This stretch of CA-58 west of Buttonwillow to Santa Margarita is currently experiencing a superbloom. I’ll have footage of it in a few days. Great video! A very lightly traveled road with no services for like 80 miles.
Hi InterstateKyle! That's great to know. Yes, I love that road because of how quiet the road is and because of the scenery. The ranches and the hills all around are really splendid. Thank you for the news about the superbloom. And thank you for watching. -Fred : )
I used to take the 58 all the time during my USAF days at Edward's AFB...it was always rough around Hinkley to Boron..lots of head on collisions. I would also pace trains when it was the Santa Fe...from Barstow to Bakersfield
Yeah Mike, I was so happy when they finally built the divided highway. That road used to make me very nervous. We were once stuck for two hours westbound because there was a terrible wreck at Kramer Junction. People actually got out their camping chairs and sat around on the side of the freeway. I hope that sometime they will make more parts of U.S. 395 divided, especially just north of Red Rock Canyon. Maybe they can keep the two lane road just through the little towns, such as Independence, Big Pine, and such. But otherwise, it would be so much safer to have a divided highway up there.
FYI, Rosedale Highway is no longer being used as Highway 58 from Bakersfield to interstate 5. As of this date, there is a break between where 58 ends at the east side of Highway 99 to Truxton (no off ramp) where 58 restarts as the Centennial Parkway. The parkway then dumps onto Stockdale Highway and continues to I-5. Currently there is an extension from the 99 to Truxton being build to complete the freeway section.
Thank you, repurpbus. Yeah, I can't wait for the feeder lanes from 99 to the Westside Parkway to be completed. It will save so much time. That's why I use both Old River Road and Stockdale to CA SR 43 a lot, just to avoid the Truxtun/Oak/California (or alternately Mohawk to Rosedale) detours. I thought it would be finished this year, but no sign of it being done yet. I've been watching some people you RU-vid run their drones over the almost completed right of way for the feeder lanes. Fun to have watched the progress thus far. Thank you for watching the video! -Fred : )
@@RapidTopography When I lived in Bakersfield in the mid to late 90's, they were calling the project the Centennial Parkway. I see they changed the name. Been through a few times since they have started the work. Stockdale Highway west of Cal State has blown up with housing and retail since I moved.
Actually, I've heard KBAK News refer to it as the Centennial Parkway as recent as a year ago, so the term has probably stuck in some way. I started dating my girl back in 1996, and we used to go from Wasco down to the Edwards Theaters to see a flick, then back up to Wasco, all the while using Stockdale Hwy, Allen Rd, and Santa Fe Way/CA SR 43. There was nothing out there back then where Riverwalk is now. I remember that when we used to turn from Camino Media to Old River, it looked pretty much the same as now. But as soon as we turned west on Stockdale Hwy, it was just dirt fields north and south of Stockdale. I particularly recall the part of Stockdale Hwy that went over the River. Since I didn't know where I was (being from the San Fernando Valley), I kept trying to turn north on Jewetta, and my girlfriend at the time would tell me to keep on going to Allen Rd. There was no Westside Parkway to cross, and no complicated intersection at Allen Rd and Hageman. Just a stop sign for that intersection. It's amazing, as you said, how quickly the area got built up. It's unrecognizable to my 1990's memory of it all. -Fred : )
Vast open spaces, not the California stereotype of redwoods and palm trees. I took 58 a couple of weeks ago, only as far as 43, South to 119, 33 and eventually out to the coast on 166. Interesting that Google recommended avoiding 58, even favoring 46 further North.
Hi Jim, the way you went makes more sense. I did this video just so that people could see what it looks like along the way. I enjoyed it (CA SR 58), and I've taken it quite a few times. But it has a lot of curves and takes up a lot of time if someone is just trying to get to the coast. I would either take CA SR 116 or CA SR 46 to U.S. 101. Those are shorter, faster routes. -Fred
It’s a beautiful road trip! Thanks for the ride😊😊 a few years back I drove from Texas to Monterey by my self and thought I missed a turn on the 5 going north; anyway I stoped ( I don’t Rea member where; somewhere off the 5 and asked if there was a road that would take me to 101 from there on the 5 he said yes you go two bridges up you will see a long long bridge that’s the one you take that will take you all the way to 101. I have seen all the videos on RU-vid and none of them take me to that road, I’ll tell you… that road has lots of tree nursery’s and lots of stores where they sell honey, it’s a beautiful road it’s a four lane going east and west but for the life of me I can’t find it! I don’t remember the road number ether , I have looked at ALL the RU-vid videos going that way and none of those are it,46 is the one we always take 41 is not it ether, can someone please help me if you know what I’m talking about please?thank you so much:
Hi Artemisa, thank you for the compliment. And regarding your road, I'm going to think about it for a long time and see if I can come up with it. The tricky thing you wrote is that it was a four-lane road. There are only a couple that I can think of, and one of them is the one you mentioned, CA SR 46. But it's mostly barren as you well know until you get about past Cholame, and then it gets a bit greener. But then, as you know, it also goes down to two lanes for a while there. Then, there are CA SR 152 & CA SR 156. They take you to U.S. 101 on the way to Gilroy and to Monterey, respectively. It's much greener up there. First, from Interstate 5, you pass the San Luis Reservoir heading east from Interstate 5, and then work your way over the coastal range on a four-lane highway towards the more fertile valley where U.S. 101 runs north and south. I'm guessing that since you said you checked all of the routes, that you did check this one too. But in case you didn't, here is the drive going west on it from just east of Interstate 5 in a little town called Los Baños to Monterey (so CA SR 152 to CA SR 156). The only thing about this video is that I started out at almost dusk, so it's getting darker throughout the video. But I think that you should be able to see enough. The sections I'm talking about would be about half way through the video since you first have to get over the coastal range, the east side of which is pretty barren. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UjGsxhQkz5g.html If this is not it, please let me know and I'll keep looking for some other four-lane highway. Thank you for watching. -Fred : )
Ahh i love both twisty sides of 58 in a nice car built for corners !! diana,could you have been farther south? highway 126 has 4 lanes and is all; citrus stands and some honey spots
Yeah, the 178 is curvy, but it's also right along the Kern River there where there are a lot of accidents often. So I usually take the 58, and then cut through Caliente and come into Lake Isabella from the southest. It's a nice way to go, though longer. I don't know of the old 43. But the 58 is co-signed with the 43 for just about a mile before it turns back westward. -Fred : )
Yes, I think they'd have a lot of trouble smoothing out CA SR 58 west of McKittrick to US 101 because the topography is so hilly. So I don't know that if they ever turned CA SR 58 into Interstate 40, that it would ever go past I-5. It would have to remain a state route after I-5 is my guess. Thank you for watching. Fred : )
Man, Steve, I've been counting the days. So tired of the Truxtun to Oak to California Ave work-around. I was just on California Ave passing under the feeder lane, you know, but Hobby Lobby, and I was just imaging how many times in the future I'll be up on that bridge feeling so relieved. Thank you for watching, Steve. -Fred : )
That's a good question. I think that for a smoother, easier ride, I would go 40 west to 58 west to 99 south to 166 west to US 101 and north from there. The thing about going through Santa Barbara is that it takes you pretty far south. So I would do the above. CA SR 166 isn't too bad. It's a little rolling, but not like CA SR 58. I hope that you enjoy your drive! And thank you for watching the video. Fred : )
Why wasn’t California state route 33 built as a four lane freeway across the Central Valley Similar to interstate 5. Travel would be faster if California state route 33 was a four lane freeway across Maricopa, Taft, Mc Kittrick and Lost Hills. Why wasn’t California state route 33 built to be a second freeway west of interstate 5 through the Central Valley.
That's a great questions, Dustino. I'm sure the answer is money, but it's aligned so straightly already in most sections that it could carry a lot of traffic with probably minimal impact construction-wise. I've never thought of that before. Thank you for watching the video. -Fred : )
