U.S. Route 50 in California

U.S. Route 50
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
Length	108.60 mi (174.77 km)
Major junctions
Major intersections	I-5 in Sacramento BUS 80 in Sacramento
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided State highways in California Interstate US State Scenic History Pre‑1964 Unconstructed Deleted Freeways
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Sign at the western terminus indicating the distances to Placerville, South Lake Tahoe, and the eastern terminus in Ocean City, Maryland.

U.S. Route 50 in California is routed along the corridor of the Lincoln Highway. It enters the state from Nevada near South Lake Tahoe and ends in West Sacramento as the Capital City Freeway at an interchange with Interstate 80. US 50 shares its routing with Business Loop Interstate 80 through Sacramento.

Route description

U.S. 50 begins at the interchange with Interstate 80 in West Sacramento as a major freeway throughfare. It is concurrent with Business Loop 80 and the Capital City Freeway for a few miles before spliting from each other at the interchange with CA-99 in Sacramento. U.S. 50 then heads out into the eastern Sacramento suburbs of Rancho Cordova and Folsom, then traverses the foothills of the Sierra Nevada passing through the communties of El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park and Shingle Springs. The freeway briefly ends in Placerville and begins again in the eastern half of town. It ends again outside city limits, then again begins as a freeway for the final time in California after passing through the town of Camino. The freeway ends for the final time in the state after passing through Pollock Pines and assumes its role mostly as a mountainous two-lane highway through the Sierra Nevada to South Lake Tahoe. U.S. 50 reaches its highest point at Echo Summit, then traverses down gradually to the town of Meyers, where U.S. 50 becomes concurrent with State Route 89 for a few miles. It reaches South Lake Tahoe and the The Y, an intersection where U.S. 50 and CA-89 split in a "Y"-like intersection. From here, U.S. 50 is routed onto Lake Tahoe Boulevard, a four-lane major throughfare through the city of South Lake Tahoe lined with motels, restaurants and retail businesses. Lake Tahoe Boulevard ends at the California-Nevada state line where at that point U.S. 50 crosses into Nevada, meeting with the major casino resorts in the town of Stateline.

History

U.S. 50, at one time, used to extend into San Francisco, CA. Up until the formation of the Interstate Highway System, U.S. 50 traveled south of Sacramento. The highway followed present-day State Route 99 into Stockton. From Stockton the highway traveled through Altamont Pass, the same route as I-580 and I-880 in the Bay Area. Once in Oakland it followed Old U.S. 40 across the Bay Bridge and into San Francisco. To this day, remanences of the old Lincoln Highway are found along California Street in San Francisco.

The West Sacramento terminus once had a sign stating, "US 50 East / Ocean City, MD / 3073 Miles". It was stolen by a fraternity sometime during 2002, and was replaced with a more ordinary mileage sign. When installed, the replacement erroneously listed the distance as 3,037 miles (4,888 km), but it was subsequently patched over with the correct mileage. There is a similar sign at the eastern terminus that indicates the distance to Sacramento, CA (again, 3,073 miles (4,946 km)).

Exit list

County	Location	Postmile		#	Destinations	Notes
		County	Statewide
See BUS 80 exit list for first 5.36 miles.
Sacramento	Sacramento	SAC L2.20	5.36	6A	26th Street	Westbound exit accessible via W Street; eastbound entrance accessible via X Street
		SAC L2.48	5.64	6B	SR 99 south – Fresno	BUS 80 and SR 99 joins westbound and leaves eastbound
				6C	– Reno
		SAC R0.13	5.77	7	34th Street	Eastbound exit only
		SAC R0.38	6.02		Stockton Boulevard	Westbound exit and entrance; eastbound entrance
		SAC R2.01 SAC R2.13	7.65 7.77	8A	59th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		SAC R2.63	8.27	8B	65th Street	Exit 8 westbound
		SAC R3.47 SAC R3.67	9.11 9.31	9	SR 16 east (Howe Avenue) – Jackson; Power Inn Road	Secondary eastbound exit to, and westbound entrance from, Hornet Drive
		SAC R5.33 SAC R5.34	10.97 10.98	11	Watt Avenue	Cloverleaf interchange
	Rancho Cordova	SAC R7.75	13.39	13	Bradshaw Road
		SAC R9.51	15.15	15	Mather Field (Mather Field Road)
		SAC R10.92	16.56	17	Zinfandel Drive
		SAC 12.50	18.14	18	CR E2 (Sunrise Boulevard) – Fair Oaks
		SAC 15.76	21.40	21	CR E3 (Hazel Avenue)
		SAC 16.17	21.81	22	Aerojet Road	Eastbound exit only
	Folsom	SAC 17.01	22.65	23	Folsom Boulevard
		SAC 19.23	24.87	25	Prairie City Road
		SAC 21.50	27.14	27	East Bidwell Street; Scott Road
El Dorado		ED 0.86	29.62	30A	Latrobe Road	Exit 30 westbound
				30B	El Dorado Hills Boulevard
		ED R3.23 ED R3.24	32.85 32.86	32	Bass Lake Road
		ED 4.96	34.58	34	Cambridge Road
		ED 6.57	36.19	35	Cameron Park Drive
		ED R8.56	38.18	37	Ponderosa Road
		ED R10.30	39.92	39	Shingle Springs Drive
		Template:Jctunbuilt|	Template:Jctunbuilt|	Template:Jctunbuilt|40	Template:Jctunbuilt|Shingle Springs Rancheria	Template:Jctunbuilt|Interchange currently under construction
		ED R12.19	41.81	41	Greenstone Road
		ED R14.01	43.63	43	El Dorado Road
		ED R15.06	44.68	44A	Missouri Flat Road
	Placerville	ED 15.83	45.45	44B	Forni Road; Placerville Drive
		ED 16.99	46.61	46	Placerville Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
					Main Street	Eastbound exit only
		End/Begin Freeway. US 50 continues on surface streets.
		ED 17.67	47.29		SR 49	At-grade intersection
		Begin/End Freeway. US 50 approaches on surface streets.
		ED 18.52	48.14	47	Broadway	Eastbound exit only
					Mosquito Road; Main Street	Westbound exit and entrance
		ED 19.12	48.74	48	Schnell School Road
		ED 20.30	49.92	49A	Point View Drive	Exit 49 eastbound
		ED 20.74	50.36	49B	Newton Road; Smith Flat Road	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		End/Begin Freeway. US 50 continues as an expressway.
		Begin/End Freeway. US 50 approaches as an expressway.
		ED R25.95	55.57	54	Cedar Grove; Camino (Carson Road)	Cedar Grove exit eastbound; Camino exit westbound
		ED R28.84	58.46	57	Pollock Pines; Cedar Grove (Ridgeway Drive; Pony Express Trail)	Pollock Pines exit eastbound; Cedar Grove exit westbound
		ED R31.30	60.92	60	CR E16 (Sly Park Road)	Western terminus of unofficial ALT US 50
End/Begin Freeway. US 50 continues on surface streets to South Lake Tahoe.

State law

Hwy 50 in the Sierra Nevadas, looking east to Lake Tahoe

External links

• WestCoastRoads - U.S. Highway 50