San Diego's Historic Route US 395

Old Pomerado Road in Poway is on Historic US 395
Photo: B. Perry

For one hundred years or so, there have been two main routes to San Diego from the north: the coast route and the inland route.  While the coast route has certainly increased in capacity over the years, the route itself hasn’t changed much.  The Inland Route, on the other hand, has a long history of realignment and improvement.  To illustrate this history, I offer the following fiction.  

1915 Pierce Arrow Model 48

1935 Chevy Pickup

1962 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon

2010 Toyota Prius

Four drivers climb into their vehicles, all parked near the corner of Fifth and Market in downtown San Diego, California and prepare for a long drive north to Temecula…but not all at the same time.  Henry will take a leisurely drive up the so-called Inland Route in his new 1914 Pierce Arrow Model 48 Roadster.  Gus will drive his 1935 Chevy Pickup truck up the newly designated Highway US-395 with a load of chickens.  Bob and his wife Sally pile their nuclear family into their 1962 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon for a road trip up the newer, straighter Highway US-395. Finally, Britney gets into her 2010 Toyota Prius, hoping the traffic on I-15 won’t be too bad for her drive home to Temecula.

Here is a map of their various routes:

1947 road map of Highway 395 and its new route under construction.
The routes of our four drivers are show:
Henry 1915 (black), Gus 1935 (green), Bob 1962 (yellow), and Brittany 2010 (blue).

Gus, Bob, and Britney all go east on Market while Henry turns up Fifth Street.  He works his way northeast on the surface streets of Hillcrest then crosses pastoral Mission Valley to Murphy Canyon.  Bob and Britney turn left on 11^th Street and take the parkway through Balboa Park.  The Cabrillo Freeway, as Bob and Sally know it, was San Diego’s first freeway when it opened in 1948.  They pass under the Cabrillo Bridge while admiring the well-maintained center median.  Before the freeway was constructed, there was a lagoon right here under the bridge.  They breeze through the 395/80 interchange in Mission Valley, the first major intersection in San Diego with no stops in any direction. 

Cabrillo Freeway entering Mission Valley in 1948.
California Highways and Public Works Mar/Apr 1948

Britney also goes through the Park on the same road but she knows it as Highway 163.  It’s jammed with traffic as usual, giving her plenty of time to notice the tall weeds growing in the median.  Wooden barriers were installed a few years back in an effort to reduce the high accident rate of the old parkway but they forgot to allow landscapers’ access to the center!  Dropping into Mission Valley, now a sea of condos, hotels, and shopping malls, the 163 widens to an eight lane freeway.  The giant interchange with I-8 has been rebuilt twice since Bob’s day.

The original Poway Grade can still be seen in this
Google Earth image

Back in the 30’s, Gus turns onto Park Ave, and drives through Balboa Park, home of the San Diego Zoo.  He turns right on El Cajon Blvd., drives all the way out to Fairmount Avenue where he turns left to drop into Mission Valley.  After passing Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, California’s first mission, Gus turns up Murphy Canyon.  Both Henry and Gus will take the same road up Murphy Canyon although it is newly paved for Gus.  At the top of the canyon, Henry’s road (Creek Road, today) takes him northeast into the eastern end of San Clemente Canyon.   This road was an old stage coach route before automobiles took it over.  In this direction, it is a gentle climb to the summit.  From the north, however, the Poway Grade is a brutal 7% climb with sharp switchbacks.  Fortunately, Henry just has to drive DOWN the grade – hopefully without tumbling down its banks.  Once in Poway, it’s a straight shot up the road (Pomerado Road, today) to Bernardo. 

Old Highway 395 goes over the "new" Poway Grade in 1939
Photo: Burton Frasher 

Back at the top of the Murphy Canyon, Gus hauls his chickens north to the tiny town of Miramar, near Camp Kearny, and turns east up Carroll Canyon.  On his left he can see the ranch house of newspaper publisher E. W. Scripps.  The new road climbs gently along a creek, crests the summit and weaves down the new Poway Grade.  This new concrete roadway is a vast improvement over the dirt road Henry descended (and was used until the late 80’s when realignment of Pomerado Road buried most of it).  Gus stops for gasoline and a sandwich at Topsy’s Roost in Big Stone before driving to Bernardo on exactly the same road Henry used.

Topsy's Roost on old Hwy 395 in Big Stone in 1939. Then...    (Burton Frasher)

...and now. (B. Perry)

Climbing out of Mission Valley on the new Cabrillo Freeway, Bob and his family whisk by the empty expanse of Kearny Mesa.  Off to the right is the General Dynamics Convair facility which employs a good percentage of San Diego’s population.  The four-lane freeway turns north at Camp Elliot and parallels the old Hwy 395 that Gus drove up.  Bob hardly notices the Miramar Rd. exit (where Gus turned east) as the new Hwy 395 continues north.  For decades, Penasquitos Canyon presented a major barrier to north-south travel in San Diego County.  This deep, wide canyon is the reason Henry and Gus had to travel so far east and go over the Poway Grade.  In 1949, a bridge was constructed over Penasquitos Canyon allowing the freeway to bypass the Poway Grade.   Bob checks his mirrors as the road narrows to two lanes.  The station wagon descends toward the canyon, crosses the regal bridge, and climbs up the other side towards Rancho Bernardo.

The realigned Hwy 395 at Poway Road in 1962

Brittany drives the eight-lane freeway out of Mission Valley and onto Kearny Mesa, a sprawling array of car dealerships, strip clubs, and fast food.  General Dynamics left town in the late 80s leaving a giant footprint which has slowly filled with condos and office buildings.  Near old Camp Elliot, 163 ends as it merges with I-15, coming up Murphy Canyon from the Mexican border (three of our drivers, Gus, Bob, and Brittany, cross paths here while Henry is slightly to the east).  The San Diego section of Highway 395 was officially decommissioned in 1969 in favor of the still-to-be-built Interstate 15.  I-15 opened in sections in the 70’s and 80’s and has been widened in spots many times since.  As Brittany makes the long bend to the north, I-15 is a whopping 14 lanes across, with four additional zippered HOV lanes in the middle.  To her left, Brittany can see the runways of MCAS Miramar and old Hwy 395, now named Kearny Villa Rd.  In the 80’s, Tom Cruise watched F-18’s land from that road in the movie Top Gun.  She hardly notices as the Interstate descends slightly to cross the once-daunting Penasquitos Canyon on no less than three parallel bridges.  A sign identifies this crossing as the Knott Memorial Bridge.  In 1986, CHP officer Craig Peyer killed 20-year-old Cara Knott and dumped her body over the side of the old Hwy 395 Bridge.  The old bridge is still down there, now being used as a bike path.  As Brittany climbs towards Rancho Bernardo, I-15 is crossed by so many ramps and bridges, Bob wouldn’t recognize it as the same route he took in the 60’s.

I-15 towers over the old US 395 bridge at Penasquito Canyon                     Photo:B. Perry

 

Henry and Gus round Battle Mountain from the east.  Henry crosses a small bridge over the San Dieguito River and passes through the town of Bernardo.  He’s heard they are building a new dam just west of here and wonders how that will impact the citizens of Bernardo.  On Henry’s right is Mule Hill where the final days of the Battle of San Pasqual took place.  From this point, Henry travels northeast up Bear Valley a few miles before turning northeast into Escondido.

Lake Hodges Bridge (aka Bernardo Station Bridge) 1919 to 1968.   

In the 30’s, Gus follows 395 around Battle Mountain and along the south bank of Lake Hodges before crossing the two-lane Lake Hodges Bridge.  The highway then follows the north shore of the lake for another mile before heading directly north into Escondido.  Henry and Gus take the same route through Escondido: north on Nutmeg, a two block jog to the east on Grand, north on Lime, and west on Grant which becomes the Mission Road as it leaves town. 

The streamlined Hwy 395 that Bob travels on in the 60’s approaches Lake Hodges from the west side of Battle Mountain.  The station wagon crosses the lake on a new bridge built in 1955 when Hwy 395 was realigned.  The old bridge can still be seen to the west but it won’t last much longer.    The new Hwy 395 follows the old Hwy 395 into Escondido but then goes north on the Pine Street Expressway (now Center City Parkway), bypassing the old route through downtown.  Bob crosses Mission Road as it meanders west to Vista and rolls due north into Moosa Canyon. 

Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge opened in 2009.  I-15 is in the distance.    Photo: Jim Coffee

Britney wishes she could use the new HOV lanes up the center of I-15 as she passes Battle Mountain (Gus, Bob, and Brittany cross paths here while Henry is only a quarter mile east).  The 14-lane I-15 bridge over Lake Hodges is new having replaced the original I-15 bridge that replaced the 395 bridge Bob used.   To her right, Brittany can see Mule Hill and the hiking trail that goes to the site of old Bernardo.  On her left is the new bicycle bridge, the longest stressed ribbon bridge in the world.  This new bike bridge is in the same location as the old 395 bridge (demolished in 1969) that Gus used.  Brittany takes  I-15 quickly up and around Escondido, a good mile west of downtown before it also heads due north into Moosa Canyon.

Bonsall Bridge    (Irwin Photo)

Henry’s Inland Route and Gus’ Hwy 395 were one and the same from Escondido, through San Marcos, Vista, Bonsall, Fallbrook, and Rainbow.  The State Route 77 designation in 1931 and the US-395 designation in 1934 resulted in sufficient funds to add shoulders to the roadways and to straighten some of the tight corners.  Old Hwy 395 went far west of today’s route mainly because 1) it connected the tiny towns of North County and 2) it avoided the rugged San Marcos Mountains.   From Escondido to Vista, Henry and Gus found the drive flat and easy; a nice change after the ups and downs south of Escondido.  At Bonsall, they encountered the San Luis Rey River.  Henry crossed on a wooden bridge.  Gus on the other hand crossed over the gorgeous Bonsall Bridge built in 1934 (and, although abandoned, still standing today).  From the river, Mission Road went northeast and right up Main Street in Fallbrook.  From Fallbrook, Henry and Gus drive east on Mission Road over the tricky Red Mountain grade with lots of blind bends and steep climbs. 

Historic Hwy 395 went up Main St. in Fallbrook

Hwy 395 signpost
photo: Casey Cooper

Bob’s family rode the new and improved Highway 395 from Escondido to Fallbrook.  This route opened in 1947, greatly shortening the drive.  This old road is still in use today and is known as “Old Highway 395.”  That’s funny, because to Bob this would have been the “New Highway 395”.  The road follows the floor of Moosa Canyon with steep walls on both sides.  Soon, they climb around Mount Ararat, cross the San Luis Rey River, and climb up the hill toward Red Mountain.

Britney drives her Prius up I-15 which is cut into the side of the canyon above Old Highway 395.  Exclusive homes line the mountaintops high above.  She passes Lawrence Welk Resort on the stretch of the old road renamed Champagne Drive.  The founder of the resort was TV band leader Lawrence Welk, famous for his Champagne Music and bubble machine.  Near the summit of the canyon, Old Highway 395 crosses over I-15.  Just beyond, the beautiful Lilac Road Bridge gracefully spans the Interstate.  Now to the east of the Old Highway 395, I-15 crosses the San Luis Rey and climbs around the shoulder of Red Mountain.  

Lilac Bridge over I-15    Photo: Craig Philpott

About 7 miles east of Fallbrook, East Mission Rd (old Highway 395), Old Highway 395 (actually new Highway 395) and I-15 all come together.  This is the only point since leaving downtown San Diego that all four of our motorists would have been in the same place.  Henry, Gus and Bob continue north on the same road to Rainbow, the county line, and down into Temecula.  I-15 takes Brittany slightly to the west of Rainbow as it cuts right through the rugged hills, past the old border patrol station at the county line, before dropping down to Temecula.

It probably took Henry the better part of a day, say 5 to 6 hours, to make the drive from San Diego to Temecula via the Inland Route.  Gus would have made it in 3.5 to 4 hours simply because the roads were paved and because he didn’t have to negotiate the old Poway Grade.  Bob would have made the run in about 2 to 2.5 hours while Brittany would need 1 to 2 hours depending on traffic.  It’s hard to imagine that transport across San Diego County could be any faster … but that’s probably what they said. 

The best old 395 website: http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/395/old/
Lot's of good 395 information: http://www.garbell.com/US395-old/395.htm
A fun road forum has some cool 395 info: http://www.americanroads.us/forum/index.php?board=28.0