California State Route 33

State Route 33
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 333
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	289.699 mi[1] (466.225 km) This route is broken into pieces, and the length does not reflect the overlaps that would be required to make the route continuous.
Existed:	1934 – present
Major junctions
South end:	SR 1 / US 101 in Ventura
	SR 119 in Taft SR 269 in Avenal I-5 near Coalinga SR 152 near Los Banos I-5 near Los Banos I-5 in Santa Nella SR 140 in Gustine
North end:	I-5 near Tracy
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 32 SR 34 →

State Route 33 (SR 33) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs north from Ventura through the Transverse Ranges and the western side of the San Joaquin Valley to a point east of Tracy. SR 33 replaced part of U.S. Route 399 in 1964 during the "great renumbering" of routes. In the unincorporated sections of Kern County it is known as the West Side Highway. In addition, the California Legislature designated the entire Kern County portion as the Petroleum Highway in 2004. The southernmost portion in Ventura is a freeway known as the Ojai Freeway, while it is known as the Maricopa Highway from Ojai to Maricopa.

Route description

Several segments of this route are part of the California Freeway and Expressway System;^[2] also, several are eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System.^[3] However, only the portion from 6.4 miles north of the SR 150 junction to the Ventura - Santa Barbara county line is a scenic highway as designated by Caltrans.^[4]

California State Route 33 begins in Ventura as a short freeway ("Ojai Freeway"). SR 33 then continues north as Maricopa Highway, an undivided surface road, through Ojai, following Matilija Canyon past the easternmost extremity of the Santa Ynez Mountains in Los Padres National Forest, and passing over the Transverse Ranges at Pine Mountain Summit. As SR 33 comes down into the Cuyama Valley, it comes up to a junction with SR 166 east of Cuyama. Route 33 continues with Route 166 as they enter Kern County for about 20 miles (32 km) to Maricopa where the routes separate. In Maricopa, Route 33 turns northwest, following the western side of the San Joaquin Valley. Between Taft and Avenal it roughly parallels Interstate 5; for the first 15 miles (24 km) of the portion following the axis of the Midway-Sunset Oil Field. Northwest of Avenal, it turns due west to enter Coalinga, then turns northeast and soon becomes concurrent with I-5 for 13 miles (21 km). Thereafter, it departs due north near Cantua Creek, turns northwest at Mendota, through Firebaugh and meets State Route 152 in Dos Palos, in which it runs concurrently due west for approximately ten miles. It departs again west of Los Banos, turning north to Santa Nella (where it has an interchange with I-5), and roughly parallels I-5 and the San Joaquin River until its northern terminus at I-5 and Bird Road southeast of Tracy.

View northeast from near Pine Mountain Summit on SR 33, the highest elevation on the route; the Lockwood Valley and Mount Pinos are in the distance

When passing through the Avenal/Coalinga area travelers pass near a series of prisons and government facilities. They include: Avenal State Prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison, and the new Coalinga Mental Hospital.

SR 33 heading south through Kern County.

In the portions of the route in Kern and Fresno Counties, SR 33 passes through one of the United States' largest petroleum extraction fields, with hundreds of nodding oil pumps along the highway. Some of the fields visible from the highway include the Midway-Sunset, South and North Belridge, Cymric, McKittrick, Lost Hills, and Coalinga oil fields.

A foggy winter day looking northbound south of Brown Material Road near Blackwells Corner.

Most of SR 33's route is through sparsely populated, relatively desolate portions of the San Joaquin Valley. Travelers along it should use caution, since emergency services are typically dozens of miles away. Carrying extra water and coolant is especially advised, since summertime temperatures in the area routinely surpass 100 °F (37 °C).

History

Before the US 399 designation was deleted in 1964, SR 33 followed SR 166 east from US 99 at Wheeler Ridge to Maricopa in lieu of the segment from Ventura to Maricopa, and followed the old US highway from Taft to Maricopa. Today, SR 166 remains on the segment between Wheeler Ridge and Maricopa.

SR 33 used to extend north to Interstate 205 in Tracy, but this segment was relinquished after the segment of Interstate 5 from SR 33 to I-205 was completed.

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).^[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [1][5][6]	Destinations	Notes
Ventura VEN 0.00-57.51	Ventura	0.00	US 101 (Ventura Freeway, SR 1) – Los Angeles, San Francisco	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SR 33
		0.17	Main Street – Ventura	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	1.57	Stanley Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance are on the left
	​	2.65	Shell Road
	​	R4.49	Cañada Larga Road
	​	R5.64	Casitas Vista Road
	​		North end of freeway
	Mira Monte	11.21 R14.41[N 1]	SR 150 west (Baldwin Road) – Meiners Oaks, Lake Casitas, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara	South end of SR 150 overlap
	Ojai	16.58[N 1] 11.21	SR 150 east (Ojai Avenue) – Ojai, Santa Paula	North end of SR 150 overlap
	​	48.50	To I-5 / Lockwood Valley Road – Lockwood Valley
Santa Barbara SB 0.00-8.18	No major junctions
San Luis Obispo SLO 0.00-4.95	​	2.80	SR 166 west – Cuyama, New Cuyama, Santa Maria	South end of SR 166 overlap
Kern KER 0.00-73.74	Maricopa	R11.56	SR 166 east (Poso Street) to I-5 south – Los Angeles	North end of SR 166 overlap
	Taft	17.89	SR 119 (Taft Highway)	Former US 399 north
	McKittrick	33.45	SR 58 west – California Valley, Santa Margarita	South end of SR 58 overlap
		34.29	SR 58 east to I-5 – Buttonwillow, Bakersfield	North end of SR 58 overlap
	Blackwells Corner	60.09	SR 46 – Lost Hills, Wasco, Bakersfield, Paso Robles	Former US 466
Kings KIN 0.00-18.99	​	7.80	SR 41 – Kettleman City, Fresno, Paso Robles
	Avenal	17.14	SR 269 (Skyline Boulevard) to I-5 – Huron, Lemoore NAS
Fresno FRE 0.00-R83.05	Coalinga	15.37	To SR 198 west / Polk Street – King City
		15.71	SR 198 west (Elm Avenue) / Coalinga Plaza (Fifth Street) – King City	South end of SR 198 overlap
	​	24.32	SR 198 east (Dorris Avenue) / Shell Road – Lemoore, Hanford	North end of SR 198 overlap
	​	R29.02 17.96[N 2]	I-5 south (West Side Freeway) / SR 145 north (Fresno-Coalinga Road) – Los Angeles, Kerman	Interchange; south end of I-5 overlap
	​		South end of freeway on I-5
	​		North end of freeway on I-5
	​	29.96[N 2] R39.82	I-5 north (West Side Freeway) / Derrick Avenue – San Francisco, Sacramento	Interchange; north end of I-5 overlap
	​	59.43	To SR 180 east / California Avenue, Panoche Road – Fresno
	Mendota	61.45	CR J1 (Belmont Avenue)
		62.25	SR 180 east (Oller Street) – Fresno
	Firebaugh	70.19	To I-5 north / 12th Street
Merced MER R0.00-30.00	​	R5.64 R32.37[N 3]	SR 152 east / Elgin Avenue – Merced	Interchange; south end of SR 152 overlap
	Los Banos	21.27[N 3]	SR 165 (Mercey Springs Road) to I-5 south – Turlock
	​	13.85[N 3]	I-5 (West Side Freeway) – San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles	Interchange
	​	11.27[N 3] R13.24	SR 152 west / San Luis Drive (to Gonzaga Road) – Gilroy	Interchange; north end of SR 152 overlap
	Santa Nella	R16.64	I-5 (West Side Freeway) – San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles	Interchange
	Gustine	26.46 4.35[N 4]	SR 140 west (Sullivan Road) to I-5	South end of SR 140 overlap
		6.06[N 4] 27.11	SR 140 east / First Avenue – Merced	North end of SR 140 overlap
Stanislaus STA 0.00-27.09	​	2.06	CR J18 (Stuhr Road) to I-5 – Livingston, Turlock
	Crows Landing	6.84	To I-5 / Crows Landing Road, Fink Road
	Patterson	12.57	CR J17 west (Sperry Avenue) to I-5	South end of CR J17 overlap
		13.18	CR J17 east (Las Palmas Avenue) – Turlock	North end of CR J17 overlap
	Westley	19.55	CR J16 (Grayson Road, Howard Road) to I-5
San Joaquin SJ 0.00-5.00	Vernalis	0.82	SR 132 / Vernalis Road – Modesto, San Francisco	Interchange
	​	4.83	I-5 (West Side Freeway) – Stockton, Sacramento, Los Angeles	Interchange; north end of SR 33
	​	5.00	Ahern Road – Tracy	Continuation beyond I-5; former SR 33 north
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

Additional reading

• King, Peter H. (July 7, 2008). "A workaday road that cuts through the state's back story: Two-lane Highway 33 isn't a fabled route, but it's rugged and real". Los Angeles Times: A1, A8 .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to California State Route 33.

• California @ AARoads.com - State Route 33
• Caltrans: Route 33 highway conditions

Route map: Bing / Google