Route 99 (Golden State Highway). However, officials in Stanislaus County believed that an additional major north-south freeway was needed to serve the east side of the valley. In 1955, they formally proposed the Eastside Freeway, which would be the eastern companion to the Westside Freeway. In 1959, the state defined Legislative Route 249, which would run from the junction of LRN 10 (currently SR 198) and LRN 129 to LRN 17 (currently I-80). This would mark the birth of the Eastside Freeway. In 1964, California's state highways were renumbered. The portion of LRN 129 between Exeter and SR 180 would be removed and become SR 245. The remainder of LRN 129, all of LRN 249, and U.S. Route 99E (section north of Roseville), would be combined to create SR 65. By 1969, except for Merced County, all eight counties which the route would traverse had it included in their general plans. This created a continuous roadway plan from Bakersfield to Roseville. The first segment to be constructed as a freeway was in 1964. A short freeway segment (about ) was built at SR 99 in Kern County in conjunction with a portion of the freeway upgrade to the Golden State Freeway (SR 99). However, development of the rest of the corridor was difficult. The California Highway Commission put a greater emphasis on the construction of the Westside Freeway, which would be included in the Interstate Highway System. In addition, efforts were underway for the upgrade of the Golden State Freeway through the center of the valley. As a result, the Eastside Freeway was given a much lower priority. Most of the construction efforts for the freeway were conducted in Tulare County. In 1970, the segment through the City of Porterville was constructed as a freeway. The two-lane highway between the Tulare County line and SR 198 was converted to a two-lane expressway with land reserved for future interchanges (or interchange footprint). In Sacramento County, land was reserved south of Roseville, and a freeway-to-freeway interchange was constructed at US 50 and Sunrise Boulevard. By the mid 1970s, California began to abandon some of its freeway projects, which included the Eastside Freeway. The land reserved in Sacramento County was sold and the freeway-to-freeway interchange was converted to a local interchange. The project was considered dead. None of the original LRN 249 segment (between Roseville and Exeter) was constructed. Roseville to Yuba City