# California State Route 51

State Route 51 is a California State Highway the hidden designation of the eastern half of Business Loop 80 in Sacramento, California, where traffic flows in a north-south direction. Route 51 is an unsigned route and the entire section of road is signed as Bus-80, although signs posted during construction have referred to it as State Route 51. The road is a divided limited access freeway for its entire length, although its narrowness, poor shoulders, tight sightlines and sharp curves mean that it is not constructed to interstate grade.

## Route description

Route 51 begins at the US-50/CA-99 interchange and heads eastward. Halfway along its route, the North Sacramento Freeway (formerly CA-160) joins CA-51 from the west. Near the Marconi Ave. exit, motorists encounter the "Marconi Curve," which is almost always congested during rush hour. CA-51 then ends, with traffic flowing on to East Interstate 80. There is no connector route to West 80, however, as the angle between the two freeways is too acute. Instead, those intending to go from North 51 to West 80 (or East 80 to South 51) must instead exit at Watt Ave.
Officially, Route 51 is known as the Capital City Freeway, but colloquially, it has been called the "WX" (as it overlays a block between W and X Streets) or "29/30" (similarly, it overlays a block between 29th and 30th Streets).

## History

An earlier SR 51 was defined on July 1, 1964 on a section of pre-1964 Legislative Route 2 (which was a section of former U.S. Route 101), providing a loop east of Interstate 5 (pre-1964 Legislative Route 174 there) through Orange, around the Orange Crush Interchange. It was removed from the state highway system in 1965.

## Junction list

| County | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 0.00 | 0.00 | 6A-B | US 50 east (Lincoln Highway) / SR 99 south (South Sacramento Freeway) – South Lake Tahoe, Fresno | Western terminus; |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 5.88 | 9.46 | 6C | T Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit only accessible from SR 99 north; entrance goes directly to SR 99 south |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 5.88 | 9.46 | 6C | P Street | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): exit |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 6.48 | 10.43 | 7A | N Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 6.48 | 10.43 | 7A | J Street | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 6.84 | 11.01 | 7B | H Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 6.84 | 11.01 | 7B | E Street | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 9.00 | 14.48 | 9A | Exposition Boulevard – Cal Expo | No eastbound entrance (access is via SR 160) |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 9.33 | 15.02 | 9B | SR 160 south (North Sacramento Freeway) – Downtown Sacramento | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former US 40 |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 9.70 | 15.61 | 10A | Arden Way | Signed as exit 9B eastbound |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 10.38 | 16.70 | 10B | El Camino Avenue – Carmichael | Signed as exit 10 eastbound |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 11.14 | 17.93 | 11 | Auburn Boulevard / Marconi Avenue | No eastbound entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 11.60 | 18.67 | 12A | Howe Avenue | Eastbound exit and entrance |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 11.85 | 19.07 | 12B | Auburn Boulevard / Bell Street | Eastbound exit only; Auburn Boulevard is former US 40 |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 12.43 | 20.00 | 12C | Fulton Avenue | Signed as exit 12 westbound |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | 13.61 | 21.90 | 14A | Watt Avenue south | No westbound exit; connects to I-80 west |
| Sacramento | 13.61– 14.23 | 21.90– 22.90 | 14B-C | Watt Avenue / Auburn Boulevard (SR 244) | Signed as exits 14B (Watt Ave. north) and 14C (Auburn Blvd.) eastbound, 14A (Auburn Blvd.) and 14B (Watt Ave.) westbound; Auburn Boulevard is former US 40 |
| North Highlands | 14.50 | 23.34 | | I-80 east – Reno | No access to I-80 west; eastern terminus of I-80 BL / unsigned SR 51; eastern end of unsigned SR 51 concurrency; I-80 west exit 95 |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access |||||||

## State law

Legal Definition of Route 51: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 351 Template:CAFES