, looking north.
Salton Sea in the background SR 86 begins at an intersection with
SR 111, just east of the town of
Heber, as Heber Road. After traveling west through Heber, and intersecting
CR S31, SR 86 heads north and enters the city of
El Centro (as 4th Street), having an interchange with
I-8. Passing through downtown El Centro, SR 86 intersects Main Street (
CR S80) before curving to the west (as Adams Avenue). The highway continues north on Imperial Avenue before it enters the city of
Imperial and passes
Imperial County Airport, continuing north as it leaves the city limits. North of Imperial, SR 86 intersects
CR S27 before making a turn to the northeast, entering the city of
Brawley. It passes to the west of downtown (as Western Avenue) before turning west onto Main Street, running concurrently with
SR 78. Both SR 78 and 86 turn northwest before passing through the city of
Westmoreland and intersecting
CR S30. After briefly turning west, SR 78 and 86 turn northwest again and pass through Elmore and
Kane Spring; SR 78 turns west (towards
San Diego County), while SR 86 continues northwest along the western edge of the
Salton Sea (just east of
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park), before it intersects
CR S22. SR 86 passes through the
Torres-Martinez Indian Reservation and Coolidge Spring before entering
Riverside County. SR 86 is part of the
California Freeway and Expressway System, and north of the southern SR 78 junction is part of the
National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the
Federal Highway Administration. ==History==