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California State Route 24

Route map:
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"CA 24" redirects here. For the congressional district, see California's 24th congressional district.

State Route 24 marker

State Route 24

Map
SR 24 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
Length13.492 mi[1] (21.713 km)
Existed1934[2]–present
Tourist
routes		 SR 24 between the Caldecott Tunnel and Walnut Creek[4]
RestrictionsTrucks carrying hazardous material are only permitted through the Caldecott Tunnel between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.[3]
Major junctions
West end I-580 / I-980 in Oakland
Major intersections SR 13 in Oakland
East end I-680 / Mount Diablo Boulevard in Walnut Creek
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountiesAlameda, Contra Costa
Highway system
← SR 23→ SR 25

State Route 24 (SR 24) is a heavily traveled east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay Area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it runs from the Interstate 580/Interstate 980 interchange (just east of the MacArthur Maze) in Oakland, and through the Caldecott Tunnel under the Berkeley Hills, to the Interstate 680 junction in Walnut Creek. It lies in Alameda County, where it is highly urban, and Contra Costa County, where it passes through wooded hillsides and suburbs. SR 24 is a major connection between the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge/MacArthur Maze complex and the inland cities of the East Bay.

Route description

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SR 24 begins at the four-level stack interchange with Interstate 580 and Interstate 980 in Oakland; this interchange is located on top of Grove Shafter Park. SR 24 initially heads north before turning east near the Berkeley city limits. Route 24 rises from near sea level in downtown Oakland past its interchange with State Route 13, which is a freeway south of SR 24 (upgraded August 1999) and a surface street north of SR 24. After this, SR 24 crosses the Contra Costa County county line through the four-bore Caldecott Tunnel and offers some attractive views of the hilly terrain through which it passes. Some protection of the views comes from the highway's designation as a California Scenic Highway.[5]

On the other side of the tunnel, SR 24 travels through unincorporated Contra Costa County before entering Orinda. SR 24 crosses the Mokelumne Aqueduct soon after entering the city of Lafayette. SR 24 terminates at the intersection with Interstate 680 just inside the city limits of Walnut Creek.[6]

The Yellow Line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system runs in the freeway's center median, excepting the vicinity of the Caldecott Tunnel and the approach to the interchange with Interstate 680.

SR 24 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,[7] and is part of the National Highway System,[8] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[9] SR 24 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System;[10] however, Caltrans has only designated it as a scenic highway between the eastern end of the Caldecott Tunnel and I-680,[11] 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.[12] SR 24 is designated as both the Grove Shafter Freeway, after streets the route travels along (Grove Street was later renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Way), and the William Byron Rumford Freeway, honoring the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California,[13] from the Caldecott Tunnel to the I-580 interchange segment of the MacArthur Maze, continuing henceforth as I-980 to the terminus with I-880.[14]

The Berkeley Hills as seen from CA 24 near Orinda.
SR 24 near Lafayette, stradling BART tracks with Mt Diablo in the background.

History

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Highway 24 was designated in 1932 in conjunction with the ongoing construction of the Broadway Low Level Tunnel (renamed the Caldecott Tunnel in 1960) which opened in 1937,[15] connecting with the new Eastshore Highway and the approaches to the new Bay Bridge by way of Tunnel Road and Ashby Avenue through Berkeley west of the Berkeley Hills, and routed along Mount Diablo Boulevard through Contra Costa County east of the hills. Before either the bridge or the tunnel were completed, Highway 24 was provisionally routed starting from downtown Oakland at the major intersection of San Pablo and Broadway, which was also the terminal point of US 40 and State Highway 17. From this point, Highway 24 proceeded northward along Broadway to College Avenue, then along College to Claremont Avenue, up Claremont to Tunnel Road, then up into the Berkeley Hills on Tunnel Road to the old Intercounty Tunnel (also called the Kennedy Tunnel), through the tunnel into Contra Costa County.[16]

Highway 24 remained along Ashby Avenue until completion of the Grove-Shafter Freeway in the late 1960s. This new freeway, which ran from the Caldecott Tunnel through downtown Oakland to the MacArthur and Nimitz Freeways, was designated Route 24 and Ashby was re-designated Route 13.

Route 24 used to extend much further east. The section of Interstate 680 between the current terminus of SR 24 and State Route 242 was dual-signed I-680 and SR 24 until c. 1987; State Route 242 which runs primarily in Concord was signed as Route 24 until the same time. Older maps show routes for 24 which continue along State Route 4 from the current intersection of 242 to the Antioch Bridge, continuing along the river road to Sacramento, currently State Route 160, then continuing north to Woodland, Marysville, Oroville, along the North Fork of the Feather River to a junction with State Route 89 (this segment is currently State Route 70), where it continued dual-numbered with 89 through Quincy. Highway 24 split from 89 near Graeagle, and continued east through Portola east until its terminus at U.S. Route 395.[17] Parts of the same route were also sometimes designated as State Route 84.

At least one published map from the 1960s incorrectly showed Route 24 extending eastward from Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek to Route 4 in Pittsburg that followed the Ygnacio Valley Road-Kirker Pass Road-Railroad Avenue corridor, presumably as a future extension that never materialized. A 1970 State Highway Map shows this corridor as a future Route 24 bypass.[1]

A 1956 version of Thomas Brothers maps shows Mount Diablo Boulevard where present day Northgate Road is and labeled as Route 24, winding and climbing the mountain.

Exit list

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Mileage is measured from SR 24's original western terminus, now part of Interstate 980.

CountyLocationmi[18]kmExit[18]DestinationsNotes
AlamedaOakland2.353.782A

 I-980 west to I-880 / 27th Street, West Grand Avenue – Downtown Oakland		Continuation beyond I-580; I-980 exit 2B
2B I-580 (MacArthur Freeway) – San Francisco, HaywardWestbound exit and eastbound entrance; west end of SR 24; provides direct exit ramp onto Market Street / San Pablo Avenue (SR 123); I-580 east exit 19C, west exit 19D
2Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 51st StreetEastbound exit and westbound entrance; Martin Luther King Jr. Way was formerly Grove Street[19]
3.064.923Telegraph AvenueWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
Claremont AvenueEastbound exit and westbound entrance
4.156.684ACollege AvenueWestbound exit only
4B

 Broadway to SR 13 north		Signed as exit 4 eastbound
5.128.245A
 SR 13 south (Warren Freeway) – Hayward		Signed as exit 5 eastbound; SR 13 north exits 5B-C
5B
 SR 13 north (Tunnel Road) – Berkeley		Westbound exit only
5.659.096Tunnel Road, Caldecott Lane
Berkeley Hills6.2410.04Caldecott Tunnel
Contra Costa​6.6410.697AFish Ranch Road
Orinda7.3911.897BWilder RoadFormerly Gateway Boulevard[20]
8.5013.689Orinda, Moraga (Camino Pablo)Moraga not signed westbound; formerly signed with Richmond westbound
9.6615.5510St. Stephens Drive, Hidden Valley Road
Lafayette10.5917.0411Acalanes Road, Mount Diablo Boulevard, Upper Happy Valley RoadUpper Happy Valley Road not signed eastbound; Mount Diablo Boulevard not signed westbound
12.4620.0512Oak Hill Road – Central LafayetteEastbound signage
13Central Lafayette, Moraga (First Street)Westbound signage
13.8522.2914Pleasant Hill Road, Mount Diablo BoulevardMount Diablo Boulevard not signed eastbound
Walnut Creek15.3324.6715A
 I-680 north / Ygnacio Valley Road – Sacramento, Concord		Left eastbound exit and westbound entrance; I-680 south exit 46
15B
 I-680 south / Mount Diablo Boulevard – San Jose, Dublin		Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; east end of SR 24; I-680 north exit 46A
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

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References

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  1. ^ California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (XLS file) on September 5, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. ^ California Highways: State Route 24
  3. ^ "Vehicle Code Section 31301 - Caldecott Tunnel Restriction". California Department of Motor Vehicles. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  4. ^ California Department of Transportation (August 2019). "Officially Designated State Scenic Highways and Historic Parkways" (XLSX). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  5. ^ California Road Atlas and Driver's Guide (Map). Thomas Brothers. 2000. p. L,158,156.
  6. ^ The Road Atlas (Map). Rand McNally. 2008. p. 13.
  7. ^ "Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1". California Streets and Highways Code. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: San Francisco–Oakland, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  9. ^ Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  10. ^ "Article 2.5 of Chapter 2 of Division 1". California Streets & Highways Code. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  11. ^ California Department of Transportation (August 2019). "Officially Designated State Scenic Highways and Historic Parkways" (XLSX). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  12. ^ California Department of Transportation (2012). Scenic Highway Guidelines (PDF). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. p. 5. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
  13. ^ "Berkeley Statue Honors Quiet Pharmacist Who Fought To End Housing Discrimination". CBS SF Bay Area. 18 July 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  14. ^ California Department of Transportation; California State Transportation Agency (January 2021). 2020 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. pp. 29, 272, 334. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2022.
  15. ^ CalTrans State Highway Routes Selected Information 1995, p.39
  16. ^ 1936 Shell Oil Street Guide and Metropolitan Map of San Francisco and Bay Cities, H. M. Gousha Company.
  17. ^ Road Map of North Central California (Map) (undated, before 1956 ed.). National Automobile Club. § Section 2.
  18. ^ a b "State Route 24 Freeway Interchanges" (PDF). California Numbered Exit Uniform System. California Department of Transportation. March 16, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  19. ^ Hua, Vanessa (2003-04-04). "Life, times along Martin Luther King Jr. Way". SFGate. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  20. ^ Scheck, Andy (2010-02-03). "Wilder Road". Lamorinda Weekly. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
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