SCR 147, as amended, Anderson. Historic Highway Route 79.
This measure would designate a specified portion of Highway Route 79 in the Counties of San Diego and Riverside as Historic Highway Route 79 and request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Fiscal committee: yes.
P1 1WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 is among the County of San
2Diego’s last three unsullied rural highways; and
3WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 begins in the community of
4Descanso and then climbs and winds through some of southern
5California’s most historically significant natural and manmade
6sites; and
7WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 then travels through Cuyamaca
8Rancho State Park, surrounding travelers with geological and
9geographical landmarks; and
P2 1WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 next winds past gold mines,
2communities, and tiny towns that dot the primeval Cleveland
3National Forest; and
4WHEREAS, In 1600, those already old and overlapping trails
5that would later become Highway Route 79 marked the way for
6Spanish explorer Pedro Fages and those riding horses with him;
7and
8WHEREAS, A portion of Highway Route 79 served as a
9segment of thebegin delete 2,812 mileend deletebegin insert 2,812-mileend insert Butterfield Overland Mail
10Route, which was the first transcontinental postal delivery service
11in the country; and
12WHEREAS, In other states, several portions of the Butterfield
13Overland Mail Route have been officially registered as historic
14places, reminding today’s travelers of the bravery, determination,
15and adventurism of those who built andbegin delete travelledend deletebegin insert traveledend insert this
16famous route in the 19th century; and
17WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 further winds through Julian,
18a community that a handful of people founded and in which gold
19was discovered in 1870; and
20WHEREAS, By 1908, when the state began paving Highway
21Route 79, the route had already been used by army surveyors, pre-
22and post-Civil War gold miners, American and European settlers,
23Chinese workers, immigrants from the British Isles, and European
24immigrants tired of the Austro-Hungarian wars; and
25WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 has outstanding natural, cultural,
26historic, and scenic qualities; and
27WHEREAS, It is therefore appropriate to recognize a portion
28of Highway Route 79 for its historical significance and importance
29in the development of California and to designate that portion as
30Historic Highway Route 79; now, therefore, be it
31Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
32thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
33portion of Highway Route 79 from where it intersects with
34Interstate 8 atbegin insert post mile L 0.044 atend insert Japatul Valley Road in the
35County of San Diego to its intersectionbegin delete with Interstate 15end deletebegin insert at post
36mile RIV 15.74 at Butterfield Stage Roadend insert in the County of Riverside
37as Historic Highway Route 79; and be it further
38Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested
39to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with signing
40requirements for the state highway system showing the special
P3 1Historic Highway Route 79begin delete designation,end deletebegin insert designationend insert and, upon
2receiving donations from nonstate sources for that cost, to facilitate
3the erection of those signs at appropriate locations on Highway
4Route 79; and be it further
5Resolved, That the designation of Historic Highway Route 79
6pursuant to this resolution shall have no impact upon the future
7planning or development of adjacent private and public properties;
8and be it further
9Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
10this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
11for appropriate distribution.
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