California State Route 13
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California State Route 13 is a short loop in Alameda County, California currently built from Interstate 580 in Oakland to Interstate 80 in Berkeley.
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Route description
The route currently begins at Interstate 580 southeast of Oakland and continues north as the Warren Freeway, named after former California Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. The four-lane freeway takes a largely straight path as it runs through a scenic valley. This valley, and hence the highway, almost directly follow the Hayward Fault, and it is predicted that in a major earthquake on that fault, this section of SR-13 may sustain heavy damage.
The city of Piedmont perches on the west hills, which give an imposing shadow over the highway at sunset. The tall and luscious trees on the highway's side make the highway appear more narrow. For most of the day, the freeway experiences only modest traffic, which makes it a speedy bypass around Oakland. On a clear day, the Oakland segment of the freeway offers some spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay Area.
After going through an interchange with California State Route 24, however, 13 takes drastic changes in both its quality and its direction. The freeway ends at an uphill junction and the route is defaulted onto Tunnel Road, a much more narrow two-lane road that bends to the west and winds downhill through a deep forest. Upon reaching the foot of the hill, the street renames itself to Ashby Avenue, a markedly urban (and very busy) two-lane street with an east-west routing. Entering Berkeley, UC Berkeley is north on Telegraph Avenue, while a BART station is located at Adeline Street. Past San Pablo Avenue (California State Highway 123), Route 13 (as Ashby Avenue) runs through a more modest neighborhood before reaching its current end at Interstate 80. Template:-
History
Route 13 was to have been a freeway bypass of Oakland and Berkeley and would have extended south from its present end to the Nimitz Freeway (Route 880). (State law describes an even longer Route 13, which would start further south at Route 61 and end at an unconstructed part of Route 61 west of Emeryville. The latter end would require an interchange over water!) However, local resistance to further freeway construction in Oakland prevented the extension. Similar resistance in Berkeley has kept Route 13 from being built as a freeway north of Route 24, hence its role as a surface street.
State Law
Legal Definition of Route 13
Route 13 is from Route 61 near the Oakland International Airport to Route 61 near Emeryville via the vicinity of Lake Temescal.
Source: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 313 (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=shc&group=00001-01000&file=300-635)
Freeway and Expressway System
The California freeway and expressway system shall also include:[...] Route 13 from: (a) Route 61 near the Oakland International Airport to Route 24. (b) Route 80 to Route 61 near Emeryville.
Source: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 2, Section 253.2 (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=shc&group=00001-01000&file=250-257)
External links
- Caltrans: Route 13 highway conditions (http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr13)
- Cal-NExUS: Route 13 North (http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/signtech/calnexus/reports/thirteennorth.htm)
- Cal-NExUS: Route 13 South (http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/signtech/calnexus/reports/thirteensouth.htm)
- California Highways: Route 13 (http://www.cahighways.org/009-016.html#013)
- The Big Highways Page: California Route 13 (http://yoshihill.home.comcast.net/ca13.html)
Points of Interest
- University of California, Berkeley (http://www.berkeley.edu/)