State Route 198 (SR 198) is an east–west 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 ...

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 from U.S. Route 101 (US 101) south of King City to

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief ...

. It connects the

California Central Coast The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles County and south of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and includes the rugged, undeveloped ...

to the mid– Central Valley through Hanford and

Visalia Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

, although the most developed portion is in the Central Valley itself. SR 198 intersects the major north–south routes in the Central Valley, including

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

(I-5), SR 33, and SR 99. The highway that would become SR 198 was approved for construction in the 1910s through three bond issues, and was added to the state highway system in 1934. Parts of the highway were upgraded to freeway during the 1960s. Another portion was converted to an expressway in between Hanford and Visalia, and was completed in late 2012.

Route description

The road begins at a remote interchange with

US 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

south of King City in the Salinas River Valley. Leaving US 101, SR 198 passes through the Priest Valley, climbs the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

as a two-lane road and crosses over an unnamed pass. It then descends along Warthan Canyon to the town of

Coalinga Coalinga ( or ) is a city in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley, in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas. It was formerly known as ''Coaling Station A'', ''Coalingo'', and ''Coalinga Station''. Th ...

in the agricultural Central Valley, where it briefly runs concurrently with SR 33. On both sides of Coalinga the road passes through the enormous

Coalinga Oil Field The Coalinga Oil Field is a large oil field in western Fresno County, California, in the United States. It surrounds the town of Coalinga, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, to the west of Interstate 5, at the foot of the Diabl ...

. SR 198 then intersects

(I-5) in

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

near the Harris Ranch Airport before becoming a freeway west of Lemoore. The landscape becomes a bit less rural as it goes through Hanford and passes near the Hanford Municipal Airport, where it continues as a four-lane expressway from the intersection with SR 43 until SR 198 encounters a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

-to-freeway interchange with SR 99 as it enters

, the largest city it passes through, and goes by the Visalia Municipal Airport. It remains a freeway until east of

, intersecting SR 65 and passing by College of the Sequoias. SR 198 starts to climb the forested Sierra Nevada and ends at the

boundary, near Lake Kaweah, where the road continues through the park as the

Generals Highway The Generals Highway is a highway that connects State Route 180 and State Route 198 through Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada of California. As ...

. This is one of the main routes providing access to Sequoia National Park, the other being SR 180 to the north. SR 198 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 (comme ...

, and east of I-5 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 ...

. SR 198 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacr ...

History

All of SR 198 was added to the state highway system in the three bond issues floated to pay for the construction of the system. The first bond issue, approved by the state's voters in 1910, included the road from

west to Hanford, connecting the two

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

s with the central north–south highway ( Route 4, now SR 99). As part of the 1916 bond issue, the route was extended west from Hanford through

to the coast trunk highway ( Route 2, now

) near San Lucas, and assigned it the Route 10 designation. The third bond issue, passed in 1919, included a further extension east from Visalia to

. The entire length of Route 10 was marked as Sign Route 198 in 1934, and this number was adopted legislatively in the 1964 renumbering. The portion east of

near Coalinga was added to the

in 1959, and parts of it have been built as such. The construction of the freeway east of Visalia to Road 192 was approved in January 1961, with the remainder of the freeway unplanned at that time as contingent on the routing of SR 65. The projected cost in 1958 of the entire freeway east of Visalia was $13 million (equivalent to $ in ) and was scheduled to be completed by 1964. The freeway through Visalia was completed by 1965, with an expressway connecting it to US 99. Also completed was the expressway heading west out of Hanford, with part of it access-controlled west of Lemoore. Construction began in November 2009 on a project to widen a two-lane, section of SR 198 between SR 43 and SR 99 into a four-lane expressway. The $60 million project was completed in December 2012.

Future

The Kings County Association of Governments has plans to improve the state highways within the county. Developers are interested in building distribution warehouses in Kings County because of its strategic location midway between the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, but they are currently turned off by the lack of freeway access. For SR 198, the plan is to extend the freeway segment from

Naval Air Station Lemoore Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a censu ...

to I-5. However, Kings County voters have shown little interest in passing any transportation taxes to fund these projects.

Major intersections

References

External links

California @ AARoads.com - State Route 198

Caltrans: Route 198 highway conditions

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State Route 198 State Route 198 State Route 198 State Route 198