California State Route 59

State Route 59 (SR 59) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California located entirely in Merced County. It connects State Route 152 near El Nido to the city of Merced and beyond, ending abruptly at the intersection of County Routes J59 and J16 in Snelling.

Route description Route 59 is defined in section 359 of the California Streets and Highways Code. The definition omits the concurrency with Route 99 instead of duplicating that segment in the other route's definition in the code:

Route 59 is from: (a) Route 152 northerly to Route 99 near Merced. (b) Route 99 near Merced to Snelling.

SR 59 begins at SR 152 as Los Banos Highway. The highway travels north through the town of El Nido until entering the city of Merced, where it runs concurrently with the SR 99 freeway and with SR 140. SR 59 leaves the concurrency on the west side of Merced and travels north as the Snelling Highway. The highway winds up the Sierra Nevada foothills until it passes through Snelling, where it ends at its intersection with County Routes J59 and J16.

SR 59 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, but except for a portion in Merced is not 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.

Future In January 2010, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors made a formal request to the state to add the entire length of County Route J59 as a northerly extension of State Route 59 from its terminus in Snelling, Merced County, to the intersection of State Routes 108 and 120 in Tuolumne County.

On February 20, 2026, state senator Marie Alvarado-Gil introduced Senate Bill 1334. Co-written by state assembly members Juan Alanis and David Tangipa, if signed into law it would require the California Transportation Commission and the counties of Merced, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne to come to an agreement to allow the state to acquire CR J59 by December 31, 2030. The modified definition of State Route 59, with its new northern terminus as "the junction of Routes 108 and 120", would then go into effect on January 1, 2031.

Major intersections

California State Route 59

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