# Interstate 5 & Fresno, Bakersfield etc **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486 "2002-11-06T02:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/1 "2002-11-06T02:40:28Z")
Why wasn’t Interstate 5 buildt to run thru (or by) Fresno and Bakersfield. I realize that HWY99 goes thru those towns, but most interstates run by major cities. If HWY99 was there before I-5 why not just make it part of I-5? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/2 "2002-11-06T03:51:41Z")
You can go a lot faster on I-5 than on SR-99. I-5 is really designed to get you from Los Angeles to Sacramento in a hurry, which it does unless the tule fog has set in. I-5 also gets you from LA to San Diego in an incredibly LONNGGG time. I also don’t know if SR-99 was always up to Interstate highway standards. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/3 "2002-11-06T04:55:16Z")
1. 99 ain’t up to interstate stds, IIRC (once knew them - previous life, long story) 2. Suspicion: look up the owners who sold the gov’t the land, and compare that list to the list of political donors. Remember: the Interstate System of Defense Highways is funded as follows (unless it’s changed): Construction: 90% Federal money, 10% State Maintenance: 50-50. IOW, free money to bestoy on your supporters/wipe out poor neighborhoods, do what you will - one giant porkbarrel. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/4 "2002-11-06T06:01:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > I also don’t know if SR-99 was always up to Interstate highway standards. \*\* Also of note SR-99 was a replacement for a “Golden State Blvd” or something of that nature that ran through many central valley towns. 99 also used to have a few stoplights, the one in livingston Ca was bypassed just a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/5 "2002-11-06T14:33:26Z")
I like having the two options. For one, it keeps the traffic down. People using 99 are (generally) somewhat local, using it to get from one town to the next. More businesses, homes, population, cities, etc. I-5, though, is for people who don’t care about anything in between, and just want to get from SoCal to NorCal as fast as they can. If they had made it just one road, the traffic I imagine would be horrendous. What kind of surprises me is that towns along I-5 haven’t really developed past the “gas station and McDonald’s” stage. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/6 "2002-11-07T01:09:18Z")
But that still leaves the question why did they choose to bypass the two main cities of CA. Interstates rarely don’t connect the major cities. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/7 "2002-11-07T01:21:40Z")
I seem to recall that at least some of the land for I-5 was railroad right-of-way. Not sure, though. Another question is, when are they (if ever) going to add a third lane to I-5? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/8 "2002-11-07T01:29:07Z")
**Bobt’s** and **ski’s** answers are correct. Fresno and Bakersfield are most definitely not the two main cities of CA. Those would be L.A. and San Francisco Bay Area. Interstate 5 is only intended to move people bwtween L.A/San Diego to San Francisco/Sacramento as quickly as possible. Having it go through Fresno or Bakersfield would add an hour or two to the trip. The relatively small amount of traffic between Fresno, Bakersfield and the rest of the world is adequately served by Hwy 99. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/9 "2002-11-07T01:29:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > \*\*But that still leaves the question why did they choose to bypass the two main cities of CA. Interstates rarely don’t connect the major cities. \*\* WAG: it was intended as a high-speed conduit, so they didn’t want local hop on, hop off-type traffic - ever notice now traffic slows around cities? Want fast traffic? Avoid cities. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/10 "2002-11-07T04:48:59Z")
“Interstates rarely don’t connect the major cities.” This is a curious difference between European and American transportation planning. The original autobahn system in Germany never went directly into or through any cities but always bypassed them in such a way that the autobahns wouldn’t get clogged with local traffic. When I-5 was completed in the 1960s, it was, in a sense, a throwback to the 30s. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interstate-5-fresno-bakersfield-etc/135486/11 "2002-11-07T06:22:16Z")
I-5 doens’t go through Fresno, so we can have a good answer to the trivia question of “What is the largest city in the U.S. that has no Interstate highway passing through it?”