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This measure would designate a specified portion of Highway Route 79 in the Counties of San Diego and Riverside as Historic Highway Route 79 and request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

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WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 is among the County of San Diegos last three unsullied rural highways; and

WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 begins in the community of Descanso and then climbs and winds through some of southern Californias most historically significant natural and manmade sites; and

WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 then travels through Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, surrounding travelers with geological and geographical landmarks; and

WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 next winds past gold mines, communities, and tiny towns that dot the primeval Cleveland National Forest; and

WHEREAS, In 1600, those already old and overlapping trails that would later become Highway Route 79 marked the way for Spanish explorer Pedro Fages and those riding horses with him; and

WHEREAS, A portion of Highway Route 79 served as a segment of the 2,812-mile Butterfield Overland Mail Route, which was the first transcontinental postal delivery service in the country; and

WHEREAS, In other states, several portions of the Butterfield Overland Mail Route have been officially registered as historic places, reminding todays travelers of the bravery, determination, and adventurism of those who built and traveled this famous route in the 19th century; and

WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 further winds through Julian, a community that a handful of people founded and in which gold was discovered in 1870; and

WHEREAS, By 1908, when the state began paving Highway Route 79, the route had already been used by army surveyors, pre- and post-Civil War gold miners, American and European settlers, Chinese workers, immigrants from the British Isles, and European immigrants tired of the Austro-Hungarian wars; and

WHEREAS, Highway Route 79 has outstanding natural, cultural, historic, and scenic qualities; and

WHEREAS, It is therefore appropriate to recognize a portion of Highway Route 79 for its historical significance and importance in the development of California and to designate that portion as Historic Highway Route 79; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of Highway Route 79 from where it intersects with Interstate 8 at post mile L 0.044 at Japatul Valley Road in the County of San Diego to its intersection at post mile RIV 15.74 at Butterfield Stage Road in the County of Riverside as Historic Highway Route 79; and be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with signing requirements for the state highway system showing the special Historic Highway Route 79 designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources for that cost, to facilitate the erection of those signs at appropriate locations on Highway Route 79; and be it further

Resolved, That the designation of Historic Highway Route 79 pursuant to this resolution shall have no impact upon the future planning or development of adjacent private and public properties; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.