California State Route 126

{{Infobox road |state=CA |type=SR |route=126 |alternate_name=Santa Paula Freeway, Telegraph Road |section=426 |maint=Caltrans |map=California State Route 126.svg |length_mi=47.167 |length_round=3 |length_ref= and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.

Route description

State Route 126 generally follows the Santa Clara River through the valley, passing through the towns of Fillmore and Santa Paula.

The section connecting Santa Paula and Ventura is a freeway, with Route 126 becoming a four-lane throughway east of Santa Paula to its eastern terminus. It is legally known as the Santa Paula Freeway from its starting point in Ventura to the end of the freeway portion near the eastern city limits of Santa Paula. The rest of the highway within Ventura County is known as Telegraph Road, with the exception of the section through the city of Fillmore, which is known as Ventura Street. Upon entering Los Angeles County west of Castaic, it is known as Henry Mayo Drive. State Route 126 is the main route from Ventura County to the San Joaquin Valley via Interstate 5. The highway is officially designated The Korean War Veterans' Memorial Highway.

The highway is a important connector highway in Ventura County, and serves as an alternate route into the Santa Clarita and San Fernando Valleys, the High Desert of Antelope Valley, and Los Angeles. The freeway portion of the highway - called the Santa Paula Freeway - begins in Ventura at U.S. Route 101. It proceeds northeast through the city, and then through the area of agriculture, orchards, and the Saticoy Oil Field to its northeast, continuing through Santa Paula and terminating at Hallock Drive east of State Route 150. SR 126 continues as divided highway thereafter. This section extends through Fillmore, the edge of Piru and the important historical Rancho Camulos. It is signed as State Route 126 throughout its length.

History

In the late 1950s, the freeway was originally planned to continue all the way to the Antelope Valley Freeway in what is now Santa Clarita. In the face of anti-development pressure from Ventura County citizens, and suffering from severe financial problems as a result of the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and the late-1970s California tax revolt, Caltrans abandoned these plans. The only remnants of these plans are the two long ramps to and from the Antelope Valley Freeway at the Sierra Highway exit 6A in Santa Clarita. Newhall Ranch Road in Santa Clarita, a six to eight-lane divided local road, continues from the current terminus of SR 126 at Interstate 5 and roughly follows the original 1958 route to just past Bouquet Canyon Road on the north side of the Santa Clara River. Current plans are for this road to be connected to Golden Valley Road via an eight-lane bridge across the Santa Clara River. This bridge would connect the road directly to SR 14 at the Golden Valley Road exit, 1 mile south of the originally planned SR 126 connector. On March 27, 2010 the link between SR 126 and SR 14 was completed. The result will be the connection of Newhall Ranch Road/SR 126 with Golden Valley Road/SR 14. The roadway will be a complete 50 mile highway between U.S. 101 and SR 14 with no overlap with Interstate 5 and the longer drive through Santa Clarita. As it was previously, this will provide a single road link between SR 14 and U.S. 101. State maintenance will end at Interstate 5 though with the road continuing uninterrupted with 6 lanes to SR 14.

Major intersections

: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 county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column. {| class=wikitable !County !Location !Postmile
!Exit !Destinations !Notes |- |rowspan=11|Ventura
VEN 0.00-R34.64 |rowspan=5|Ventura |0.00 |1A | |Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |- |0.00 |1B |Main Street |Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |- |1.45 |1C | Victoria Avenue to US 101 south (Ventura Freeway, SR 1 south) |Signed as exit 1 eastbound |- |2.80 |3 |Kimball Road | |- |R5.03 |5 | | |- | |R8.91 |9 |Briggs Road | |- |rowspan=4|Santa Paula |R10.38 |10 |Peck Road | |- |R11.37 |11 |Palm Avenue | |- |R12.04 |12 | | |- !colspan=4|East end of freeway |- |Fillmore |21.14 | | | |- |rowspan=3|Los Angeles
LA R0.00-R5.83 | |R5.46 |40A |Castaic Junction |Interchange; eastbound exit only |- |rowspan=2|Santa Clarita |R5.83 |40 | |Interchange; signed as exits 40B (south) and 40C (north) |- |R5.83 | |Newhall Ranch Road |Continuation beyond I-5; connects to Golden Valley Road and SR 14 |}

External links

California @ WestCoastRoads - State Route 126

Caltrans: Route 126 highway conditions

California Highways: SR 126

References

126 State Route 126 State Route 126 126