A Look at Historic Highway 92 From Half Moon Bay to Hayward

It’s a challenge for many Coastsiders to appreciate Highway 92 especially this time of year when the pumpkins are out and traffic backs up. It's not too uncommon to hear locals curse their Coastside existence when trying to get to their life "over the hill" stalled in a traffic jam or stuck behind a slow truck.

But you just may find a new appreciation for the road after reading Darold Fredricks' Rediscovering the Peninsula column, which appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal.

Fredricks takes a look back at the windy road starting from 1865 when a franchise was issued to build a toll road from San Mateo to Half Moon Bay. Fredricks offers interesting facts about the road like on the east side of Half Moon Bay the road followed Indian and Spanish trails that had been established over the years.

The road was called San Mateo Road, and the main transportation along this road was the stagecoach that ran from the railroad station in San Mateo to the Occidental Hotel in Half Moon Bay.

It was a two-hour ride one-way for the passengers, writes Fredricks, something to think about when sitting in traffic on the Highway 92 miles away from your destination.

If it wasn't for the development of Highway 92, Half Moon Bay would be left out of business opportunities and straight access to the Bay, explains Fredricks in the column.

By the late 1960s, the highway across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, as well as the extension from the Bayshore, through San Mateo’s western section, to Half Moon Bay was connected and given the designation of State Route 92.

Read more about the interesting history of Highway 92 here. Looking back at it's past, enjoying the views along the way, and thinking of that long stage coach ride back in the day just may ease some of the frustration when stuck in traffic this time of year, or maybe not.