Jamboree Road

Jamboree Road is a 15.8-mile (25.4 km) long major arterial road through Orange County, California, running through the cities of Newport Beach, Irvine, Tustin, and Orange.[1]

Jamboree Road

Aerial view of Jamboree Road in Newport Beach, 2016
Namesake	The National Scout jamboree
Length	15.8 mi[1] (25.4 km)
Location	Orange County, California
Coordinates	33°42′10″N 117°48′30″W
South end	Bayside Drive in Newport Beach
Major junctions	SR 1 in Newport Beach I-405 in Irvine SR 261 in Irvine I-5 in Irvine
North end	Irvine Park Lane in Orange

Route description

The southern terminus of Jamboree Road is at Bayside Drive, immediately before Balboa Island. Its name changes to Marine Avenue as it makes the very short journey over the water that separates Balboa from Newport Beach. The road enters Irvine after the intersection with MacArthur Boulevard and continues into the Irvine urban core after the I-405 interchange. At Barranca Parkway, Jamboree Road becomes a freeway, with grade-separated intersections and limited right-of-way. As a freeway, Jamboree has exits at Warner Avenue, Edinger Avenue, and Walnut Avenue. After splitting with SR 261, Jamboree Road intersects I-5 and bisects the Irvine/Tustin Marketplace, the north side being Tustin and the south side being Irvine. It proceeds north through the foothills, crossing the Loma Ridge alongside SR 261 (the Eastern Transportation Corridor toll road) to its northern terminus in the City of Orange, at the intersection with Santiago Canyon Road (County Route S18).

Jamboree Road is heavily used by commuters who work at the Irvine Urban Core districts such as the IBC (Irvine Business Center) and the Irvine Towers.

History

Region XII gateway at the national 1953 National Scout Jamboree

The 1953 National Scout Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of America held its event where Newport Center and Fashion Island now sit. It was the third national jamboree, the first to be held west of the Mississippi River, and had 50,000 scouts from all 48 states and 16 foreign countries.[2] Thousands of tents were pitched in the area accessible only by a muddy two-lane trail called Palisades Road (part of which is now the southern end of Bristol Avenue). The road was soon paved, and later the name was changed to Jamboree Road in honor of the event. One attendee, David Sills, then a young Boy Scout from Peoria, Illinois, would later move to Irvine as an adult and serve four terms as mayor of the city.

The current route of Jamboree Road follows the courses of four originally unconnected roads - these were, from south to north, the original stretch of Jamboree that extended from the present-day course of Bristol Street to Pacific Coast Highway, San Joaquin Road, Myford Road, and Peters Canyon Road.

Future

Currently, Jamboree Road terminates at Santiago Canyon Road. Plans in the future with the city of Anaheim and The Irvine Company on the "Mountain Park" neighborhood call to extend Jamboree Road to Weir Canyon Road with an at-grade intersection. In addition, the plans call for Weir Canyon Road to be extended to SR 241 with a tolled exit and for Gypsum Canyon Road to be extended to Weir Canyon Road. The Jamboree extension would have a brief run through Irvine Regional Park and would run parallel to SR 241. The route would serve as an alternate route for drivers who use SR 55 and Imperial Highway (via Cannon Street) in Orange, which usually are congested during peak hours, and such an extension would reduce congestion along those roads.[3] Though this plan would benefit many drivers and provide housing and jobs, it is unknown when the project will break ground or reach completion.

Along with this project, the cities of Anaheim and Yorba Linda as well as Caltrans call for select toll lanes on SR 241 to connect with SR 91's toll lanes, which would be parallel to the proposed Weir Canyon Road exit and Mountain Park and would improve the congestion faced at the northern terminus on SR 241 when merging east.[4]

However in 2014, the Irvine Company donated 55,000 acres of land (including portions in the city of Anaheim) to the county of Orange to be preserved as open space. As a result, these projects may have been scrapped or delayed.[5]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Orange County. All exits are unnumbered.

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Newport Beach	0.0	0.0	Marine Avenue south / Bayside Drive
	0.2	0.32	SR 1 (Coast Highway)	Former US 101 Alt.
	3.5	5.6	SR 73 / Bristol Street	Exit 15 on SR 73; SR 73 south is a toll road
	3.7	6.0	MacArthur Boulevard	Former routing of US 50
Irvine	5.5	8.9	I-405 (San Diego Freeway)	Exit 7 on I-405
	7.0	11.3	South end of freeway
	7.7	12.4	Warner Avenue / Park Avenue
	8.5	13.7	Edinger Avenue	Southbound exit shares ramp with Walnut Avenue exit
	9.1	14.6	Walnut Avenue	Southern terminus of SR 261
	9.3	15.0	SR 261 north – Riverside	SR 261 leaves Jamboree Road; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	9.5	15.3	North end of freeway
Irvine–Tustin line	9.7	15.6	I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway)	Exit 100 on I-5
	10.0	16.1	El Camino Real
Orange	15.5	24.9	Santiago Canyon Road (CR S18 south) / Chapman Avenue (CR S25 west) to SR 241 / SR 261	CR S18 joins Jamboree Road; eastern terminus of CR S25
	15.7	25.3	Santiago Canyon Road (CR S18 north)	CR S18 leaves Jamboree Road
	15.8	25.4	Irvine Park Lane	Continues to Irvine Regional Park
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access       Route transition

References

1. Google (January 9, 2020). "Jamboree Road" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
2. Orange County - 1946 to 1962
3. https://www.anaheim.net/DocumentCenter/View/2615
4. http://www.thetollroads.com/about/projects/241-91-connector
5. https://www.ocregister.com/2014/08/12/irvine-co-donates-2500-acres-to-the-county-for-open-space/