Автодорога 238 в Калифорнии: Маршрут и история Мишн-Бульвар

Highway in California

Route 238, consisting of State Route 238 (SR 238) and Interstate 238 (I 238), is a mostly north–south state and auxiliary Interstate highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The southern segment is signed as SR 238 and is a divided multilane surface highway that runs parallel to the Hayward hills between I 680 in Fremont and I 580 in Castro Valley. The northern segment is signed as I 238 and is a six lane freeway that runs more east–west between I 580 and I 880 in San Leandro. The numbering of I 238 does not fit within the usual conventions of existing three digit auxiliary Interstate Highways, where a single digit is prefixed to the two digit number of its parent Interstate Highway because I 38 does not exist. The I 238 number was specifically requested by the state of California so it could match the California Streets and Highways Code and because all three digit combinations of I 80 (the primary two digit Interstate in the Bay Area) were already being used in the state.

Route 238 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and 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 (FHWA).

SR 238 runs from I 680 in Fremont to Union City, Hayward and I 580 in Castro Valley parallel to the Hayward hills. Until I 680 was completed in the area and supplanted it completely as a through route, SR 238 extended south to San Jose at its intersection with US Route 101 (US 101). Locally, it is designated Mission Boulevard from I 680 to the intersection with SR 92 and SR 185 (which continues as Mission Boulevard) in Hayward. It is designated as Foothill Boulevard in northern Hayward from A Street to I 580. In Downtown Hayward immediately north of SR 92, northbound traffic continues along the original SR 238 alignment on Foothill Boulevard, while southbound traffic is diverted onto A Street and Mission Boulevard. This loop of one way streets is known as the "Hayward Loop".

Mission Boulevard, the former El Camino Viejo and El Camino Real, is the road that passes in front of Mission San José, the historic Spanish Mission founded in 1797, for which the road is named. Mission Boulevard proceeds in both directions from the Mission, but mainly northwest (the former El Camino Viejo) through Fremont, Union City, and Hayward. At the north end of Hayward, it changes its name to East 14th Street, which continues as a major thoroughfare going through San Leandro and Oakland. Since it runs along the base of the hills, Mission Boulevard nearly coincides with the Hayward Fault, a major earthquake fault, for almost the entire length of the Boulevard. The southern direction from the Mission San José is the former El Camino Real route to Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Mission Boulevard joins the historic centers of the Mission San Jose and Niles districts of Fremont (formerly independent towns), the Decoto district of Union City (formerly an independent town), and Hayward.

Although the 2.23 mile (4 km) I 238 goes in an east–west direction from Castro Valley to San Leandro, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) officially signs it as a north–south freeway since the rest of SR 238 is more north–south. The southern (geographically eastern) terminus of I 238 is at its interchange with I 580 and SR 238 in Castro Valley. From there, it enters into the southern portion of the census designated place of Ashland, running parallel to its border with Cherryland. Then, after entering San Leandro, I 238 ends at its northern (geographically western) terminus with I 880. I 238 and I 880 are used as an alternate truck route between Castro Valley and Oakland; trucks over are prohibited through the latter on I 580.

I 238 does not follow established rules for numbering Interstates as there is no I 38. As it connects two auxiliary routes of I 80, it would normally use a three digit number ending in 80, but, of the nine possible numbers, two (180 and 480) were in use by State Routes (the latter an Interstate until 1968 though SR 480 was deleted in 1991), and the remainder were already in use by other California auxiliary routes. (I 880 was designated at the same time as I 238.)

Before California massively renumbered its state highways in 1964, SR 238 was part of SR 9, which extended south to San Jose and Santa Cruz. The segment was submitted to the Interstate Highway System in October 1968 but was rejected. As an alternative, SR 238 was proposed to be expanded from two lanes in each direction to three lanes in each direction along the majority of its width. Various other improvements began in July 2010, followed by the California State Legislature relinquishing control of SR 238 within Hayward to local control in 2012. With the decommissioning of SR 480 in 1991, the "480" designation was once again made available. However, there has been no push since then to renumber I 238 to I 480. In September 2006, a project began to reconstruct the entire length of I 238, including a reconfigured interchange with I 880 and an added travel lane in each direction. Additionally, almost all the bridges and overpasses were replaced with new ones meeting current earthquake resistance standards. The project was completed in October 2009, six months ahead of schedule.