California State Route 92 - Route Description

Route Description

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. However, it is not a scenic highway as defined by Caltrans.

Between Half Moon Bay and Interstate 280, Route 92 winds through the Coast Range as a narrow, mainly undivided two and three lane highway with a switchback turn. The east-bound uphill portion was upgraded with a long passing lane. Between Interstate 280 and Interstate 880 it is entirely a divided multilane highway, including the toll San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, the longest span across the San Francisco Bay. East of Interstate 880 the route becomes a divided surface street in Hayward, locally known as Jackson Street.

All of Route 92 that is not already a freeway or a toll bridge has been proposed as a freeway, none of which has been built. An upgrade of the intersection with Main Street in Half Moon Bay is in the late planning stage. The old cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 880 was rebuilt with direct ramp replacements for two of the tight "cloverleaf" ramps, and a new wider and taller overpass to carry Route 92 over Interstate 880. The project took four years, and was completed in October 2011.

State Route 92 traverses through significant habitat areas including wetland, California oak woodland, chaparral and grassland. In one serpentine soil location near Crystal Springs Reservoir, it passes near one of the only known colonies of the endangered wildflower Pentachaeta bellidiflora and near one of the limited number of colonies of the endangered Eriophyllum latilobum.