Serving Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties along California's Central Coast, dedicated to safe, sustainable transport. District 5 is made up of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties The district is the home of over 800 Caltrans employees including 350 field employees. The district is also home to Highway 101, which i
s one of three major north and south routes connecting northern and southern California. The Pacific Surfliner, funded by Caltrans and operated by Amtrak, travels between San Luis Obispo and San Diego and is currently the second most popular passenger train route in the country. There are 33 cities and 7,788,809 acres in the five-county district, with a population of over 1.3 million people. Motorists travel 6.9 billion vehicle miles through the district each year. Building, operating and maintaining the highway system within such a unique environment demands careful consideration in virtually all District projects. The District maintains a careful balance to preserve and protect the sensitive environment while meeting the needs of an ever-increasing population who utilize the state highway system. The district is home to one of the most picturesque and diverse landscapes in the nation. President Roosevelt was at the Grand Opening of Highway 1 between Morro Bay and Carmel on June 27, 1938. Originally estimated to cost $1.5 million, the 139-mile section of Highway 1 included 33 bridges and was completed at a cost of $10 million or $71,000 per mile. The project to build the highway was begun in 1919 and completed in 1937. Recently, it was named as one of 22 All-America Highways in the U.S. Historically, Bixby Creek Bridge, on the north end of the highway, is one of the most photographed man-made structures in the nation.
