State Route 253 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Map of Mendocino County in northwestern California with SR 253 highlighted in red
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
| Length | 17.180 mi[1] (27.649 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  SR 128atBoonville | |||
| East end |  US 101inUkiah | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Mendocino | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 253 (SR 253), also known as the Ukiah–Boonville Road, is a state highway in the U.S. stateofCalifornia that runs between the Anderson and Ukiah valleys in Mendocino County. It crosses the mountains of the Mendocino Range from State Route 128 near BoonvilletoU.S. Route 101 near Ukiah.
The road begins in Boonville at an at-grade intersection with SR 128. The road heads eastward through a forested and mountainous area for approximately fifteen miles before entering the Russian River Basin, where numerous farms exist. The road ends with an interchange with U.S. Route 101 in southern Ukiah.[2]
SR 253 is not part of the National Highway System,[3] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[4]
This route, under the name of the Ukiah-Boonville Road, has been in use as a road since at least 1897, when it was the scene of the robbery of a stage coach carrying the payrolls for a coastal lumber mill.[5] However, it was not a state highway until 1963, when it was added to the state highway system. It was given its present number in the 1964 state highway renumbering.
Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions).[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Mendocino County.
| Location | Postmile [1][6][7] | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boonville | 0.00 | SR 128 – Boonville, Cloverdale | West end of SR 253 | ||
| Ukiah | 17.18 | US 101 – Santa Rosa, Eureka | Interchange; east end of SR 253; US 101 exit 546 | ||
| 17.18 | State Street – Ukiah | Continuation beyond US 101 | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
