State Route 59 (SR 59) 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
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 sover ...
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 ...
located entirely in
Merced County
Merced County ( ), is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after ...
. It connects
State Route 152 near
El Nido to the city of
Merced
Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...
and beyond, ending abruptly at the intersection of County Routes
J59 and
J16 in
Snelling.
Route description
SR 59 begins at
SR 152 as Los Banos Highway. The highway travels north through the town of
El Nido until entering the city of
Merced
Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...
, where it runs concurrently with the
SR 99 freeway and with
SR 140. SR 59 leaves the concurrency on the west side of Merced and travels north as the Snelling Highway. The highway winds up 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 until it passes through
Snelling, where it ends.
SR 59 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 ...
,
but except for a portion in Merced 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 a ...
.
Future
In January 2010, the Tuolumne County board of supervisors made a formal request to the state to add the entire length of County Route J59 as a northerly extension of State Route 59 from its terminus in Snelling, Merced County, to the intersection of State Routes 108 and 120 in Tuolumne County.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
*
Compass Maps
Compass Maps was a U.S. publisher of road maps. It was based in Modesto, California.
It was founded in 1963 by Dick and Shirley Elke. They produced high
quality maps of Northern and Southern California. They also did some
maps of places in ...
: Merced, Atwater, Merced County
External links
{{commons category
California Highways: Route 59Caltrans: Route 59 highway conditions
059
State Route 059
Merced, California