Interstate 8 in California

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Interstate 8 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Defined by S&HC § 308, maintained by Caltrans
Length:	171.856 mi[1] (276.575 km)
Formed:	1964 (from US 80)
West end:	Nimitz Boulevard, Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in Ocean Beach
Major junctions:	I-5 in San Diego I-15 in San Diego SR 67 in El Cajon SR 111 near El Centro
East end:	I-8 at Arizona state line
State highways in California (list - pre-1964) < SR 7 SR 9 > History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

Interstate 8 in San Diego, from the San Diego Trolley.

In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 8 (I-8) runs from Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego to the California-Arizona state line. The highway is a major commuter route in the San Diego Metropolitan Area and the primary east-west throughfare. It serves the cities of San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon, and El Centro.

[edit] Route description

I-8 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System,^[3] though it is not an official state scenic highway.^[4] It is officially known as the Border Friendship Route from San Diego to the Arizona state line.^[5] It is also signed as the Ocean Beach Freeway west of Interstate 5 and as the Kumeyaay Highway (after the local Native American tribe) for the entire length within San Diego County.

Interstate 8 begins at the intersection of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Nimtz Boulevard. For its first few miles, it parallels the San Diego River Floodway east. Near Old Town, I-8 intersects with Interstate 5 as well as with the former State Route 209. I-8 continues eastward, bisecting the area known as "Hotel Circle." As I-8 enters Mission Valley, it has junctions with State Route 163, Interstate 805 (Jack Schrade Interchange), and Interstate 15 and its continuation, State Route 15. In La Mesa, I-8 interchanges with State Route 125. I-8 continues into El Cajon, where it intersects with State Route 67 before it ascends into the mountains and the Cleveland National Forest, traveling through towns such as Alpine and Pine Valley. I-8 intersects with State Route 79 in the national forest before descending into the Imperial Valley and passing through the La Posta and Campo Indian reservations. In Boulevard, I-8 intersects with the eastern end of State Route 94.^[6][7]

Interstate 8 straddles the San Diego-Imperial county line for a few miles before turning east. While going over the mountain pass into the Imperial Valley, I-8's roadways are separated by a considerable distance. This is because the eastbound lanes traverse the pass on the former roadbed of US-80. The westbound lanes were placed on a different routing, and the result is the grade-separated crossing of the eastbound and westbound lanes^[8]. In the Imperial Valley, I-8 intersects with State Route 98, a highway leading to Calexico. I-8 then goes through Coyote Wells before entering the city of El Centro several miles later. In El Centro, I-8 intersects with State Route 86 and State Route 111, both north-south routes which connect to Interstate 10 in the Coachella Valley (north of the Salton Sea), before State Route 115 and State Route 98 merge with I-8. The freeway then traverses the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area and intersects with State Route 186 leading to Mexico. Interstate 8 then passes through Winterhaven before crossing the Colorado River into Yuma, Arizona^[6][7] on a bridge built in 1978^[8].

Interstate 8 in San Diego, California near Mission Valley

[edit] History

Interstate 8 replaced California's section of U.S. Route 80, which had existed from around 1929 until 1964. The original designations of US-80 in California were as LRN 12 (since 1909) from San Diego to El Centro, and as LRN 27 (since 1915) from El Centro to Arizona. I-8 was accepted as a chargeable interstate in 1957^[8], and was signed as Interstate 8 in 1964^[9]. The "Ocean Beach Freeway" section west of I-5 was completed by 1967^[10] as LRN 286 and was later designated as SR 109; it was later added to Interstate 8 in 1972^[8].

[edit] 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 some county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [1][11][12]	#[13]	Destinations	Notes
San Diego SD T0.41-R77.77	San Diego	T0.41-T0.47		Nimitz Boulevard, Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – Mission Bay Park	At-grade intersection
		L1.21	1	West Mission Bay Drive, Sports Arena Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		L2.38	2	I-5 south (San Diego Freeway) – Downtown San Diego	Westbound exit is part of exit 2B
		L2.38	2A	I-5 north (San Diego Freeway) – Los Angeles	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			2B	Rosecrans Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former SR 209 south
		R0.36	2C	Morena Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.95	3	Taylor Street, Hotel Circle
		2.23	4A	Hotel Circle
		2.41	4	SR 163 (Cabrillo Freeway) – Escondido, Downtown San Diego	Signed as exits 4B (south) and 4C (north) eastbound and exits 4A (south) and 4B (north) westbound
		3.04	5	Mission Center Road, Auto Circle
		3.90	6A	Texas Street, Qualcomm Way
		4.38	6B	I-805 – Los Angeles, National City, Chula Vista
		5.64	7	I-15 north (Escondido Freeway) / SR 15 south (Escondido Freeway) – Riverside, San Diego	Signed as exits 7A (south) and 7B (north) westbound
		6.27	8	Mission Gorge Road, Fairmount Avenue	Eastbound exit is part of exit 7
		7.06	9	Waring Road
		8.34	10	College Avenue	Serves San Diego State University
	La Mesa	9.59	11	Lake Murray Blvd, 70th Street
		10.57	12	Fletcher Parkway, Baltimore Drive
		10.97	13A	Spring Street – Downtown La Mesa	No westbound exit
		11.10	13A	El Cajon Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former I-8 Bus. west
		11.76	13B	Jackson Drive, Grossmont Boulevard	No eastbound entrance
		12.12	14B	La Mesa Boulevard, Grossmont Center Drive	Signed as exit 14B weastbound
		12.34	14A	SR 125 to SR 94	Signed as exit 14A eastbound
		12.65	14C	Severin Drive, Fuerte Drive
	El Cajon	13.66	15	El Cajon Boulevard (I-8 Bus. east)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		14.59	16	Main Street
		15.30	17A	Johnson Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		15.80	17	SR 67 north / Magnolia Avenue – El Cajon Civic Center, Downtown El Cajon	Signed as exits 17B (SR 67) and 17C (Magnolia Avenue) eastbound
		16.47	18	Mollison Avenue
		17.36	19	2nd Street	Former SR 54 west
		17.83	20A	East Main Street (I-8 Bus. west)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		R18.73	20B	Greenfield Drive – Crest	Signed as exit 20 eastbound
		R20.04	22	Los Coches Road – Lakeside
		R21.82	23	Lake Jennings Park Road
		R25.69	27	Dunbar Lane – Harbison Canyon
		R28.46	30	Tavern Road (I-8 Bus. east) – Alpine
		R31.34	33	Willows Road, Alpine Boulevard (I-8 Bus. west) – Alpine
		R34.33	36	East Willows Road
		R37.83	40	SR 79 north (Japatul Road) – Julian
		R43.53	45	Pine Valley, Julian
		R44.93	47	Sunrise Highway (CR S1)
		R48.84	51	Buckman Springs Road
		R51.98	54	Kitchen Creek Road – Cameron Station
		R61.15	61	Crestwood Road – Live Oak Springs
		R65.90	65	SR 94 west – Campo, Boulevard
		R73.95	73	Jacumba
		R77.58	77	In-Ko-Pah Park Road
Imperial IMP R0.00-R96.99		R3.09	80	Mountain Springs Road
		R10.01	87	SR 98 east – Calexico	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Ocotillo	R11.92	89	Imperial Highway (CR S2) – Octotillo
		R23.48	101	Dunaway Road
		R29.93	107	Drew Road (CR S29) – Seeley
		R33.99	111	Forrester Road (CR S30)
	El Centro	R36.97	114	Imperial Avenue (I-8 Bus. east) – El Centro
		R37.97	115	SR 86 (4th Street, I-8 Bus. west) – El Centro
		R38.96	116	Dogwood Road (CR S31)
		R40.94	118	SR 111 – Brawley, Indio, Calexico	Signed as exits 118A (south) and 118B (north)
		R42.54	120	Bowker Road
		R47.78	125	SR 7 south (Orchard Road, CR S32)
		R50.49	128	Bonds Corner Road	Former SR 115
		R53.50	131	SR 115 (Van Der Linden Road) – Holtville	Former US 80
		R65.75	143	SR 98 west – Calexico
		R68.83	146	Brock Research Center Road
		R73.48	151	Gordons Well
		80.80	156	Grays Well Road
		R83.82	159	Ogilby Road (CR S34)
	Felicity	R88.70	164	Sidewinder Road
		R90.74	166	SR 186 south (Algodones Road) – Andrade
		R94.98	170	Winterhaven Drive (CR S24, I-8 Bus. east) – Winterhaven
		R96.55	172	Winterhaven Drive, Fourth Avenue (I-8 Bus. west) – Winterhaven
		R96.99	Arizona state line

[edit] El Centro business loop

Interstate 8 Business Loop
Location	El Centro, California

Business Loop Interstate 8 is a business loop route that diverges from Interstate 8 in El Centro, California to pass through the downtown area. Business Interstate 8 originates and terminates with I-8 and acts as a direct link to El Centro as I-8 bypasses the downtown area.

Business Interstate 8's path through El Centro traces roughly three sides of a rectangle with I-8 constituting the fourth side. Bus-8 begins at its western terminus with I-8 by going north along Imperial Avenue. When Bus-8 reaches the intersection of Adams Avenue it turns east along that road. Along this stretch Bus-8 is joined by State Route 86 which approaches from the north along Imperial Ave, and by Imperial County Route S80 which approaches from the west along Adams Ave. The three routes continue joined as Adams Ave ends and turns south along Fourth Ave where S80 then turns to continue east. Bus-8 and SR 86 continue south running concurrent until Bus-8 reaches its eastern terminus with I-8.

The Imperial Ave section of Bus-8 is city maintained by El Centro, the rest of Bus-8 is state maintained due to its concurrency with SR 86.

Along its concurrency with SR 86, Bus-8 is part of the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail.

[edit] See also

• All-American Canal Bridge

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 8 in California

• California Highways, Routes 1 through 8, CaHighways.org
• Old SR 209 and the Cabrillo National Monument, Floodgap.com

Interstate 8
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