{{short description|Highway in California}} {{Redirect|CA 34|the congressional district|California's 34th congressional district}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=CA |type=SR |route=34 |section=334 |maint=Caltrans |map={{maplink-road|from=California State Route 34.map}} |map_custom=yes |map_notes=SR 34 highlighted in red |length_mi=13.368 |length_round=3 |length_ref=<ref name=trucklist/> |direction_a=West |terminus_a=Rice Avenue in Oxnard |junction={{jct|state=CA|US|101}} in Camarillo |direction_b=East |terminus_b={{jct|state=CA|SR|118}} at Somis |counties=Ventura |previous_type=SR |previous_route=33 |next_type=SR |next_route=35 }} '''State Route 34''' ('''SR 34''') is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs through Ventura County from Rice Avenue (future State Route 1)<ref name="vcstar20121126">{{cite news |url = http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/26/oxnard-set-to-gain-control-of-oxnard-boulevard/ |title = Oxnard Set to Gain Control of Oxnard Boulevard |first = Gretchen |last = Wenner |work = Ventura County Star |date = November 26, 2012 |access-date = February 24, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131108070232/http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/nov/26/oxnard-set-to-gain-control-of-oxnard-boulevard/ |archive-date = November 8, 2013 |url-status = dead | quote=As Highway 1, [Oxnard Boulevard] connects drivers from Highway 101 to the coastal route to Malibu ... City and transportation officials have long planned to reroute Highway 1 in Oxnard down Rice Avenue}}</ref> in Oxnard to State Route 118 in Somis.
==Route description== SR 34 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,<ref name="cafes">{{CAFESystem}}</ref> and portions of the route in Oxnard and Camarillo are part of the National Highway System,<ref name=fhwa-nhs>{{FHWA NHS map|region=oxnard|accessdate=October 16, 2017}}</ref> a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.<ref name=NHS-FHWA>{{FHWA NHS}}</ref>
It starts on the west at the intersection of Rice Avenue (future SR 1)<ref name="vcstar20121126"/><ref>{{cite web|title=California Street and Highway Codes Division 1 Chapter 2 Article 3 Section 334|url=http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=SHC§ionNum=334.|website=California Legislative Information|access-date=7 March 2018|date=1 January 2015}}</ref> 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)<ref name="vcstar20121126"/> was deleted. Nevertheless, Route 34 mileposts add on these additional {{convert|4|mi|km}} 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.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1933|ch=767}}</ref> This road was numbered as Route 153 in 1935.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1935|ch=274}}</ref> In the 1964 state highway renumbering, SR 34 was defined with this routing, ending at SR 118 on the eastern side.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1963|ch=385}}</ref> In 1965, the highway from Port Hueneme to Oxnard Boulevard (then SR 1)<ref name="vcstar20121126"/> was removed from the state highway system.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1965|ch=1372}}</ref> The part of the highway in Oxnard was authorized by the state legislature to be turned over to the city of Oxnard in 2008.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=2008|ch=717}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="ABC7-532179">{{cite news |url = http://abc7.com/532179/ |title = Metrolink train slams into truck in Oxnard; driver arrested for hit-and-run |location = Los Angeles |publisher = KABC-TV |date = February 25, 2015 |access-date = February 25, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150227080132/http://abc7.com/532179/ |archive-date = February 27, 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="latimes-20150301-crossing-spending">{{cite news |last1 = Weikel |first1 = Dan |last2 = Nelson |first2 = Laura J. |date = March 1, 2015 |title = Spending on rail crossing safety upgrades varies widely across Southland |url = http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-metrolink-crossings-20150301-story.html |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150303045352/http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-metrolink-crossings-20150301-story.html |archive-date = March 3, 2015 |access-date = March 3, 2015 |newspaper = Los Angeles Times }}</ref> On July 12, 2023, the Ventura County Transportation Commission and the City of Oxnard received $15 million in state funding to build the overpass.<ref>{{Cite web |date = July 12, 2023 |title = Oxnard Receives $16.5 Million in State Funding for Building Rice Ave. Overpass, Santa Clara Levee Construction and Channel Islands Harbor Water Quality |url = https://www.oxnard.gov/news/oxnard-receives-16-5-million-in-state-funding-for-building-rice-ave-overpass-santa-clara-levee-construction-and-channel-islands-harbor-water-quality |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240613144857/https://www.oxnard.gov/web/20240613144857/https://www.oxnard.gov/news/oxnard-receives-16-5-million-in-state-funding-for-building-rice-ave-overpass-santa-clara-levee-construction-and-channel-islands-harbor-water-quality |archive-date = June 13, 2024 |publisher = City of Oxnard }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date = March 25, 2025 |title = Rice Avenue & Fifth Street/SR-34 Grade Separation |url = https://www.oxnard.gov/project/rice-avenue-fifth-street-state-route-34-grade-separation |access-date = |publisher = City of Oxnard }}</ref> 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,<ref name="vcstar20121126"/> 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.<ref name=34tcr/> {{Clear}}
==Major intersections== {{CAinttop|county=Ventura|post_ref=<br><ref name=trucklist /><ref name=bridgelog>{{Caltrans bridgelog|date=July 2007}}</ref><ref name=34tcr>{{cite book|title=Transportation Concept Report State Route 34|date=June 2017|publisher=Caltrans District 7}}</ref> }} {{CAint |location=Oxnard |lspan=2 |postmile=6.27 |road=Fifth Street |notes=Continuation beyond Rice Avenue; former SR 34 west }} {{CAint |postmile=6.27 |road=Rice Avenue |notes=West end of SR 34 and state maintenance; future SR 1<ref name="vcstar20121126"/> }} {{CAint |location=none |postmile=10.43 |road=Las Posas Road – Camarillo, Point Mugu, CSU Channel Islands |notes=Connects to SR 1 or US 101 }} {{CAint |location=Camarillo |lspan=2 |postmile=12.78 |road=Pleasant Valley east, Lewis Road south – Point Mugu, CSU Channel Islands |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=13.60 |road={{Jct|state=CA|US|101|name1=Ventura Freeway|city1=Ventura|city2=Los Angeles}} |notes=Interchange; US 101 exit 53B }} {{CAint |location=Somis |lspan=2 |postmile=17.66 |road={{Jct|state=CA|SR|118|name1=Los Angeles Avenue|city1=Ventura|city2=San Fernando}} |notes=East end of SR 34 }} {{CAint |postmile=17.66 |road=Donlon Road |notes=Continuation beyond SR 118 }} {{Jctbtm}}
==See also== *{{portal-inline|California Roads}} *{{portal-inline|Greater Los Angeles}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Attached KML|display=inline,title}} {{commons category}} {{CASR external links|SR|34}} *[http://www.aaroads.com/california/ca-034.html California @ AARoads.com - State Route 34] *[http://www.cahighways.org/033-040.html#034 California Highways: SR 34] *[http://www.cahighways.org/maps/2003scstatus.pdf 2003 Caltrans District 7 Master System Plan Status Map]
034 State Route 034 Category:Buildings and structures in Camarillo, California Category:Oxnard, California