When the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956, there was discussion about which way to route the interstate through the San Joaquin Valley (Central Valley). Two proposals were considered. One was to convert the Golden State Highway (U.S. Route 99, later CA Route 99) into a freeway. The other was to use the proposed West Side Freeway (current Interstate 5). The Golden State Highway route would serve many farming communities across the San Joaquin Valley, but the West Side Freeway proposal would bypass all the Central Valley communities and thus provide a faster and more direct north–south route through the state and so was eventually chosen.