State Route 198 (
SR 198) is an east–west state highway that begins at
U.S. Route 101 (US 101) south of
King City and ends in
Sequoia National Park. It connects the
California Central Coast to the mid–
Central Valley through
Hanford and
Visalia, although the most developed portion is in the Central Valley itself. SR 198 intersects the major north–south routes in the Central Valley, including
Interstate 5 (I-5),
SR 33, and
SR 99. The highway that would become SR 198 was approved for construction in the 1910s through three
bond issues, and was added to the state highway system in 1934. Parts of the highway were upgraded to freeway during the 1960s. Another portion is being converted to an expressway in between Hanford and Visalia, with completion scheduled for late 2012.