US 99 Highway TourStop 17A · Los Angeles County · 1928-1930 Santa Clarita AlignmentOpen US 99 in the Tour AppVirtual Tour of US 99
Santa Clarita Valley
Edison Curve
Former US 99 between Saugus and Saugus Junction was relatively straight except at one point, Edison Curve. This location was named for the Southern California Edison Saugus Substation adjacent to the road. The substation was the first location on the electrical grid outside of San Francisquito Canyon to get notification that the St Francis Dam had failed just before midnight on March 12, 1928.
The curve was originally posted at 45 mph until it was realigned and widened in late 2000. During this work, utility trenches were dug into the roadway revealing original 1917 and 1922 concrete, which was nearly a foot underneath the current roadway. Today, no trace of the old road remains except for the slight curve and Edison substation.
To the north of the roadway, a historic railroad bridge crosses the Santa Clara River. Originally part of the Southern Pacific’s Coast Line, the route became part of the Santa Paula Branch following completion of the Santa Susana Pass tunnel in 1904. The original bridge, constructed in 1888, was destroyed by the St. Francis Dam flood of 1928. Its replacement has an unusual history: built in 1898, the span originally crossed the Colorado River at Yuma, Arizona, before being relocated to the Santa Clara River following the disaster.
