Ultimate Interstates:Corridor 1
Ultimate Interstate 1 is an interstate highway corridor that travels up the California Coastline from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area ending in San Rafael. This route could also be extended northward along the Oregon and Washington coastline to Olympia, WA.
Routing
The route would largely replace US 101 throughout most of the state. However through the bay area it would travel along the existing I-880 east bay freeway and continue northward along I-580 utilizing the San Rafael bridge crossing where it would end at the existing US-101 interchange in San Rafael. From there the route could continue northward along US-101, however this would require significant upgrades to the highway north of Santa Rosa. If the route continued northward it would eventually cross into Oregon and continue north along the coast, connecting coastal cities like Newport, Coos Bay and Astoria. Continuing northward into Washington state This route continues along to US-101 north to Aberdeen WA and then turns east along US-12 and then WA-8 terminating in Olympia at I-5.
I-1 could also be designated as I-101 as well, however this interstate designation has been proposed as a possible route along the east coast .
Purpose and Need
Due to the high volume of truck and commercial traffic along this corridor, and to provide additional interstate access to San Francisco and cities along the coast. the Interstate 1 designation is not 100% necessary for the highway to be of interstate caliber, as the US 101 highway designation is iconic. much like the US-66 designation of America's most famous highway. US-101 shares that fame and it would be a shame to see it decommissioned. the Interstate 1 designation could be merely cosigned along upgraded portions of the route, or similar to motorway designations in the UK, such as A201 (M), the section of motorway that isn't actually signed as such is given a parenthetical designation. A similar form of designation could be reserved for iconic highways such as US 101 that need to be designated as an interstate but where preservation of the historic identity of the route is paramount.
Alternate Routing
If needed the interstate could also be routed along US-101 ending at I-80 in San Francisco especially if it isnt extended northward toward Washington state. Another alternative would be to create a freeway tunnel thru San Francisco to the Golden Gate Bridge instead of using the east bay route. However due to extreme opposition to any freeway through San Francisco this likely would never happen.
Potential Auxiliary Routes
- I-101 (Unsigned)
- Bayshore Freeway
- Currently signed as US-101 and would retain that designation. This route would be included in the interstate system as an unsigned interstate route.
- I-201
- West Valley Freeway
- Currently signed as CA-85
- I-301
- Monterey Spur
- Route would consist of sections of CA-156 and CA-1 from Prunedale to Carmel.
- I-401
- San Mateo Bridge & J. Arthur Younger Freeway
- Currently signed as CA-92
- I-501
- Arthur H Breed Freeway
- Currently signed as I-580 and I-238
- I-601
- Junipero Serra Freeway
- Currently signed as I-280
- I-701
- Spur highway from San Jose to Santa Cruz
- Currently signed as CA-17 and I-880
- I-801
- North Bay Freeway - Potential Interstate Corridor from Novato to Vallejo
- Currently signed as CA-37
- I-901
- Potential Interstate Connector from Grants Pass, OR to Crescent City, CA
- Currently signed as US-199
Plausibility
The likelihood of an interstate 1 corridor along the pacific coast is very low. More likely we would see continued upgrades to the US-101 corridor with the highway being elevated to interstate freeway standards along the entire length from Los Angeles to Santa Rosa north of San Francisco. Due to the historic nature of the highways us number routing it seems entirely likely that it will continue to retain this number due to historic and nostalgic reasons. US-101 is an Iconic road in the US and its loss would be significant.