Portal:U.S. roads/Selected article/February 2009

State Route 78 shield

California State Route 78 (SR 78) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Oceanside east to Blythe, traversing the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) in San Diego County and its eastern terminus is at I-10 in Riverside County. The route travels as a freeway through the heavily populated cities of northern San Diego County before turning into a highway running through the Santa Rosa Mountains to Julian. Following this, SR 78 enters Imperial County and travels through the desert near the Salton Sea before turning north to Blythe.

SR 78 was one of the original state highways commissioned in 1934, although portions of the route existed as early as 1900. However, it was not commissioned east of Brawley until 1959. The freeway section in the North County of San Diego that connects Oceanside and Escondido has been improved several times, and there are many projects slated to improve the freeway due to increasing congestion in that region. An expressway bypass of the town of Brawley is also under construction.

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