Ultimate Interstates:High Desert Conceptual Corridor

High Desert Corridors Map

Central California Map

Southern California Map

Western Nevada Map

The High Desert Ultimate Interstate Corridors are a group of conceptual interstate highway corridors following along sections of CA-14; US-395 and US-6 connecting the Southern California (Los Angeles/San Diego) megalopolis to Interstates 70, 80 and the planned Interstate 11 corridor. This would provide direct connections to many major intermountain cities including Reno, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Denver and provide better connections to intermountain states of Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

Routing

This conceptual corridor consists of several segments.

Eastern Sierra Corridor

The Eastern Sierra Corridor is a predominantly north-south corridor that would upgrade California State Route 14 and portions of US-395 From East of the Tehachapi mountains and along the Eastern Sierra range from Newhall, CA to Bishop, CA, ultimately connecting to the planned planned Interstate 11 corridor near Coaldale, NV. Beginning at I-5 in the south the route follows the Antelope Valley Freeway (CA-14) northward from Santa Clarita, CA and through the Antelope Valley toward Mojave, CA intersecting with planned I-40 extension (current CA-58). It then continues north along CA-14 upgrading it to interstate standards and eventually merging with the US-395 corridor near Ridgecrest, CA. From there it continues north along an upgraded US-395 through the Owens Valley and into Bishop, CA. Bypassing Bishop to the east, the corridor would then follow an upgraded US-6 eastward until it reaches the Interstate 11 corridor.

Being along the east side of the Sierra range this route would connect many small cities together within Inyo, Mono and eastern Kern counties and open up opportunities to economic development along the corridor. Currently US-395 is one of America's great back roads and is very scenic with many natural resources, national parks and nature activities. Additionally having another north south corridor to complement the existing interstate system and provide an inland route away from busier more congested central valley cities is desirable.

Great Basin Corridor

The Great Basin Corridor is a predominantly east-west corridor that would upgrade sections of US-6 from Tonopah, NV to Ely, NV and the potential westward extension of I-70 This corridor would serve a sparsely populated and largely remote section of central Nevada, but would provide more direct service between the eastern and central US and Central California.

With the Nevada desert being relatively sparsely populated, arguably, it does not make as much sense to build a 4-lane interstate along this segment unless there is an ultimate goal of creating a new corridor across the central Sierra Nevada range. Ultimately the need to build any corridor across these remote areas of the Great Basin would be to facilitate connections to I-80 or a new crossing of the Sierras. One could argue that construction of such a route would create induced demand, however the offset would be from potential fuel savings of a more direct route and less congestion than found on other routes, additionally, there could be a strategic national benefit due providing better connectivity to military and government installations in the area.

Mid-Sierra Corridor

As part of this plan a longshot possibility is the construction of a much needed Mid-Sierra Ultimate Interstate Corridor to provide interstate level connections to the California central valley, Fresno, and provide access to the bay area from the south. While construction of such a crossing would prove to be controversial and difficult, it would provide a second high quality mountain crossing in northern California offering relief for the heavily used I-80 corridor to the north and improving commerce and industry not only in Fresno and the central valley, but also along the eastern Sierra and the Great Basin. Should a Mid-Sierra crossing even be a possibility it would likely need to be a tolled road, utilize tunnel infrastructure and come with very strict environmental moratoriums to prevent sprawl and preserve the natural beauty of the mid-Sierra range, much of which is inaccessible to vehicles.

Loneliest Road Corridor

The Interstate 11 would largely traverse along or nearby the existing US-50 from Fernley, NV to an eastern connection with I-70 via Holden, UT or cove Fort, UT. See the Interstate 11 article for more information.

Interstate Number Designation

Several options are possible for an interstate designation for the corridor:

I-13

I-13 is probably the only potential number for the Eastern Sierra Corridor since it is a north south corridor and I-9 is already proposed as the route number to replace California 99 in the central valley. The I-13 designation would be located west of Interstate 15, yet it still violates the interstate convention in that it would lie west of proposed I-11. Should I-13 also be used on the Great Basin Corridor to Ely it would make more sense and at least that portion would lie within the interstate convention, even though that section is an east west section. If that were to happen, it could pave the way for a potential northward extension of I-13 from Ely to Twin Falls, ID following along the US-93 corridor.

I-62 or I-58

I-62 or I-58 are also possible route numbers for the Great Basin corridor and potentially the Mid-Sierra Corridor due to falling between I-70 and I-40. There may also be other numbers that can be chosen that fall between I-40 and I-70.

I-70

Ultimately the Great Basin Corridor could be numbered as I-70 if the northern alternative for I-70 through Fallon and Fernley, NV was not chosen. This would lead to I-70 ending in Tonopah or Bishop which could pave the way for a possible westward extension of I-70 via a Mid-Sierra Corridor over the central Sierras to serve the city of Fresno and making an additional connection to the central valley and the south bay.

Alternate Routings

Since the corridor is comprised of two segments they could be built or numbered independently, or just one or the other could be constructed based on traffic needs. Ultimately segment one (Eastern Sierra Corridor) makes more sense since it is a higher traffic corridor than segment two (US-6) and would connect southern California with the northwest and northern intermountain states very easily, especially if I-11 is built north of Las Vegas.

Potential Auxiliary Routes

This largely would depend on the route numbers chosen if built. One possible auxiliary route could be I-613 which could be constructed to replace the lower section of US-395 from Ridgecrest, CA down to Victorville connecting with I-15 and I-40.

Plausibility

Ultimately these conceptual corridors are just that, conceptual. These are purely hypothetical long-shot possibilities of various considerations for an ultimate western buildout of the interstate system. It never hurts to dream about the possibilities of the future, since you never know if there was someday a time where such routes would be useful. While at this time the need is minimal, over time the need for an interstate quality corridor along one or more of these sections may become more imminent. Until then, it is not as likely that we will see such a corridor for several decades.