State Route 4
Defined by S&HC § 304, maintained by Caltrans
Length:	197 mi1 (317 km)
Formed:	19342
West end:	I-80 in Hercules
Major junctions:	SR 242 in Concord SR 160 in Antioch I-5 in Stockton SR 49 in Angels Camp
East end:	SR 89 near Markleeville
State highways in California (list - pre-1964) < SR 3 I-5 > History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 4 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, routed from Interstate 80 to State Route 89. It passes through Ebbetts Pass and contains the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway, a National Scenic Byway.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System³ and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System⁴.

Route description

Route 4 through Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

Route 4, an east-west highway, begins in Hercules at San Pablo Avenue next to the Interstate 80 junction as part of John Muir Parkway. (The actual parkway extends a bit past the western terminus.) The road is an expressway between from its starting point until it approaches Martinez, at which point it becomes a full freeway (the California Delta Highway) passing Concord, Pittsburg, and Antioch. BART tracks run in the median of the freeway from the Port Chicago Highway interchange in Concord to the Bailey Road interchange in Bay Point, where the line currently ends at the Pittsburg/Bay Point Station. Access to that station is provided by a pedestrian bridge crossing over the eastbound lanes of Highway 4. After Antioch, the freeway turns northward toward the Antioch Bridge to become State Route 160, and Route 4 separates to become a suburban and rural road passing through the Bay Area's outermost eastern suburbs (Oakley and Brentwood). Route 4 continues to Stockton, where it briefly joins I-5 and then enters a separate freeway routing almost directly through downtown Stockton. The route then runs concurrent with State Route 99 before running eastward into the Sierra through Angels Camp and Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The route runs through the 8,050 ft. (2,454 m) Pacific Grade Summit on its way up to the 8,730 ft. (2,661 m) Ebbetts Pass and ends at State Route 89 ten miles west of Topaz Lake, on the California–Nevada border. The portion from Arnold to its terminus is designated the Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway.

Through the mountains, Route 4 is not suitable for large trucks, buses, or RVs, as it becomes very steep and narrow, with no center dividing line shortly after the Mount Reba Turnoff to Bear Valley Ski area, with tight switchbacks. The pass is not plowed for snow, and thus closes during the winter months often from November through as late as May. Thus, no passage between the Mount Reba Turnoff and Markleeville is possible. The western slope is plowed and rarely closes, even for a few hours, but often has chain restrictions during and immediately following storms, usually just east of Arnold. The eastern slope is not plowed.

As of April 2006, a freeway extension from the route 160 junction bypassing Oakley and Brentwood to the south and west is in the various stages of planning and construction. [1] [2]

History

Although segments of SR 4 were part of the state highway system since 1909, SR 4 was officially designated as such between Interstate 80 and State Route 99 in 1934. Prior to that date, the then existing segment was officially known as the "Borden Highway", and the bridge over the San Joaquin River is still referred to as the "Borden Highway Bridge" in tidal tables. Construction of SR 4 did not finish until 1935, however.²

The portion of SR 4 from Interstate 80 to State Route 24 was added to the highway system in 1933 as LRN 106. East of the concurrency with State Route 24 to State Route 49, SR 4 was designated as LRN 75 from 1931-1934. Finally, the segment from State Route 49 to State Route 89 was signed as LRN 24 from 1909 to 1934.²

Points of interest

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The segment of Route 4 between Stockton and Antioch has been designated as a "safety corridor."

• The John Muir National Historic Site is California Historical Landmark #312, located directly north of Route 4 on Alhambra Avenue in Martinez. Additionally, Route 4 is also known as John Muir Parkway between I-80 and I-680.
• Also on Alhambra Avenue at SR 4 is the Franklin Canyon Adobe (CHL #511).
• The town of Copperopolis (CHL #296) is a mining town not for gold, but for copper.
• Altaville (CHL #288), an important foundry town.
• Angels Camp (CHL #287), one of the richest quartz mining sections of the Mother Lode and home of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
• Vallecito (CHL #273), one of California's important early-day mining towns.
• Douglas Flat (CHL #272), a roaring mining camp of the early 1850s.
• Murphys (CHL #275), one of the principal mining communities in Calaveras County, and where notorious bandit Joaquin Murietta is said to have begun his murderous career.
• Calaveras Big Trees State Park
• CHL #318, marking Ebbetts Pass, is located at postmile ALP 18.5, 18 miles southwest of Markleeville.

Major intersections and exit list

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 numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile 567	#8	Destinations	Notes
Contra Costa CC 0.00-48.39	Hercules	0.00	1A	San Pablo Avenue	At-grade intersection; former US 40
		0.00	1B	I-80 (Eastshore Freeway) – Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento	No exit number eastbound
		0.78	1C	Willow Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		R1.70	1	Sycamore Avenue	Eastbound exit and entrance
	East end of freeway
		R1.70		Carbon Way	Westbound exit and entrance; refinery traffic onlycitation needed
		2.70	3	Franklin Canyon	At-grade intersection eastbound; interchange westbound
	West end of freeway
		T4.89	5	To I-80 east / Cummings Skyway – Crockett, Port Costa, Vallejo
		R5.17	6	McEwen Road – Port Costa	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Martinez	R8.55	9	Alhambra Avenue – Martinez
		R9.19	10	Pine Street, Center Avenue
		R10.33	11	Morello Avenue, Glacier Drive
		12.41	12A	Pacheco Boulevard – Pacheco
		12.67	12	I-680 – Benicia, Sacramento, Walnut Creek, San Jose	Signed as exits 12B (south) and 12C (north)
		R13.65	13	Solano Way
	Concord	R14.67	15A	SR 242 – Concord, Oakland
		R15.42	15B	Port Chicago Highway
		R16.83	17	Willow Pass Road
		R18.83	19	San Marco Boulevard, Willow Pass Road – Bay Point
		R20.10	20	Bailey Road	Signed as exits 20A (south) and 20B (north)
	Pittsburg	23.05	23	Railroad Avenue, Harbor Street
		24.32	24	Loveridge Road – Pittsburg
	Antioch	26.01	26	Somersville Road, Auto Center Drive	Signed as exits 26A (Somersville Road) and 26B (Auto Center Drive)
		26.94	27A	Contra Loma Boulevard, L Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		27.29	27B	G Street – Central Antioch	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R27.79	28	A Street, Lone Tree Way
		R28.94	29	Hillcrest Avenue
		31.13	30	SR 160 north – Rio Vista, Sacramento	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; SR 4 currently exits; freeway continues as "Bypass Road" 9
			31	Laurel Road
			33	Lone Tree Way
	Brentwood
		East end of freeway
				Sand Creek Road	Proposed interchange10
				Balfour Road	Proposed interchange10
		R44.37		CR J4 (Byron Highway) – Byron, Tracy
San Joaquin SJ 0.00-38.06		5.96		CR J2 (Tracy Boulevard) – Tracy
	Stockton	15.91 5 25.36		I-5 south / Charter Way (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) – Tracy, San Francisco, Los Angeles	Interchange; west end of I-5 overlap; Charter Way was former SR 4 east
		West end of freeway
		5 26.19 R16.06	65B	I-5 north – Sacramento	East end of I-5 overlap
		T15.32		Fresno Avenue
			65C	Downtown Stockton (Lincoln Street)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance (from and to Fresno Avenue only)
		R16.62	66A	El Dorado Street, Center Street – Downtown Stockton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		R17.05	66B	Stanislaus Street – Downtown Stockton	Signed as exit 66 eastbound
		R17.71	67	Wilson Way
		R18.77	68A	Filbert Street	Signed as exit 68 westbound
		R19.44 99 18.68	68B	SR 99 north – Sacramento	West end of SR 99 overlap
		99 18.15	253	Main Street	Westbound exit only
		99 18.02	253	Charter Way (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard)	No westbound exit; former SR 26 west
		East end of freeway
		99 17.22 19.75		SR 99 south / Farmington Road – Fresno	Interchange; east end of SR 99 overlap; Farmington Road was former SR 4 west
		24.87		CR J5 (Jack Tone Road)
	Farmington	33.10		CR J4 (Escalon-Bellota Road) – Escalon
Stanislaus STA 0.00-8.89		4.54		CR J14 (Milton Road) – Milton, Eugene
Calaveras CAL R0.00-R65.87	Copperopolis	R8.14		CR E15 (O'Byrnes Ferry Road) / Rock Creek Road – Copperopolis
	Angels Camp	R21.09 49 8.41		SR 49 north
		49 7.21 21.38		SR 49 south
	Vallecito	26.22		CR E18 (Parrots Ferry Road)
Alpine ALP R0.00-31.68		3.89		SR 207 (Mount Reba Road)
		31.68		SR 89 to US 395

Other names

Route 4 is also known as:¹¹

• Arnold Industrial Highway: From I-680 near Martinez to Route 242 near Concord. Runs parallel to Arnold Industrial Way.
• California Delta Highway: From I-680 near Martinez to I-5 in Stockton. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers empty into the Delta north of the highway.
• John Muir Parkway: From I-80 in Hercules to I-680 near Martinez. Named for the environmentalist John Muir.
• Ort J. Lofthus Freeway: Runs from I-5 to Route 99 within Stockton.

The stretch through Franklin Canyon was once known as "Blood Alley."¹²

References

External links

• Caltrans: Route 4 road conditions
• Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway
• Scenic 4 - Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway
• California @ WestCoastRoads - State Route 4
• California Highways: SR 4
• Cal-NExUS: Route 4 West
• Cal-NExUS: Route 4 East