Interstate 40 in California

File:Start of Interstate 40.jpg

The entirety of I-40 in California is designated as Route 40 in the state highway system. The California Streets and Highways Code defines it as follows in section 340: "Route 40 is from Route 15 at Barstow to the Arizona state line near Topock, Arizona via Needles."[https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=SHC§ionNum=340. California Code, SHC 340.]

I-40 goes through the Mojave Desert on the entirety of its run through California. The highway starts its eastward journey at a junction with I-15 in Barstow. The freeway passes through Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow before leaving the city limits. I-40 provides access to the town of Daggett but passes south of the town. After passing south of the Barstow-Daggett Airport, I-40 goes through Newberry Springs and Ludlow before traveling along the south end of Mojave National Preserve. Several miles east of the preserve, I-40 intersects U.S. Route 95 (US 95), and the two highways run concurrently into the city of Needles. In Needles, US 95 continues south while I-40 continues east through Mojave National Preserve and across the Colorado River into Arizona.{{Cite map |publisher = Thomas Brothers |title = San Bernardino County Street Atlas |year = 2008 }} The maximum speed limit for the entire California segment of I-40 is {{convert|70|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.

I-40 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is part of the National Highway System,{{CAFESystem}}{{FHWA NHS map|region=californiasouth|access-date=October 15, 2017}} a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.{{FHWA NHS}} I-40 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System,{{CA scenic}} but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.{{Caltrans scenic|access-date=October 15, 2017}} I-40 from I-15 to the Arizona state line is known as the Needles Freeway, as named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 in 1968.{{CA Named Freeways | pages=33}}

In 1957, the California Department of Highways proposed that the route be numbered as I-30 because of the already existing US 40 in the state. However, this was rejected, and, eventually, US 40 was decommissioned in favor of I-80.

Today, the Needles Freeway replaced the former US 66 across the Mojave Desert. As a result, a number of communities along the former route, like Amboy, have become ghost-towns.{{cite news |first = Mike |last = Anton |url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-17-me-amboy17-story.html |title = Destiny in the desert |work = Los Angeles Times |date = January 17, 2007 |access-date = November 29, 2011 }}

In the early 1960s, Project Carryall, a component of Project Plowshare, would have detonated 22 nuclear explosions to excavate a massive roadcut through the Bristol Mountains to accommodate a better alignment of I-40 and a new rail line. This proposal was abandoned by the California State Department of Highways in 1968.{{cite web |url = http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=51451 |title = Project Carryall Marker |publisher = Hmdb.org |date = January 9, 2012 |access-date = January 25, 2013 }}{{cite journal |url = http://pubsindex.trb.org/view.aspx?id=110048 |title = Preliminary Design Studies In A Nuclear Excavation: Project Carryall |journal = TRB Publications Index |date = July 26, 1994 |issue = 50 |access-date = January 25, 2013 |last1 = Fry |first1 = J. G. |last2 = Stane |first2 = R. A. |last3 = Crutchfield Jr |first3 = W. H. }} The section between Ludlow and Needles was constructed using conventional explosives and excavation and designed with culverts for migrating Bighorn sheep and water tanks. It opened to traffic on April 13, 1973.{{cite news |date=April 14, 1973 |title=Barstow-Needles highway realigned for 67 miles |page=9 |work=Redlands Daily Facts |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/redlands-daily-facts-barstow-needles-hig/130958000/ |via=Newspapers.com |accessdate=August 30, 2023}}

A sign at that start of I-40 in Barstow showing the distance to Wilmington, North Carolina, had been stolen multiple times.{{cite news |url = http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091112/ARTICLES/911129963/1004?Title=I-40-Barstow-Calif-sign-gone-for-good |title = I-40 Barstow, Calif., sign gone for good |work = Star-News |date = November 13, 2009 |access-date = November 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307144525/http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20091112/ARTICLES/911129963/1004?Title=I-40-Barstow-Calif-sign-gone-for-good | archive-date=March 7, 2012 | url-status=dead}}

{{CAinttop|exit|county=San Bernardino

|length_ref=

|exit_ref={{cite web |date = December 26, 2016 |publisher = California Department of Transportation |work = California Numbered Exit Uniform System |url = https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/safety-programs/documents/exit/f0017883-40-a11y.pdf |title = Interstate 40 Freeway Interchanges |access-date = July 17, 2021 }}}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Barstow

|lspan=5

|mile=0.00

|type=incomplete

|road={{Jct|state=CA|I|15|dir1=south|to2=to|SR|58|dir2=west|city1=San Bernardino}}

|notes=Western terminus; access to I-15 north via exit 1; I-15 north exit 184A

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=0.79

|mspan=2

|exit=1

|espan=2

|road={{Jct|state=CA|road|Montara Road|to2=yes|CR|66}}

|notes=Eastbound signage

}}

{{CAint

|type=concur

|mile=none

|road={{Jct|state=CA|road|East Main Street|BL|15|dab2=Barstow|US-Hist|66|name3={{jct|state=CA|CR|66|noshield1=yes}}|I|15|to4=yes|dir4=north|location1=Las Vegas}}

|notes=Westbound signage; west end of CR 66 overlap; former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=2.35

|exit=2

|road=Marine Corps Logistics Base (East Main Street)

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=4.71

|exit=5

|road={{jctname|state=CA|CR|66|noshield=yes|dir1=east|name1=Nebo Street}}

|notes=East end of CR 66 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance

|type=concur

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Daggett

|mile=7.18

|exit=7

|road=A Street – Daggett

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=12.19

|exit=12

|road=Airport Road – Barstow-Daggett Airport

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Newberry Springs

|mile=18.45

|exit=18

|road=Newberry Springs (CR 66)

|notes=Former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=23.33

|exit=23

|road=Fort Cady Road – Newberry Springs

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=28.50

|place=Desert Oasis Rest Area

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=32.50

|exit=33

|road=Hector Road

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Ludlow

|mile=49.98

|exit=50

|road=Ludlow (CR 66)

|notes=Former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=78.17

|exit=78

|road=Kelbaker Road

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=99.73

|exit=100

|road=Essex Road – Essex

|notes=Serves Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, Mojave National Preserve

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=106.94

|place=John Wilkie Rest Area – Fenner

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Fenner

|mile=107.17

|exit=107

|road={{jctname|state=CA|CR|66|noshield=yes|name1=Goffs Road|city1=Essex}}

|notes=Former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=115.19

|exit=115

|road=Mountain Springs Road

|notes=former US 66 west

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=119.97

|exit=120

|road=Water Road

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|type=concur

|mile=132.73

|exit=133

|road={{Jct|state=CA|US|95|dir1=north|location1=Searchlight|location2=Las Vegas}}

|notes=West end of US 95 overlap; former US 66 west

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=Needles

|lspan=4

|type=incomplete

|mile=139.11

|exit=139

|road=River Road Cutoff

|notes=Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former US 66 east

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=141.01

|exit=141

|road={{jct|state=CA|road|W. Broadway|name1={{jct|state=CA|BL|40|dir1=east|noshield=yes}}|road|River Road|name2={{jct|state=CA|US-Hist|66|noshield=yes}} }}

|notes=Former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=142.37

|exit=142

|road=J Street – Downtown Needles

}}

{{CAint|exit

|type=concur

|mile=143.76

|exit=144

|road={{Jct|state=CA|US|95|dir1=south|US-Hist|66|name2={{jct|state=CA|road|E. Broadway|BL|40|dir2=west|noshield2=yes}}|city1=Blythe}}

|notes=East end of US 95 overlap; former US 66

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=148.19

|exit=148

|road={{Jct|state=CA|road|Five Mile Road}}

|notes=Former US 66

}}

{{jctplace|exit

|state=CA

|location=none

|type=incomplete

|mile=149.10

|place=Agricultural Inspection Station (westbound)

}}

{{CAint|exit

|location=none

|mile=153.31

|exit=153

|road=Park Moabi Road

}}

{{jctbridge|exit

|location_special=Colorado River

|lspan=2

|mile=154.64

|mspan=2

|bridge=California–Arizona line

}}

{{CAint|exit

|mile=none

|road={{jct|state=AZ|I|40|dir1=east|city1=Kingman}}

|notes=Continuation into Arizona

}}

{{Jctbtm|exit|keys=concur,incomplete}}

California does not have any auxiliary Interstate Highways associated with I-40.

One business loop of I-40 exists in the state, running through Needles. It is also designated as Historic Route 66 since it follows the former routing of US 66.

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• {{portal-inline|California Roads}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

{{CASR external links|I|40}}

• [http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-040.html Interstate 40] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329094617/http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-040.html |date=March 29, 2010 }} @ Interstate-Guide.com
• [http://www.interstate-guide.com/business-routes/bus40.html Interstate 40 Business] @ Interstate-Guide.com
• [http://www.aaroads.com/california/i-040_ca.html Interstate 40] at California @ AARoads.com
• [http://www.cahighways.org/033-040.html#040 Interstate 40] at California Highways

{{state detail page browse|type=I|route=40|state=California|stateafter=Arizona}}

{{3di|40}}

40

Category:Southern California freeways

Category:Roads in San Bernardino County, California

California