Альтамонт жотасы: Калифорнияның Диабло тауларындағы өткел

Mountain pass through the Diablo Range in Northern California

Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nearby crossings of the range. The lower of the two, at an elevation of 741 feet (226 m), carries two railroad rights of way (ROWs) and Altamont Pass Road, part of the old Lincoln Highway and the original alignment of US 50 before it was bypassed in 1937. The bypass route travels over the higher summit, at 1009 feet (308 m), and now carries Interstate 580, a major regional highway heavily congested by Central Valley suburbanization. From 1966 to 2008, the Altamont Pass area was home to the Altamont Speedway, which became famous as the site of the 1969 Altamont Free Concert, a large outdoor concert featuring The Rolling Stones and marred by violence. The pass is also known for the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, one of the largest concentrations of wind turbines in the world.

From the time of the California Gold Rush, what is now Altamont Pass was called Livermore's Pass after Robert Livermore, the owner of the Rancho Las Positas and a way station near the pass. After the transcontinental railroad was built through the pass by Chinese laborers in 1869, Altamont, formerly The Summit, became a critical stopping point where helper engines pushed heavy trains over the steep grades of the pass. A narrow road, the Altamont Pass Road (once called the Stockton Road), was an early stagecoach route and formed part of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway. In 1938, Highway 50, a four lane freeway (now called Interstate 580) was built through Altamont Pass, replacing the two lane Altamont Pass Road and bypassing Altamont. Four westbound lanes were later constructed in 1970.