California State Route 223
Encyclopedia
State Route 223 is a state route in Kern County
Kern County, California
Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and is locally known as Bear Mountain Boulevard. It is a truck route, connecting the agricultural land south of Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....

 and east of SR 99
California State Route 99
California State Route 99 , commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 , is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley...

/I-5
Interstate 5 in California
Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...

, and the city of Arvin
Arvin, California
Arvin is a city in Kern County, in the United States. Arvin is located southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 449 feet . As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census....

, to three major transportation corridors without having to drive through Bakersfield. It connects to I-5 (Westside Freeway) for goods traveling north and east of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

. It connects to SR 99 for goods traveling to major San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

 communities. It also connects to SR 58, for goods traveling to all points southeast, except for Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. For goods traveling south, trucks use SR 99 while cars can use Wheeler Ridge Road, which is a north-south county road that connects to I-5 south of SR 99.

Route description

State Route 223 begins at Interstate 5. From there it travels east through relatively flat agricultural land. It crosses SR 99 and Union Avenue (SR 99 Business). It then crosses Weedpatch Highway (SR 184)/Wheeler Ridge Road, which is the local north-south highway serving the region. Continuing east, it crosses through the only city served by the route, the agricultural community of Arvin. It continues through agricultural land, before reaching the eastern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The terrain changes to rolling hills, as the road climbs the Tehachapi Mountains. The highway terminates at SR 58.

History

Bear Mountain Boulevard was constructed in 1915, as the bypass to the dreaded White Wolf Road to the south (the road still exists but is on private property). It is not known when White Wolf Road was constructed. The road was a part of the Midway Route, which was the most direct route between the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles via Tehachapi Pass and the Mojave Desert. After the Ridge Route was constructed in 1915, the Midway Route was still important as the primary bypass to the newly constructed highway. Bear Mountain Boulevard served part of the Midway Route until 1933, when Bena Road was constructed to provide a more direct connection to Bakersfield. Today, the Midway Route is served by SR 58 and SR 14.

In 1933, Bear Mountain Boulevard was adopted as an unsigned state highway. It was a part of Legislative Route 140, which ran from Taft to US 99 (locally known as Taft Highway), and from US 99 to US 466. The Taft Highway portion was signed as US 399, but the Bear Mountain Boulevard section was unsigned. It was dropped from the route in 1959, and became LRN 264. In 1964, with the renumbering of California’s state routes, Bear Mountain Boulevard became a signed route as SR 223. It was extended west to I-5.

Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.

The entire route is in Kern County
Kern County, California
Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

.
{| class=wikitable
!Location
!Postmile

!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|
|1.85
|Bear Mountain Boulevard
|Continuation beyond I-5
|-
|
|1.85
|
|Interchange
|-
|
|4.86
|Old River Road – Old River
Old River, California
Old River is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located southwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 344 feet .The settlement was founded in the 1870s and named from the old Kern River bed....


|
|-
|
|8.89
|Wible Road – Pumpkin Center
|
|-
|
|R10.54
|
|Interchange
|-
|
|10.94
|, Greenfield
Greenfield, Kern County, California
Greenfield is a census-designated place in Kern County, California. It is located south of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 351 feet . The population was 3,991 at the 2010 census.The Delkern post office was opened in 1949...

, Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....


|Former US 99
|-
|
|R16.01
|
|
|-
|Arvin
Arvin, California
Arvin is a city in Kern County, in the United States. Arvin is located southeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 449 feet . As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,304, up from 12,956 at the 2000 census....


|20.15
|Comanche Drive
|
|-
|
|31.92
|
|
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