U.S. Route 95 in California

Highway in California

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 95 in California. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 95.

U.S. Route 95

US 95 highlighted in red

Route information

Maintained by Caltrans

Length

116.721 mi (187.844 km)Length does not reflect the distance along I-10 and I-40 overlaps.

Existed

1930s–present

Major junctions

South end

I-10 / US 95 at Arizona state line in Ehrenberg, AZ

Major intersections

North end

US 95 at Nevada state line south of Cal-Nev-Ari, NV

Location

Country

United States

State

California

Counties

Riverside, San Bernardino

Highway system

United States Numbered Highway System

State highways in California

←

SR 94

→

SR 96

U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a United States Numbered Highway, stretching from the Mexican border in San Luis, Arizona to the Canadian border near Eastport, Idaho. The California portion of US 95 traverses through the far eastern edges of both Riverside and San Bernardino counties. US 95 serves Blythe and Needles and junctions with SR 62 at Vidal Junction.

The route overlaps with two Interstate highways, specifically I-10 near Blythe and I-40 near Needles.

Route description

US 95, running concurrently with I-10, crosses the Colorado River from the state of Arizona and enters the city of Blythe. The highway exits I-10 at Intake Boulevard and turns due north, leaving the city limits. A few miles north, US 95 turns northeast to parallel the Colorado River. The route passes through the Big Maria Mountains and the Riverside Mountains before entering San Bernardino County.

Upon entering San Bernardino County, US 95 turns away from the Colorado River, heading northwest towards Vidal Junction, the junction with SR 62 in the Vidal Valley. The highway continues north through the Chemehuevi Valley and the Chemehuevi Mountains before entering the city of Needles after several miles. After passing the Needles Municipal Airport, US 95 merges onto I-40 westbound and continues through Needles on the freeway. US 95 exits from I-40 west of Needles and continues northwest to Searchlight Junction, where US 95 continues north at the junction with the old routing of US 66. The highway continues north, east of Homer Mountain, to the Nevada state line.

US 95 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and a small portion near I-10 and the portion north of I-40 are part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. US 95 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.

History

Route 146 was designated by the California State Legislature in 1933 and contained the portion from Blythe to the Nevada state line. US 95 was extended south from its routing in Idaho by AASHO through Searchlight and Needles to Blythe on June 28, 1939; the routing became effective at the start of 1940. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, the law was changed to reflect the designation as US 95.

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 to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). 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	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Colorado River		R156.49		I-10 east / US 95 south – Phoenix, Yuma	Continuation into Ehrenberg, Arizona
Colorado River		R156.49	California–Arizona line
Riverside RIV R156.49-36.20	Blythe	R156.10	Agricultural Inspection Station (northbound only)
		R156.10	243	Riviera Drive / I-10 BL west	Southbound exit and entrance only; northbound exit and entrance replaced by exit 242; I-10 BL is former US 60 west
			242	E. Hobson Way (I-10 BL)	Northbound exit and entrance only
		R154.16 L0.16	North end of freeway on I-10
		R154.16 L0.16		I-10 west – Indio	North end of I-10 overlap; I-10 exit 241
		L0.39 0.00		Hobsonway (I-10 BL) – Blythe	Former US 60
San Bernardino SBD 0.00-80.45	Vidal Junction	9.68		SR 62 – Twentynine Palms, Parker, Lake Havasu City, London Bridge
	Needles			Five Mile Road (Historic US 66 east) to I-40 – Topock, Kingman	South end of Historic US 66 overlap
		57.28 R143.76		Historic US 66 west (E. Broadway / I-40 BL west)	North end of Historic US 66 overlap; south end of I-40 overlap; I-40 exit 144
				I-40 east – Kingman, Lake Havasu City
			South end of freeway on I-40
		R142.37	142	J Street – Downtown
		R141.01	141	W. Broadway (I-40 BL east) / River Road (Historic US 66)	Former US 66
		R139.11	139	River Road Cutoff	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former US 66 east
		R132.73 R57.21	North end of freeway on I-40
		R132.73 R57.21		I-40 west – Barstow	Interchange; north end of I-40 overlap; I-40 exit 133
	Arrowhead Junction	63.94		Goffs Road (CR 66 west) – Goffs	Eastern terminus of CR 66; former US 66 west
		80.45		US 95 north – Searchlight, Las Vegas	Continuation into Nevada
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access

^ Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along I-10 rather than US 95.
^ Exit numbers follow I-10 rather than US 95.
^ Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along I-40 rather than US 95.
^ Exit numbers follow I-40 rather than US 95.