California Highway Numbers (Redding, Arcata, Burney: east coast, interstate, historic)

[Al Zymers]

I thought even numbers were generally East-West routes (198,58), and Odd numbers were North-South (101,99).

Why is the highway between Arcata-Redding-Burney numbered 299? Looks like mostly an East-West route to me.

[Fontucky]

Maybe because it tends to trend north, much like 199 eventually does? That would be my guess. It inherited the number from a US-299.

[Al Zymers]

After I first posted the question, I did a little reading online and discovered that there are many exceptions to the numbering rule - several in California.

One historic exception was Route 66, which was numbered before Eisenhower's Interstate numbering system came into effect.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by Al Zymers

After I first posted the question, I did a little reading online and discovered that there are many exceptions to the numbering rule - several in California.

One historic exception was Route 66, which was numbered before Eisenhower's Interstate numbering system came into effect.

Route 66 belongs to the US Highways and follows the same numbering pattern as other US highways. The only difference between the US and Interstate numbering systems is that they are numbered starting on opposite coasts, with US-1 starting on the East Coast and I-5 starting on the West Coast. The same thing is done north to south.

Hwy 299 was once US-299. Some of the US highways that were alternative routes took on a "2" or "3" as a suffix (Like US-395). It is possible that this is the origin of the unusual number, and having something to do with US-99 at the time. This is very similar to what we see in the Interstate system when a loop or a shortcut is built, thus numbers like I-280 or I-880.