Imagine a time… when America had no coast-to-coast Highways… only railroads, waterways, and ‘National Trails’ from earlier Westward expansions.   It was not that long ago – only about a hundred years or so.   This post is about one of the very first coast-to-coast highways – US Highway 80… and its legendary 6½ mile stretch of road called ‘The Old Plank Road’.    This 6½ mile stretch, located in the extreme southeast corner of California, was passable by only the most hardy & persevering of drivers… indeed, this stretch of road was literally built on ‘shifting sands’… and accordingly assembled out of portable 8’x12′ road sections constructed of wooden planks that could be, and often were, ‘shifted’ over the sands… as the roadway routinely became unpassable under the shifting sands of California’s Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.  

 

US Highway 80 had its genesis as the The Dixie Overland Highway… first conceived of in July 1914 by the Automobile Club of Savannah, GA… then in 1917 becoming incorporated as ‘The Dixie Overland Highway Association’… which in 1919 selected San Diego (over Los Angeles) to become its western-most transcontinental-highway destination.   In 1926, with the Dept. of Agriculture’s adoption of the ‘US Numbered Highway System’, The Dixie Overland Highway essentially became designated as US Highway 80, along with other notable new US Highways like the famous Route 66.

 

About the same time (1914) as the Automobile Club of Savannah was planning the Dixie Overland Highway, businessmen in San Diego & Los Angeles were competing to decide which city was best suited to become the main automobile road terminus for a new inbound Road coming from Yuma, AZ… and San Diego won.   As part of this new Highway, the 1^st  version of ‘The Old Plank Road’, a 6½ mile single-lane road of two 25″ parallel wooden tracks, was completed in 1915 using mostly private funds.  The California State Highway Commission then assumed ownership of the stretch and a year later, in 1916, completed an upgraded ‘2^nd version’ consisting of pre-assembled 8’x12′ wooden sections, with turn-outs every mile to facilitate passing traffic.  By 1917, most of the new Yuma – San Diego Road had been completed utilizing a paved, narrow roadway of Portland cement… in addition to ‘The Plank Road‘ over the Dunes.   In 1919, the Dixie Overland Highway Association formally chose San Diego (via Yuma) as its trans-continental highway western destination… and in 1926, a 20′ wide asphalt roadway finally replaced the 8’x12′ wooden plank sections.   Shortly thereafter (1926), ‘The Old Plank Road’, and the entire road from Yuma to San Diego, was incorporated into the ‘new’ US Highway 80… which was eventually replaced by Interstate-8 in 1975.

Phew! That is a LOT of activity over 1914 – 1926 from BOTH sides of the continent!

Great Read! A side note… obviously, automobile travel was very difficult in the early days – Click Here… to read a Fascinating account of two young men driving a ‘Model T’ from West Texas… to San Diego – Los Angeles… and back again.   Ever hear of driving a Model T ‘backwards’ up a mountain… to keep gas flowing into the carburetor?   You will here!

 

As the following pictures show, the ‘Old Plank Road’ is still with us.   Alice and I, with our good friends Mary & Gary DeYoung, checked it out…

 

Getting there is easy:   Take Interstate 8 to the “Gray’s Wells Road Exit, # 156”.   Upon exit, you will come to the identifying sign below, across from the Buttercup Ranger Station:   Keep going on Grays Wells Road. 

 

Follow the signs on Grays Wells Road, traveling West for about 3 miles, to the pull off for ‘Plank Road’:   Look for the below Monument:

Plank Road

1914 to 1927

This unique Plank Road seven miles long was the only means early motorists had for crossing the treacherous Imperial Sand Dunes.   The eight by twelve foot sections were moved with a team of horses whenever the shifting sands covered portions of the road. Double sections were placed at intervals to permit vehicles to pass.

 

Next to the Monument, is the old road… The below picture shows a  newly constructed example based on an original ‘2^nd version’ Plank Section… horse teams were used to put these in place.

 

A reconstruction of a ‘1^st version’ section of road… two 25″ parallel wooden tracks.   For the 1915 first year, this form of two-track wooden road extended 6½ miles.

 

In 1916, the below ‘2^nd version’ 8’x12′ road construct was used to replace the initial two-track 1^st version… 

 

Original preserved old road… 

 

Looking up the hill…

 

Looking down the same hill…

 

The ‘Old Plank Road’ is located within a half mile of the Mexican Border – the picture below shows the border fence wall.   Note the solid black ‘line’ in the picture below… that is the border fence.

 

Note the black border wall… here, it runs ‘serpentine’ from the West to the East, towards Yuma. 

 

This area, the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, is a favorite for campers with ATV’s, and dune buggies. 

This completes our post on US Highway 80… and it’s ‘The Old Plank Road’ stretch.   Its a small area… but the history is enormous.   Completing this road from Yuma to the West Coast provided the means & impetus to build California’s Imperial Valley Agriculture industry… a huge amount of tillable land, that with Colorado River irrigation water, blossoms the desert.    And direct history here… that can still be seen.

Thank you for reading.   Any questions or comments please feel free to contact us!  

Thanks,

Jim & Alice LaPeer

 

 

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