR 235. However, one Caltrans map makes the route of SR 234 appear to be Arch-Airport Road. On November 29, 1993, San Joaquin County adopted Eight Mile Road as an arterial highway and dropped interest in it as a state highway.

State Route 239

State Route 239 is a 17-mile unconstructed route that would link I-580 at I-205 west of Tracy with SR 4 near Brentwood. Caltrans has identified Mountain House Road and Byron Highway as a traversable route, but has no plans to maintain it. In 2005, the federal legislation known as SAFETEA-LU provided $14 million for the purpose of studying the route's corridor and funding its construction. The spur of the Mid-State Tollway, if built, will most likely be designated as SR 239, while the main tollway will most likely be designated as SR 84.

State Route 249

State Route 249 is a 13.5-mile unconstructed route that would connect SR 2 north of La Cañada Flintridge with SR 14 south of Palmdale. Angeles Forest Highway follows the general alignment, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over. However, there are plans to explore the building of this route between Palmdale and Los Angeles tunneling through the mountains.

State Route 251

State Route 251 is a completely unconstructed route, defined to extend from I-580 near San Quentin to SR 1 near Point Reyes Station. The 1.6-mile portion east of US 101 was defined in 1959 to be Legislative Route 251 and it kept its number. This section was proposed by Caltrans to be improved and signed as SR 251, but that never happened. Now Caltrans has no plans to take over that section. The rest was the proposed 22.9-mile Point Reyes Freeway, and was part of SR 17 until 1984, when SR 17 over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge became I-580.
Sir Francis Drake Boulevard roughly parallels the highway's length. If built, the highway was probably going to be called the "Point Reyes Freeway"; extra flyover ramps at the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard-U.S. 101 interchange suggest this.
The freeway was born due to an idea to develop west Marin County, a traditionally rural area, into a sprawling area not usually found in Marin County. With all the new residents, local roads would have been overburdened. Chief among them was Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, a two lane road from Olema to Fairfax before widening to 4 lanes as it passes through the Ross Valley.
However, the development and freeway planning were stopped due to concerns about fragile ecosystems that urbanization would have damaged or destroyed. The animals, mostly egrets and the California red-legged frog, ended up being the main reason the freeway and redevelopment was defeated. There was another problem though: the plan put the entire area on the San Andreas Fault. The decision to not redevelop West Marin made the freeway unnecessary, and it was therefore scrapped. Now, this section is Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, but Caltrans has no plans to take it over.