 State Route 123 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Pablo Avenue | ||||
 SR 123 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans | ||||
| Length | 7.375 mi[1] (11.869 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-580 inOakland | |||
| Major intersections |  SR 13 inBerkeley | |||
| North end |  I-80 inRichmond | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Alameda,Contra Costa | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 123 (SR 123) is a 7.39-mile (11.89 km)state highway in theU.S. state ofCalifornia in theSan Francisco Bay Area. NamedSan Pablo Avenue for almost its entire length except for its northernmost 0.10 miles (0.16 km), SR 123 is a major north–south state highway along the flats of the urbanEast Bay. Route 123 runs betweenInterstate 580 inOakland in the south andInterstate 80 atCutting Boulevard inRichmond in the north. San Pablo Avenue itself, a portion of HistoricUS 40, continues well past the SR 123 designation south toDowntown Oakland and north toCrockett.
SR 123 is a four-lane boulevard with amedian strip for its entire length. Its southern terminus is at the underpass of Interstate 580 inOakland. Going north, it passes through the cities ofEmeryville,Berkeley,Albany, andEl Cerrito. It briefly turns on Cutting Boulevard before enteringRichmond at its northern terminus under Interstate 80.
SR 123/San Pablo Avenue does not directly intersect with I-580 in Oakland, so drivers are instructed to get onto I-580 east via 35th Street, or I-80 east/I-580 west via West MacArthur Boulevard. The I-580 west on-ramp use to end just before the I-80 split at theMacArthur Maze, but was rebuiltc. 1990s to force traffic onto I-80 east and to prevent the merging and weaving of those trying to get onto I-80 west. Signage on I-580 does not mention SR 123; access is via I-580 west exit 19A/San Pablo Avenue/MacArthur Boulevard or I-580 east exit 19B/West Street. Signage on I-80 does not mention SR 123 either on SR 123's official northern terminus at exit 15/Cutting Boulevard or at the San Pablo Avenue intersection further north at I-80 exit 16B.
San Pablo Avenue is sometimes used as an alternate route to theEastshore Freeway (I-80/I-580) when that freeway becomes very congested. Major intersections along this route include 40th Street, Ashby Avenue (SR 13),University Avenue (which leads toUC Berkeley), Gilman Street, Marin Avenue, Central Avenue and Cutting Boulevard.
Continuing on San Pablo Avenue past SR 123's southern terminus eventually leads toDowntown Oakland andOakland City Hall where San Pablo Avenue ends. Continuing north on San Pablo Avenue after SR 123 turns west onto Cutting Boulevard in Richmond leads to the cities ofSan Pablo,Pinole,Hercules,Rodeo, andCrockett. In Hercules, San Pablo Avenue meets the terminus ofSR 4 near I-80, and, after a discontinuity bridged by Parker Avenue in Rodeo, the road approaches theCarquinez Bridge and arrives in Crockett as Pomona Street.
AnAC Transit Rapid Bus (72R-San Pablo Rapid) runs along San Pablo Avenue from Downtown Oakland toContra Costa College in San Pablo. The express bus line was put in place after aMetropolitan Transportation Commission study determined that it would be more cost-effective than a previous proposal to installlight rail along the route[citation needed]. TheBay Area Rapid Transit system runs its Richmond legparallel to the route up to theEl Cerrito del Norte station.
TheAlvarado Adobe is located by the San Pablo City Hall on the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane.
SR 123 is part of theNational Highway System,[2] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by theFederal Highway Administration.[3]
San Pablo Avenue is one of the oldest existing roads in the East Bay. It originated in the Spanish colonial era as the Camino de la Contra Costa ("road of the opposite shore", i.e. opposite from thePresidio of San Francisco and the settlement around the Mission in San Francisco) and was legally a "camino real"[4] ("royal road", i.e., property of the Spanish crown) until Mexico won its independence in 1821. It ran from the Encinal ("Oakland") landings of theRancho San Antonio northward (actually northwestward) along the bayshore, then eastward just inland of theCarquinez Strait. It was the principal thoroughfare for the scattered ranches throughout this part of the East Bay.
The name persisted into the American era, when it was still called the "Contra Costa Road". On July 15, 1852, theCourt of Sessions ofContra Costa County ordered the construction of a more direct and somewhat improved road along the same general route between theRancho San Pablo and Oakland,[5] which consequently became known as "The San Pablo Road". This segment subsequently became today's "San Pablo Avenue".
In 1927, this road was designated as part of theLincoln Highway, the nation's first transcontinental road, upon the opening of the newhighway bridge across the Carquinez Strait.
Prior to the construction of the Eastshore Highway, San Pablo Avenue was the main north–south route through the northern East Bay, carrying the designationU.S. Route 40 north of University Avenue in Berkeley (US 40 proceeded down to the foot ofUniversity Avenue and the end of theBerkeley Pier where an auto ferry transported motorists to theHyde Street Pier in San Francisco). U.S. 40 was moved to the new highway after it was built (1930s), and about 25 years later took its current designation of Interstate 80. San Pablo Avenue was Business U.S. 40 until 1964.
During 2005–06, San Pablo Avenue was repaved and otherwise rehabilitated byCaltrans.Portions of San Pablo Avenue, particularly in Berkeley, Albany, and El Cerrito, are slowly transforming, with a mix of shops, restaurants and condominium developments.
In the early part of the 20th century, astreetcar line ran on San Pablo between Richmond and Oakland. Part of the Oakland segment of these tracks up to Grayson Street in Berkeley were used during World War II for theShipyard Railway of theKey System which transported workers from the Key System's hub in Emeryville to theKaiser Shipyards in Richmond.
Except where prefixed with a letter,postmiles were measured on the road as it was in1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, seeCalifornia postmile § Official postmile definitions).[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [1][6][7] | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda ALA 0.00-5.18 | Oakland | 0.00 | San Pablo Avenue south | Continuation beyond I-580 | |
   I-580 east (MacArthur Freeway) /SR 24 east (Grove-Shafter Freeway) –Hayward,Stockton,Walnut Creek | Southern terminus; access to I-580 east/SR 24 east via 35th Street; I-580 east exit 19B; SR 24 east exit 2B | ||||
| Emeryville | 0.01 | I-80 east (I-580 west,Eastshore Freeway) | On-ramp was reconfigured in the 1990s to close off outbound access to I-80 west; access via West MacArthur Boulevard; I-580 west exit 19A | ||
| Berkeley | 1.91 |  SR 13 (Ashby Avenue) toI-80 (I-580,Eastshore Freeway) –Walnut Creek,San Francisco | |||
| Contra Costa CC 0.00-2.20 | El Cerrito | 1.75 |  Potrero Avenue toI-80 west (Eastshore Freeway) –Oakland,San Francisco | ||
| 2.10 | San Pablo Avenue north, Cutting Boulevard east | SR 123 north turns onto Cutting Boulevard west | |||
| Richmond | 2.20 | I-80 east (Eastshore Freeway) –Sacramento | Northern terminus; no outbound access to I-80 west, no inbound access from I-80 east; I-80 east exit 15 | ||
| Cutting Boulevard west –San Rafael | Continuation beyond I-80 | ||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
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