page_title: Central Valley (California)
section_title: Highways and other transportation
hierarchical_section_title: Central Valley (California) / Highways and other transportation
caption_attribution_description: The San Joaquin Valley of California in August — near Westley, in Stanislaus County, California.
context_page_description: The Central Valley is a flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is 40 to 60 miles wide and stretches approximately 450 miles from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. It covers approximately 18,000 square miles, about 11% of California's total land area. The valley is bounded by the Coast Ranges to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east.
  It is California's most productive agricultural region and one of the most productive in the world, providing more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States. More than 7 million acres of the valley are irrigated via an extensive system of reservoirs and canals. The valley also has many major cities, including the state capital Sacramento; as well as Chico, Redding, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, and Bakersfield.
  The Central Valley watershed comprises 60,000 square miles, or over a third of California.
context_section_description: Highways Interstate 5 and CA 99 run, roughly parallel, north–south through the valley, meeting at only its south end. The Interstate 80 Business Loop connects the two highways at their closest point. Interstate 80 crosses it northeast–southwest from Rocklin to Vacaville.  Interstate 80 and California State Route 58 are the two major routes east out of the Central Valley, over the Sierra Nevada.  Other routes east over the Sierra Nevada include California State Route 178, California State Route 41 to California State Route 120 via Yosemite National Park, California State Route 88, and US Route 50. Westbound routes out of the valley are California State Route 166, California State Route 46, California State Route 152, Interstate 580, and Interstate 80. The major ones west out of the valley are Interstate 580, State Route 152 and State Route 46, over the Diablo Range. Other routes include California State Route 33, California State Route 198, California State Route 4, California State Route 130, and other smaller back roads and trails.
  BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) and Union Pacific Railroad both have railway lines in the Central Valley. The BNSF Bakersfield Subdivision runs from Bakersfield to Calwa, four miles (6 km) south of Fresno. From Calwa the BNSF Stockton Subdivision continues to Port Chicago, west of Antioch. The Union Pacific Railroad Martinez Subdivision runs from Port Chicago through Martinez, Richmond and Emeryville to Oakland. The UP's Fresno Subdivision runs from Stockton to Bakersfield. Traffic passes through a large, historical yard in Roseville before heading north to Oregon or east to Nevada. Amtrak operates six daily San Joaquins trains over these lines. 
  The Central Valley has major connections to other regions: The Mojave Desert via Tehachapi and Walker passes, Eastern California via Tioga, Sonora and Carson passes, the Central Coast via Polonio and Cottonwood passes, and State Route 198, The San Francisco Bay Area via Pacheco and Altamont passes, Nevada via Donner Pass, Lake Tahoe via Echo Summit, Susanville region via Beckwourth and Fredonyer passes, Shasta Lake via Interstate 5, and Southern California via Tejon Pass and the Grapevine
  California High-Speed Rail, linking northern and southern California, broke ground in the Central Valley in 2015.
caption: The valley in late August, looking at Tracy
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