State Route 132 (SR 132) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that connects the Central Valley with the

Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex: the plants and animals are a significant ...

and the

California Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...

. Its western segment also connects the city of

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

with the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

via I-580, although this route is discouraged due to it being a two-lane road between Modesto and Interstate 5 (motorists are instead encouraged to take SR 120 in Manteca to I-5 and

I-205 Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5 * Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area * Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washingt ...

to I-580). East of Modesto, the road climbs the foothills and eventually ends at SR 49 at Coulterville. Portions between I-580 and I-5 are a four-lane freeway, and there are plans to upgrade the portion between I-5 and SR 99 in Modesto to an

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

, with west of SR 99 currently open. Route 132 is a two-lane road important to recreational travelers en route to

Modesto Reservoir Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

, Turlock Reservoir,

Don Pedro Reservoir Don Pedro Reservoir, also known as Lake Don Pedro, is a reservoir formed by the construction of the New Don Pedro Dam across the Tuolumne River in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard As ...

and the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

foothills.

Route description

The route begins in

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning "Joachim, St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...

at Interstate 580, heading eastward as a freeway. After an interchange with Interstate 5, the freeway segment ends and continues as a two-lane highway. After passing SR 33 at an interchange, it enters

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

, where it intersects CR J3. It then heads eastward, then turns north on Dakota Avenue for a short length before turning east onto a two-lane expressway through the city of

, where it intersects SR 99 and SR 108. At the east side of the city, it has a very short concurrency with CR J7 as it exits Modesto and enters

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. As it exits Empire, it intersects numerous county roads as it exits Stanislaus County and enters

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

. After several miles, it exits Tuolumne County and enters

Mariposa County, California Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...

, reaching its east end at SR 49 in Coulterville. SR 132 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both State highways and federal highways in California. It is defined by Article 2 (commenci ...

, and west of the eastern Modesto city limits is part of the National Highway System,
a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

History

The route was established in 1934 from modern day SR 33 to SR 49; in 1959 it was extended west to I-5, and in 1963 to the present-day western terminus at I-580. A major accident occurred on March 5, 1983, when a collision involving a patrol car and another car with three

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

agents inside occurred, killing all three Secret Service agents. This was due to the unusual curve that the road takes on near the end of its course in Mariposa County, created in order to support the hills of the

. The patrol car was hired for a visit that

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

was planning to

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

in March 1983. The city-built "Kansas-Needham Overhead", connecting Kansas Avenue and Needham Street over the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Fresno Subdivision The Fresno Subdivision is a railroad in California owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Mostly built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, the line traverses the San Joaquin Valley on a northwest to southeast alignment. Rou ...

, was aligned for a future connection to a SR 132

west of Modesto. Construction of the first phase of the expressway project began in 2019 and was completed in September 2022. The new alignment starts at the intersection of Maze Boulevard (SR 132) and Dakota Avenue where SR 132 travels north on Dakota for a short distance and then turns east onto a newly-built two-lane expressway to SR 99 and Needham Street, where SR 132 then travels southeast on new one-way auxiliary roadways of 5th and 6th Streets alongside SR 99 (though it is not co-routed) to the interchange of Maze Boulevard, meeting up with SR 108 and SR 132's present day alignment.

Future

A second phase of the SR 132 expressway project west of Modesto is in the proposal stage. It is planned to connect to the recently completed expressway at Dakota Avenue to an approximate location near the intersection of Maze Boulevard (SR 132) and Gates Road / Paradise Road.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{commonscat
California @ AARoads.com - State Route 132Caltrans: Route 132 highway conditions

132 132 may refer to: *132 (number) *AD 132 *132 BC __NOTOC__ Year 132 BC was a year of the Roman calendar, pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius (or, less frequently, year 622 ''Ab ...