Route Description
Intended to run from the unconstructed State Route 251, SR 37 begins in Novato with a junction at U.S. Route 101 and heads northeast as a freeway for about a quarter mile before becoming a four-lane expressway. The route passes over the Petaluma River into Sonoma County before meeting the southern terminus of State Route 121 near Sears Point (where the Infineon Raceway is located) at a signal-controlled intersection.
The route continues in a more easterly, then southeasterly, direction as a two-lane highway with a concrete divider (essentially a super two-lane highway) crossing Tolay Creek and proceeding through the Napa Sonoma Marsh at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay. Before the construction of the barrier in 1995, this portion of SR 37 was three lanes with the middle lane alternately serving as a passing lane for each direction. This stretch of highway was given the nickname of "Blood Alley" for its high-rate of fatal accidents. With the middle lane removed, accidents dropped dramatically, but it is not uncommon for long chains of cars to back up behind slower moving traffic.
SR 37 becomes a freeway on Mare Island, approaching northern Vallejo. After it crosses over the Napa River Bridge, it continues as a freeway, overlapping the old highway alignment and passing north of the old road known as Marine World Parkway (due to its proximity to the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, previously known as Marine World). SR 37 travels in a northeasterly direction along the White Slough before turning east as it crosses over State Route 29 and heads to its eastern terminus at I-80. In the early 1990s, the stretch between Fairgrounds Drive, which serves as the entrance to Discovery Kingdom, and Mini Drive was upgraded to a freeway. In 2004 and 2005, following over fifty years of complications, the remaining non-freeway section in Vallejo was upgraded as well.
Route 37 is also known as Randy Bolt Memorial Highway from Route 29 to Skaggs Road, and Sears Point Toll Road, which was originally a toll road that ran from Route 121 to Vallejo. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. However, it is not designated as a scenic highway by Caltrans.
Read more about this topic: California State Route 37
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