State Route 37 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Defined by | ||||
Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
Length: | 21.494 mi (34.591 km) | |||
Existed: | 1917 1934 – present |
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Major junctions | ||||
West end: | US 101 in Novato | |||
SR 121 at Sears Point SR 29 in Vallejo |
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East end: | I-80 in Vallejo | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Route 37 (SR 37) is a state highway in the northern part of California that runs 21 miles (34 km) along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay. It is built from U.S. Route 101 in Novato and runs through the southern tip of Sonoma and Solano Counties to Interstate 80 in Vallejo not through Napa County, on 37 the county line sign says Sonoma on one side of the highway and Solano on the other side. It serves as a vital connection between the four counties of the North Bay Area, north of San Francisco; Sonoma Raceway and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom are accessible from Route 37.
Route 37 has been proposed to be built to freeway standards since the early 1950s. However, the proposal was met with many economic and environmental obstacles, making the task all but impossible for much of the route. Problems included a levee break in Vallejo which turned part of the land around the highway into a marsh that is home to endangered salt marsh harvest mice, and a section of highway known as "Blood Alley" for its high rate of fatal accidents.
Intended to run from State Route 251, a highway that has not been constructed, SR 37 begins in Novato with a junction at U.S. Route 101 and heads northeast as a freeway for about a quarter mile before becoming a four-lane expressway. The route passes over the Petaluma River into Sonoma County before meeting the southern terminus of State Route 121 at a signal-controlled intersection near Sears Point and the Sonoma Raceway.