State Route 119 (SR 119), named as the Taft Highway along its entire length, is a
state highway in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
that runs in an east–west direction from
State Route 33 in
Taft to
State Route 99 in
Bakersfield. SR 119 is part of the former
U.S. Route 399
U.S. Route 399 was a U.S. Highway in the state of California that ran from Ventura to Bakersfield. It was established in 1934 and decommissioned in 1964, as it was only long, less than the minimum that the American Association of State Highway ...
, which ran along SR 33 and
State Route 166 before ending at SR 99 (known as US 99 before 1964). Today, it serves as the main connector between the extreme southwestern corner of the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
and Bakersfield.
Route description
SR 119 starts at SR 33 near the southern end of Taft. It travels north on Taft Highway on the eastern edge of the city. Leaving the city, the road continues north through the oil producing foothills of the western
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
. The road then turns northeast and enters the valley. Here it passes through the towns of
Valley Acres and
Dustin Acres. Unlike most of the San Joaquin Valley, little farming is done in this portion of the valley. The road then turns east, and crosses I-5. The route enters agricultural land as it continues east. It then terminates at SR 99 in southern Bakersfield. Taft Highway continues as a county road to Union Avenue (old US 99 and
SR 99 Business), where it becomes Panama Road.
Highway 119 is commonly known as Taft Highway. It passes through some of Kern County's most famous oil fields, including the
Midway-Sunset, the third-largest oil field in the United States; the
Buena Vista Oil Field The Buena Vista Oil Field, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2 (NPR-2) is a large oil field in Kern County, San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States. Discovered in 1909, and having a cumulative production of approximately , it is ...
; and runs adjacent to the
Elk Hills Oil Field
The Elk Hills Oil Field (formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1) is a large oil field in western Kern County, in the Elk Hills of the San Joaquin Valley, California in the United States, about west of Bakersfield. Discovered in 1911, ...
, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, infamous as one of the two illicit leases – the other being
Teapot Dome – that were part of the scandal which marred the administration of President
Warren G. Harding in the 1920s.
SR 119 is not 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 ...
.
History
SR 119 was created in 1933 as a state route as
Legislative Route
In the United States, a legislative route (LR) or legislative highway is a highway defined by laws passed in a state legislature. The numbering of such highways may or may not correspond to the numbers familiar to the public as part of the state, ...
140. Originally, its definition was from Taft to Legislative Route Number (LRN) 4 (currently SR 99) in
Greenfield (not to be confused with
Greenfield in
Monterey County), and from LRN 4 to LRN 58 (currently SR 58) via
Arvin
Arvin is a city in Kern County, California. Arvin is located southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of . As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census.
In 2007, the United States Environmental Protec ...
. The western portion was signed as part of US 399, the eastern portion was unsigned. In 1959, the eastern portion was dropped from LRN 140 and became its own state route, defined as LRN 264, and later as the signed route SR 223. After the California renumbering of state routes in 1964, LRN 140 would become SR 119. US 399 was decommissioned that year, so the route was also signed SR 119.
Route 113-120
CAHighway.org. Accessed: 11-18-2009.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
External links
{{commonscat
Caltrans: Route 119 highway conditions
119
119 may refer to:
* 119 (number), a natural number
* 119 (emergency telephone number)
* AD 119, a year in the 2nd century AD
* 119 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
* 119 (album), 2012
* 119 (NCT song)
*119 (Show Me the Money song)
* 119 (film), a ...
State Route 119
State Route 119