California State Route 34

Route description

SR 34 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and portions of the route in Oxnard and Camarillo are 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.

It starts on the west at the intersection of Rice Avenue (future SR 1) and Fifth Street in Oxnard. It continues east then northeast on Fifth Street until it intersects Pleasant Valley Road in Camarillo. After continuing east on Pleasant Valley Road a short distance, it turns north onto Lewis Road until the intersection with Las Posas Road at the north city limit of Camarillo where Route 34 continues straight ahead as Somis Road. It ends at Route 118 near Somis. This route originally began in Port Hueneme, but in 1965, the portion from Port Hueneme to Oxnard Boulevard (then Route 1) was deleted. Nevertheless, Route 34 mileposts add on these additional 4 mi along the signed route.

The route parallels the Union Pacific Railroad's Coast Line, which carries Coast Starlight, Pacific Surfliner and Ventura County Line passenger trains, for almost its entire current length.

History

In 1933, a road from Hueneme to near Somis, going through Oxnard and Camarillo, was added to the state highway system. This road was numbered as Route 153 in 1935. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, SR 34 was defined with this routing, ending at SR 118 on the eastern side. In 1965, the highway from Port Hueneme to Oxnard Boulevard (then SR 1) was removed from the state highway system. The part of the highway in Oxnard was authorized by the state legislature to be turned over to the city of Oxnard in 2008.

Future

Next to the Fifth Street/Rice Avenue intersection is an at-grade railroad crossing that was the site of the 2015 Oxnard train derailment, which eventually led to one death and over 30 injuries. At the time it was the twelfth accident at the crossing in ten years. An overpass to allow Rice Avenue to pass over both Fifth Street and the tracks has been planned at that site for almost two decades, but funding had not been available in Ventura County for the estimated $35 million grade separation project. On July 12, 2023, the Ventura County Transportation Commission and the City of Oxnard received $15 million in state funding to build the overpass. As of February 2025, $134.5 million has been invested in the project. Construction started on March 19, and is estimated to be completed in December 2029. Caltrans had already relinquished the portion of SR 1 in Oxnard along Oxnard Boulevard in 2014, and the plan is then for SR 1 to be re-routed onto that segment of Rice Avenue, which would then officially connect the highway with SR 34 again.

According to the 2017 Caltrans District 7 Transportation Concept Report for State Route 34, the highway is on the list of routes recommended for relinquishment.

Major intersections

References

References

1. Wenner, Gretchen. (November 26, 2012). "Oxnard Set to Gain Control of Oxnard Boulevard". Ventura County Star.
2. {{CAFESystem
3. {{FHWA NHS map
4. {{FHWA NHS
5. (1 January 2015). "California Street and Highway Codes Division 1 Chapter 2 Article 3 Section 334".
6. {{cite CAstat. (1933)
7. {{cite CAstat. (1935)
8. {{cite CAstat. (1963)
9. {{cite CAstat. (1965)
10. {{cite CAstat. (2008)
11. (February 25, 2015). "Metrolink train slams into truck in Oxnard; driver arrested for hit-and-run". [[KABC-TV]].
12. (March 1, 2015). "Spending on rail crossing safety upgrades varies widely across Southland". Los Angeles Times.
13. (July 12, 2023). "Oxnard Receives $16.5 Million in State Funding for Building Rice Ave. Overpass, Santa Clara Levee Construction and Channel Islands Harbor Water Quality". City of Oxnard.
14. (March 25, 2025). "Rice Avenue & Fifth Street/SR-34 Grade Separation". City of Oxnard.
15. (July 2007)
16. (June 2017). "Transportation Concept Report State Route 34". Caltrans District 7.