User:Gill Giller Gillerger/U.S. Route 199 in California

In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 199 (US 199) is a U.S. highway in the U.S. state of California. The route was designated as a spur of the already decommissioned U.S. Route 99, and provided a link for motorists between Eureka and the Oregon state line towards Interstate 5 in Grants Pass. Its alignment in California is similar to that of the Smith River with the exception of converting the interchange connecting US 199 and US 101 into a grade separation. The route remains as one of the three unchanged U.S. routes throughout the state (the other two being US 95 and US 97.

Route description
US 199 is known as the Redwood Highway, and this route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. Much of US 199 is located within the boundaries of the Smith River National Recreation Area in the Six Rivers National Forest throughout, passing by settlements of Hiouchi and Gasquet. The route generally follows the alignment of the Smith River and the historic Crescent City Plank Road. The entire route of US 199 is known as the Redwood Highway and is designated as the Smith River Scenic Byway.

US 199 begins at a grade interchange with US 101 just north of Crescent City. The route quickly but briefly goes through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and junctions with Elk Valley Cross Road (County Route D2) and North Bank Road (State Route 197) within its boundaries. Both junctions lead back to US 101. As soon as US 199 leaves the park, it continues to the east, crossing the Hiouchi Bridge across the Smith River and going through the Hiouchi Village. Still continuing east, the route parallels the Middle Fork Smith River while it goes through Gasquet and Patrick Creek, the settlements of the American workers. While the Middle Fork Smith River continues to the east, US 199 curves up to the northeast as it gains elevation and approaches the Oregon Mountain. The route finally curves to the north as it reaches through the Collier Tunnel at the Hazel View Summit. Upon leaving the summit, US 199 descends nearby the Broken Kettle Creek before it reaches the Oregon state line.

History
By 1854, Crescent City had a population of 800 civilians and 300 housing units, and the city became a center of trade and commerce. To improve the transportation of goods, members of the Crescent City businesses planned a meeting on June 10, 1854 and they agreed on building a "plank and turnpike road" for transportation of stagecoaches and wagons. The alignment "plank and turnpike road" was similar to that of present US 199. By October, the alignment of the route was finalized and the members decided that the road be constructed from Crescent City to the Oregon Mountains. However in 1855, an economic failure struck businesses and goods disappeared, thus ultimately the project to build the plank road was abandoned at the time and therefore postponed. With the discovery of gold near Elk Creek by December 1856, businesses improved again and they were now managed by the Crescent City Plank Road and Turnpike Company, and the company decided to start building the plank road by early 1857.

In 1857, the Crescent City Plank Road and Turnpike Company started their construction on the road at an intersection with present day U.S. Route 101 near Crescent City. The alignment was a corduroy road as it consisted of timbers that lay across its width, covering a bed of small rocks and gravel. In June 1857, the company levied taxes on all stock shares in order to speed the construction of the plank road. By May 1858, the entire segment of the plank road was completed and was officially named the Crescent City Plank Road. The road's alignment traversed through the Six Rivers National Forest, roughly following the alignment of present day US 199 and making stops at several refugee areas nearby the Smith River, and terminating its final stretch in Jacksonville, Oregon. Following the construction of the plank road, the segment was named Wimer Road and is shown on some USGS topographic maps.

By the late 1870s, Horace Gasquet - a French immigrant - regulated his business activities by building trails in areas around Gold Mountain and establishing stores in Waldo, Happy Camp, and the Gasquet Village. In order to improve the efficiency of his commerce, Gasquet agreed with the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors to provide the funding for the construction of a toll road. Gasquet's labor force of sixty (60) Chinese American workers started the project in 1881. The completed Gasquet toll road conncected with old sections of the Crescent City Plank Road and swerved through Patrick and Shelly Creeks and into Waldo, Oregon. After the completion of the toll road in 1887, Nels Christensen built a toll-free road along the South Fork Smith River, which connected the Crescent City plank road in Elk Valley and the Gasquet Toll Road. In addition, Gasquet contributed to Christensen's work by constructing a suspension bridge in the route across South Fork waterway. Del Norte County, who currently maintains the bridge, extended the route across the Howland Summit and connecting to the Crescent City Plank Road in Crescent City. In addition, the segment served as a shortcut to the Cold Springs Mountain Trail between the two locales.

The Gasquet Toll Road and Christensen's route was renamed as the Redwood Highway in 1924, five years after the route was added to the state highway system as part of the third bond issue extending Legislative Route 1. In 1926, the highway became part of the U.S. Highway system and was designated as U.S. Route 199. The thirty-three (33) mile segment of US 199 between its southern terminus at US 101 and the Collier Tunnel has been officially designated as the Smith River Scenic Byway. Also, to the west of the North Bank Road (SR 197) junction the Hiouchi Bridge along the route was completed and was fully open to traffic on June 22, 1929. Since then, the alignment of US 199 remained unchanged to the present day.

Major intersections

 * Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.

The entire route is in Del Norte County.