U.S. Route 50 (US 50) is a transcontinental United States Numbered Highway, stretching from West Sacramento, California, in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, in the east. The California portion of US 50 runs east from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. A portion in Sacramento also has the unsigned designation of Interstate 305. The western half of the highway in California is a four-or-more-lane divided highway, mostly built to freeway standards, and known as the El Dorado Freeway outside of downtown Sacramento. US 50 continues as an undivided highway with one eastbound lane and two westbound lanes until the route reaches the canyon of the South Fork American River at Riverton. The remainder of the highway, which climbs along and out of the canyon, then over the Sierra Nevada at Echo Summit and into the Lake Tahoe Basin, is primarily a two-lane road.
The US 50 corridor is a historic one, used by many 49ers who came to California during the Gold Rush as well as the Pony Express. In 1895, part of the present-day route was designated as California's first state highway, and it was later designated as one of two routes of the Lincoln Highway across the Sierra Nevada. Much of US 50 was constructed during the initial construction of the California state highway system.
Route description
The entire length of US 50 in California is defined in section 350 of the California Streets and Highways Code as simply Route 50, and that the highway is from "Route 80 near Sacramento to the Nevada state line near Lake Tahoe via Placerville". This corresponds with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)'s U.S. Route logs of US 50.
US 50 begins in West Sacramento, where I-80 leaves the West Sacramento Freeway onto a bypass of Sacramento. At the western terminus, a mileage sign gives the distance to the California cities of Placerville and South Lake Tahoe along with the eastern terminus of the highway in Ocean City, Maryland. The old route of I-80 through Sacramento is signed as US 50 and Business 80 in the western section and Business 80 (Capital City Freeway) in the eastern section. Business 80 overlaps US 50 on the West Sacramento Freeway to the split with SR 275, then over the Sacramento River on the Pioneer Memorial Bridge and across I-5 to SR 99. Beginning in 2016, signs on this section are being updated to remove references to Business 80 and instead sign the route only as US Highway 50. Approximately of US 50 from I-80 to SR 99 south is part Interstate Highway as well, carrying the unsigned designation of Interstate 305.
At the US 50/Business 80/SR 99 interchange, Business 80 splits to the north, SR 99 heads south, and US 50 continues east as the El Dorado Freeway and the Lincoln Highway. This freeway parallels Folsom Boulevard and the American River east-northeasterly through the suburb of Rancho Cordova to Folsom. Entering El Dorado County, US 50 continues eastward through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada via El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, and Shingle Springs to downtown Placerville. The freeway ends, and US 50 has several at-grade intersections in Placerville, including SR 49.
Leaving Placerville, the expressway through town starts, only to end several miles later. The final section of freeway begins near Camino, where the Lincoln Highway splits from US 50, and ends at the east end of Pollock Pines. Just east of Pollock Pines, US 50 continues as an undivided conventional highway with one eastbound lane and two westbound lanes, entering the river canyon of the South Fork American River near Riverton and crossing to the north side of the river near Ice House Road.
As the highway continues ascending the Sierras, US 50 regularly gets snow at higher elevations from fall to spring. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) sometimes requires vehicles to use snow tires, snow chains, or other traction devices in the mountains during and after snowstorms. Checkpoints are often set up to enforce chain restrictions on vehicles bound for icy or snowy areas. When chain restrictions are in effect, vehicles must have chains on the driving wheels, except 4WD vehicles with snow tires. Additionally, during the winter season, trucks are required to carry chains whether or not controls are in force.
From Ice House Road to the crest of the Sierras, US 50 is a steadily rising mostly two-lane road, staying just north of the river except for a 1995 cutoff that crosses the river twice in quick succession west of Kyburz, the boyhood home of ski racer Spider Sabich. Several hairpin turns take the highway up a grade east of Strawberry, after which US 50 continues east alongside the river to its source at Echo Summit. Echo Summit is the highest elevation U.S. Route 50 reaches in California at . In 1968, it was the site of the U.S. Olympic trials for men's track and field, held at a temporary facility in the parking lot of the Nebelhorn ski area.
From Echo Summit down to the Lake Tahoe Basin, the roadway slowly descends the side of a steep hill; it then curves northeast to its south junction with SR 89 (which heads south to Luther Pass) beginning co-signing of SR 89, and then turns northward near the city of South Lake Tahoe. Where US 50 and SR 89 split, at an intersection known as "The Y", the former turns east on the four-lane Lake Tahoe Boulevard, which it follows to and along the south shore of Lake Tahoe, then it enters the state of Nevada.
US 50 has been added to the California Freeway and Expressway System by the state legislature, and is 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. The highway east of SR 49 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, and has been recognized as such except within the South Lake Tahoe city limits, meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.
History Emigrant trails and wagon roads The earliest roads used by Europeans to cross the Sierra Nevada into California were branches of the California Trail. The first route near the present US 50 was the Carson Route, laid out in 1848 by an eastward Mormon party that wanted to avoid the Truckee Route and its deep crossings of the Truckee River. The group left Pleasant Valley, southeast of Placerville, on July 3, following Iron Mountain Ridge up to the crest of the Sierra at Carson Pass and then descending through Carson Canyon into the Carson Valley. Along the Humboldt River in Nevada, the Mormons met Joseph B. Chiles, who was leading a westward wagon train to California, and told him of their new trail. Although this new Carson Route crossed two summits — Carson Pass over the crest of the Sierra and West Pass over the Carson Spur just to the west, these crossings were easier than Donner Pass on the Truckee Route, and only three fords of the Carson River were required. The route became the primary westward route into California at the start of the Gold Rush. Through California, the general alignment of the Carson Route, in terms of today's highways, was State Route 88 over Carson Pass and Mormon Emigrant Trail and Sly Park Road to Pleasant Valley.
John Calhoun Johnson of Placerville surveyed and cleared a shorter, lower (and thus less snow-covered) trail east from that town in 1852, completing the work by the summer. Rather than following the ridge to the Sierra's crest as the Mormons had, Johnson headed eastward to the South Fork American River, crossing to its north side near the present Pacific Ranger Station in order to follow Peavine Ridge around a rocky stretch of the river. Returning to the river between Kyburz and Strawberry, he then continued alongside it to the crest at Johnson Pass, where a steep slope descended to Lake Tahoe. Within Nevada, his route generally followed the lake to Glenbrook, where it turned inland and crossed the Carson Range over Spooner Summit into the Carson Valley near Carson City. This trail, known as Johnson's Cut-off, generally followed the present US 50, with notable deviations only just east of Placerville (via Carson Road), over Peavine Ridge (roughly following Peavine Ridge Road, some trails, and Wrights Lake Road), just east of Strawberry (via Slippery Ford Road), over the crest of the Sierra (via Johnson Pass Road and Meyers Road), south of Lake Tahoe (via Pioneer Trail), east of Lake Tahoe (via Genoa Peak Road), and from Spooner Summit into the Carson Valley (via Kings Canyon Road). By 1854, Bartlett's Bridge had been built at the trail's westernmost crossing of the American River, allowing wagons to follow the cutoff; it was soon washed away by a freshet on March 7, 1855, and replaced by Brockliss Bridge, several miles to the east. Due to an improvement of the road through Carson Canyon on the old Carson Route, most travelers ended up turning southeast from Johnson Pass over Luther Pass (present SR 89) to join the older route northeast of Carson Pass rather than following the cutoff along Lake Tahoe..
Johnson's Cut-off was the only trail that could be used year-round, but it still had problems, as it had been built without use of earth-moving equipment, and thus did not always take the optimal route. The state adopted a survey by Sherman Day in September 1855, but failed to make use of it. Two years later, the counties of Yolo, Sacramento, and El Dorado, all of which would be benefited by further improvements, began planning and carrying out work. The state legislature created a "Board of Wagon Commissioners" on March 8, 1858, and it completed the improvements by the end of that year. This new route had better grades than the old cutoff, deviating from it in several places: it followed the present Smith Flat Road rather than Carson Road east of Placerville, traversed Peavine Ridge much further down the slope, returning to the river west of Kyburz (roughly via the present White Meadows Road, Ice House Road, and Weber Mill Road to US 50 at Granite Springs Road), and crossed into Carson Valley via Luther Pass. By 1860, the immense traffic over the road and lack of maintenance had worsened it to the point that it could no longer be used by stagecoaches..