El Cajon Boulevard
.svg) |
|
|---|---|
El Cajon Boulevard near west end
|
|
| Part of |
 US 80 (1926 to 1964) |
| Location | San Diego County, California (San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon) |
| West end | Normal Street in San Diego |
| Major junctions |
|
| East end | Main Street in La Mesa |
El Cajon Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare through San Diego, La Mesa and El Cajon, California. Before the creation of Interstate 8 it was the principal automobile route from San Diego to El Cajon, the Imperial Valley, and points east as U.S. Route 80; it is now signed as a business loop of Interstate 8.
The boulevard now consists of two disconnected portions, one in San Diego and La Mesa, and the other in El Cajon. The central section through La Mesa's Grossmont Pass was obliterated when Interstate 8 was built.
It was formerly part of U.S. Route 80, and became a business loop for Interstate 8 when U.S. Route 80 was decommissioned and replaced by the interstate. It is designated as a historic highway by the state of California. Only portions of what would become El Cajon Boulevard in both La Mesa and El Cajon were originally part of US 80. During a re-routing through San Diego onto Park Boulevard in 1929, the western portion of El Cajon Boulevard was added to US 80. The next section of El Cajon Boulevard added to US 80 was between La Mesa and El Cajon around 1940. Today, most of the latter route from La Mesa to El Cajon has been overlaid by I-8. The final part of El Cajon Boulevard to receive the US 80 designation was a small piece between Park Boulevard and Normal Street in the late 1940s early 1950s when US 80 was re-routed off Park Boulevard onto the new Cabrillo Freeway. US 80 ceased to exist legislatively within California after July 1, 1964.
It has been cited as a prime example of a commercial strip whose growth and development was shaped by the automobile, as opposed to the parallel University Avenue commercial strip whose growth was shaped by the trolley. Since El Cajon Boulevard was formerly the major route east from San Diego, there are many old hotels and motels on it. One of them, the Lafayette Hotel, is of considerable historic interest.
...
Wikipedia