Normally, there would be a clever introduction here. But I can’t think of one, so let’s just get to it:

• Delays, costs build up for 405 Freeway project in L.A. The 10-mile project is expected to be mostly finished by mid-2014, a year later than anticipated. Meanwhile, who pays what for cost overruns is up in the air.
• Cosumnes River Boulevard Extension Finally Breaks Ground After 50 Years. The Cosumnes River Boulevard Extension and Interstate 5 Interchange Project is of the of the city’s largest public works projects ever, which will bring 228 jobs to the construction site. Also: Caltrans Newsletter. This is along the proposed routing for Route 148.  [h/t Joel W.]
• Urban Sacramento 1959: West End. You-Tube clip. Per Joel W: “Interesting clip from KCRA on US 40-99e future Capitol Mall featuring a Union 76 station”
• Last remnants of Doyle Drive start to come down, work on new viaduct to start in summer. The second phase of the Presidio Parkway project is picking up steam and drivers should expect to see late-night detours as they head into Marin in the coming weeks. Work has started to remove what’s left of the old Doyle Drive. The roadbed, steel trusses, columns and finally the foundation of the structure will be peeled away.
• San Francisco Bay Bridge repair could cost $5M-$10M. The planned repair for seismic safety rods that snapped on the new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge could cost between $5-to-$10 million, a state transportation official said Wednesday.
• Broken Bay Bridge rods: Caltrans faulted for inadequate specifications. In the most comprehensive examination to date of why bolts broke on the new Bay Bridge, an analysis released Wednesday faults Caltrans for inadequate specifications and insufficient testing of the steel. It will cost as much as $10 million to fix the mistake and could delay the span’s Labor Day opening. State engineers also assured members of the Bay Area Toll Authority that the chosen fix for key seismic stabilizers compromised by the snapped bolts — a steel saddle and heavy metal strands — will make the span as safe as the original design.
• Fate of interchange project looking brighter. Attempts to get $24 million for an Interstates 80 and 680 interchange project while state money is still available look like they might overcome bureaucratic hurdles.
• Caltrans’ plan to rebuild the W/X freeway could back up traffic in Sacramento. Caltrans will close a section of the elevated W-X freeway through central Sacramento in each direction for two months next spring for major repairs.
• HIGHWAY 91: Toll lanes coming to Corona stretch. In a few years, the main freeway connecting Riverside and Orange counties should go from 10 to 14 lanes, including toll lanes that are expected to shave 90 minutes off drivers’ commutes. The Riverside County Transportation Commission on Tuesday, May 8, approved a $632.6 million contract to build the new lanes on Highway 91 in Corona.
• TRANSPORTATION: Nearly $70 million provided for Inland projects. The California Transportation Commission has allocated nearly $70 million in funding to nine projects in Inland Southern California, including $12 million toward a four-lane grade separation on Riverside Avenue at the railroad tracks in Riverside. The projects are among 114 statewide that were allocated $878 million in funding by the Transportation Commission this week. The projects will alleviate delays, repair aging roads and bridges, and boost the state’s economy by increasing jobs in the construction industry, said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty in a news release.
• LACMTA receives more than $390 million from CTC and Caltrans for improvements. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) was awarded more than $390 million from the California Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to support construction of new rail, upgrade existing transit service, buy much-needed rail cars.
• Vast network of express lanes on way. Despite nationwide declines in ridesharing, the San Diego region is embarking on a vast expansion of “next-generation” carpool corridors. These new roadways, called express lanes, would accommodate car pools, buses, select “clean air” vehicles and solo drivers willing to pay a toll.

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Well, while everyone else is dancing around the Maypole, I’m toiling in the news mines collecting the news related to California Highways for the latter half of April:

• Topanga Canyon Boulevard May Become A State Scenic Highway. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said [on 4/17/13] that it will ask the state to designate a portion of Topanga Canyon Boulevard a state scenic highway. “Thousands and thousands of visitors to Topanga State Park and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area enjoy access via Topanga Canyon Boulevard to the wild lands and beaches of this stunningly beautiful corner of our state,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who recommended the designation.
• Metro committee approves I-5 toll lanes in SCV. A plan to build two new Interstate 5 carpool lanes using tolls to help with construction costs took a step toward reality Wednesday with a vote of a Metro committee. Members of the Planning and Programming Committee for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted unanimously to approve the concept and file the environmental impact report for the project, according to Chris Margaronis, the project’s manager.
• Westlake Village sculptor’s next big project will span Highway 101. A major upgrade to the Lindero Canyon Road bridge across Highway 101 in Westlake Village is expected to get under way early this summer and will feature signature artwork across its span.
• Beverly Hills Freeway: This Day in Transit History. De Leuw, Cather & Company present to the City of Beverly Hills their final report on geometric design, alignment analysis and cost estimates for a proposed Beverly Hills Freeway. They conclude that a “fully depressed and concealed” freeway following a Santa Monica Boulevard right-of-way is both practical and feasible.
• CalTrans: ‘Need’ more shoulder for rails along Kern Canyon roadway (Route 178). Currently there are guardrails installed sporadically along Highway 178 in the canyon, but 23ABC asked CalTrans why not have more guardrails installed all throughout the canyon.
• Caltrans building interchange at Route 99/Route 113. An accident-prone stretch of road will start receiving improvements next week as construction begins on Highway 99 at Highway 113, the location of at least one vehicle-related death and several injuries since 2010. Caltrans will be building an overpass as part of a new interchange in hopes of improving traffic flow and safety conditions, officials said. A groundbreaking ceremony is April 26, when the $19.4 million project gets underway.
• 405 project stuck in the slow lane. Plagued by cost overruns and delays, the widening will take at least a year longer than first anticipated. Pencil in June 2014, when officials aim to complete the bulk of the construction.

[Alas, you may see a little less news... online sources are increasingly going to paywalls. Recent convertees include the San Francisco Chronicle, the Ventura County Star, and the Orange Country Register. The LA Times also has a paywall, but I subscribe to the times. Further, articles from the Media News papers (among them, the Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angeles Daily News and the Daily Breeze) expire and are unavailable after a month or two. This really hurts collections of articles. As always, contributions are welcome.]

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Well, the gentle reminder from the IRS agent standing next to me can mean only one thing, that my taxes are due that it is time to bring another installment of highway headlines, this time for the first half of April:

• Bay Bridge (I-80) Bolt Woes. A number of articles related to the woes of the Bay Bridge, I-80. On Tue, 4/2, it was reported that Caltrans tests cast down on the overly brittle support rods. This resulted in a report on Wed, 4/3, that Caltrans was going to recheck all the parts on the bridge that came from that manufacturer. The manufacturer’s evidence is being reexamined to see if they failed tests.
• Willis Bypass (US 101) Protest Ends. Six people protesting a freeway bypass under construction in Mendocino County were arrested Tuesday after Caltrans crews cut down two pine trees in which some of them had been camping for weeks, officials said. California Highway Patrol officers fired several bean-bag projectile rounds at two of the protesters, and one of the protesters poured feces on CHP officers before Caltrans chopped down the tree in which they had been sitting, authorities said.
• Petaluma Highway 101 bottleneck to get worse before getting better. The historically congested stretch of Highway 101 south of Petaluma is primed for work that eventually will widen the corridor and provide relief for what is known as the Novato Narrows bottleneck. But don’t get too excited, drivers. The $120 million project, which really is two projects at once, will take three years and include temporary lane closures that at times will squeeze traffic to one lane in each direction.
• SLOCOG urges Caltrans to fix Hwy. 1 north of Cambria before June. A San Luis Obispo County transportation panel unanimously approved Wednesday pressuring Caltrans to quickly smooth out the pavement on 20 miles of Highway 1 north of Cambria, a roadway roughened by a resurfacing project late last year.
• Will merging lanes ease I-680 congestion in San Ramon Valley? Contractors have begun a $32 million project to build new merge lanes along two miles of Interstate 680 between Danville and San Ramon. The lanes are meant to speed up traffic and make travel safer on the busy commute route. Before the new 12-foot-wide lanes are finished, however, I-680 motorists will have to deal with the inconvenience of nighttime lane closures and slowing traffic at times for perhaps a year or more.
• New study calls on O.C. tollway agency to shelve project. Because of the weakened financial condition of Orange County’s largest tollway network, a new study recommends that its leadership postpone a road project and stop borrowing money until state authorities can review the operation.
• 110′s New Toll Lanes Speedier But Regular Lanes Are Slower. LA’s first toll lanes, the ExpressLanes, opened in a pilot program on the 110 last fall–the idea is that solo drivers pay a per-mile fee (higher at more trafficky times, aka congestion pricing) to use the carpool lanes so that traffic speeds up for everyone. How’s it working out so far? Half ok! The carpool lanes are speedier, but the solo lanes have actually slowed.
• Caltrans set to begin I-580 project near Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Caltrans has begun a bridge decks replacement project on Interstate 580 in Richmond near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge that will result in overnight lane closures at the east end of the bridge.
• What went wrong on Highway 1? Caltrans explains what happened and what’s next. How did some 20 miles of Highway 1 north of Cambria get so rough? Caltrans was trying to extend the pavement’s life by giving it a fresh top coat. According to Steve Price, deputy director of maintenance and operations for Caltrans District 5, the $2.1 million chip-seal coating applied last fall was designed to prevent future damage.
• Plenty of highway project milestones ahead. Kim Miles for the past year has experienced the massive Highway 12 construction project close up as she makes her daily commute through Jameson Canyon. “I think things are going really well,” Miles said. “I see a lot of progress. I see a lot of people out there working really hard. It looks really nice. I like all the rock walls.” She should see some milestones taking place this coming year, including perhaps getting the chance to drive on some of the new pavement within the next few weeks.
• Contra Costa County: Relief finally in sight for interchange at Highway 4, I-680. The interchange at Interstate 680 and Highway 4 near Martinez and Concord is such a headache that Contra Costa voters in 1988 approved a half-cent sales tax to start planning its fix. Now, at last, Contra Costa County’s congestion management agency says it has found a path to begin the first phase of the $400 million freeway fix in about two years, pulling it out of an indefinite limbo.
• Hope exists for easing 101-Willow Road delays in Menlo Park. There are no plans to widen Willow Road, but Menlo Park and Caltrans are considering making the traffic signals better by implementing an adaptive signal system along the 101-Willow corridor. That is where the lights react to actual traffic conditions all day long.

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The chimes of Big Ben can mean only one thing: it’s time to complete the month of March with a collection of California Highway related news articles from the last half of the month:

• Roadshow: From Devils Slide to Caldecott Tunnel, a year of major changes on Bay Area roads. 2013 may go down as a year of road improvements and changes dreamed about for decades…
• Long Beach: Terminal Island Freeway Removal (Once Again) Attempts to Find Funding for Study. Last night, the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to (once again) approved a motion to pursue a grant in order to further a study on the removal of the northern portion of the Terminal Island Freeway (CA 103) that sits above Pacific Coast Highway in West Long Beach.
• Tunnel tames perilous Devil’s Slide at last. Almost from the time in 1937 when Highway 1 was placed precariously on a promontory on the San Mateo County coast, high above the Pacific, man has been trying to tame Devil’s Slide – with little success. Caltrans has spent millions of dollars on repeated attempts to prevent the steep geological formation from pulling itself, and Route 1, toward the ocean. But in wet weather, the slide has continued to toss mud, stones and huge boulders at the highway, causing it to slump, crack and tear apart.
• Route 29 ‘visioning’ phase nearly done. A multi-faceted road into the renowned Napa Valley that encourages walking, bicycling and public transit while providing access for local residences and businesses and smooth, uncongested traffic-flow for commuters: That is what the Route 29 of the future should look like, according to a draft report presented to officials Thursday.
• Arroyo Seco Parkway. This day in history: Opening of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, now Route 110.
• Let There Be Light: Route 1. These days, it’s so bright inside the Sepulveda Tunnel you could almost land a plane here! The improved lighting is part of a beautification project underneath the southern runways at Los Angeles International Airport that was decades in the making.
• Glendale’s “Space 134″ Freeway Park Concept To Be Presented to City Council. Tomorrow night the Glendale City Council will review an initial concept presentation exploring the idea of capping the 134 freeway to create park space between Central and Glendale Avenue, similar to Seattle’s Freeway Park, Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway and the proposed park over the 101 Freeway in Hollywood.
• 91 Freeway Widening Plan Clears Major Hurdle Monday. A financing plan that would see State Route 91 widened and the busy freeway’s interchange at Interstate 15 upgraded was green-lighted and is now headed to the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) for approval.
• Giant Bolts Snap On New Bay Bridge Eastern Span. With less than six months until the scheduled opening of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, more than two dozen giant bolts holding the $6.4 billion bridge together have reportedly snapped. Another link on the same story from Joel W..
• Golden Gate Bridge toll-takers ending 76-year run. Today is the last time that humans will collect tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge as the iconic span becomes the first in California and one of the few in the world to convert to electronic toll collection.
• Lifting the Curtain on the Bay Bridge East Span. The first time Martin Chandrawinata saw the Golden Gate Bridge in 1996, he was dumbstruck. To be fair, most people are; the stretching pillars of burnt red nestled between pillowy sheets of fog and the endless blue of the Pacific is an image that resonates far beyond its practical appeal. But to Chandrawinata, an international student from Indonesia beginning his studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the bridge’s beauty resided precisely in its elegant functionality. “The first time I saw it I thought, ‘I want to build a bridge like this someday,” Chandrawinata said, in slow, earnest, heavily accented English. “And now I am.”
• Devils Slide tunnels open at last. Seventy-six years after building an extension of Highway 1 at Devils Slide, Caltrans is ready to shut down the landslide-prone coastal road forever and open a pair of state-of-the-art tunnels through a mountainside behind the precarious cliffs.
• Caltrans previews Willow Road interchange redesign. Caltrans, in partnership with San Mateo County, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park, plans to reconstruct the current full cloverleaf interchange of U.S. 101 and Willow Road to “address deficiencies impacting motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians by eliminating traffic weaves and providing adequate space for vehicles to stack on freeway off-ramps,” according to the agency.
• Proposed I-5 carpool lane in Santa Clarita. State transportation officials will hold a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to accelerate the completion of carpool lanes on the I-5 freeway through Santa Clarita by charging certain users a toll. The plan is to build a 13.5-mile carpool lane on each side of the I-5 from State Route 14 to Parker Road by 2040 at a cost of $400 million.
• Firestone Boulevard ramps will close permanently, plus other closures and work on the I-5 South. This is the left exit NB ramp.

Music: An Oscar Brand Songbag Of Folk Song Favorites (Oscar Brand): “Buffalo Gals”

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And that noise from the clock on the wall means it is time for another installment of highway headlines. Mr. Announcer, if you will…

• I-880 widening through East Bay about to take off. In a few weeks Caltrans will begin building an auxiliary lane on I-680 between Sycamore Valley Road and Crow Canyon Road that will require that existing lines be removed when lanes are shifted toward the median. Caltrans is also adding a carpool lane southbound from Hegenberger Road to Marina Boulevard. This will include rebuilding the Davis and Marina Boulevard overcrossings.
• Rosemead approves participation in pro-tunnel 710 Coalition. On Tuesday the Rosemead City Council voted 4-0, with Mayor Sandra Armenta absent, to approve the city’s participation in the 710 Coalition. The Coalition is advocating for the completion of the 4.5-mile 710 Freeway gap from its current terminus in Alhambra to the Interstate 210 Freeway in Pasadena.
• Caltrans policy stymies a proposed veterans monument. More on the kerfluffle on Route 135: After three years, the privately funded $60,000 monument in Orcutt, which is sponsored by the American Legion and would be placed on a sliver of land owned by the California Department of Transportation, is still unbuilt. The sticking point has been opposition from Caltrans to the monument’s use of the American flag and the agency’s apparent reluctance to allow the display of words — such as “United States” — on the monument’s military emblems. Update: It looks like Caltrans has relented.
• Route 12 project goes to state commission. A long-planned, $12 million Highway 12 project west of Rio Vista is designed to improve safety, but is also raising concerns that it doesn’t go far enough. The state Department of Transportation wants to widen the shoulders of the narrow highway from Azevedo Road to Summerset Road, a distance of a mile. It wants to add left turn lanes at Currie, McCloskey and Azevedo roads. Update: Highway 12 project moves forward.
• LED display puts Bay Bridge (I-80) in new light. The Bay Bridge will never win a beauty contest against the Golden Gate, but for the next two years, it gets to set aside its inferiority complex for several hours each night while it’s lit by the glow of 25,000 twinkling LED lights.
• Bids are opened for the new Arroyo Seco Bridge on the Colorado Freeway in Pasadena. From This day in Transportation History for March 8: Bids for replacement of the original Colorado Street Bridge, built in 1913 by the City of Pasadena and Los Angeles County. Strict limitations of topography and a deep ravine within a few hundred feet of the main business section of a city of 100,000 necessitated placing ramps and curves on the deck of a structure whose size and location would ordinarily dictate the design and planning of the entire project. This is the bridge currently on Route 134.
• Freeway expansion (US 101/Route 23) still on track. Plans for the expansion of the 101/23 freeway interchange in Thousand Oaks, a regional transportation project meant to relieve traffic congestion, have entered the fast lane. On March 1, the Ventura County Transportation Commission, a body representing all 10 cities in the county, approved a critical loan repayment agreement between the City of Thousand Oaks and the state that could get the long-awaited construction effort underway by the end of the year. Update: Planned freeway expansion hinges on money.
• Why Does Route 280 Narrow? [Roadshow question:] Since you understand Caltrans, perhaps you can resolve an enduring road mystery. Going north on Interstate 280 into San Francisco, Highway 1 enters with two lanes, creating a six-lane freeway. It works well. But half a mile further, Caltrans narrows the freeway to five lanes for about a quarter of a mile, where the 19th Avenue three lanes split, after which 280 widens again. Six to five to six. This, as you can imagine, causes unnecessary merging on the right, which is frankly dangerous. Why do they do this six-to-five-to-six gyration? [The answer is some very interesting history on Route 280]
• ‘Onion Field’ police officer honored with Hollywood Freeway signs. Signs honoring LAPD Officer Ian Campbell, whose slaying by kidnappers was chronicled in the book and movie “The Onion Field,” were placed alongside the Hollywood Freeway this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous case.
• Caltrans To Make Final Concrete Pour On Bay Bridge Eastern Span. With less than six months until the opening of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, Caltrans is about to make another construction milestone.
• Commuters, have your say on Caltrans’ $102 million HOV ramp project on I-680. The public will a chance to voice opinions Wednesday on plans for high-occupancy vehicle ramps along the center divider of Interstate 680 in San Ramon. Caltrans and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority are hosting the meeting on the $102 million project. The ramps were originally proposed for the Norris Canyon overpass, but were vigorously opposed by neighbors at public meetings last year. Neighbors said the ramps would negatively affect their quality of life by increasing traffic and noise.
• New obstacle arises to I-80/I-680 interchange project. Changes to the “Buy America” rules in the 2012 federal transportation funding law could jeopardize an Interstates 80 and 680 interchange improvement project, according to the Solano Transportation Authority. The project involves rebuilding the Green Valley interchange and improving the connection from westbound Interstate 80 to westbound Highway 12 in Jameson Canyon. It is the first of several phases designed to ease traffic congestion in the vicinity of the Interstates 80 and 680 interchange.
• Caltrans says Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil’s Slide (Route 1) to open Monday, March 25. A grand opening celebration for the Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil’s Slide is scheduled for Monday morning, March 25, according to Caltrans. The first major tunnels built by the California Department of Transportation in 50 years, the project will bypass the winding road that stretches along the coast south of Pacifica with twin 4,200-foot-long tunnels. More Info: SF Chronicle.
• CalTrans Willits bypass (US 101): The waiting game continues. For most Willits residents the only sign of construction of the Highway 101 bypass has been the sudden appearance of road construction signs on city streets and county roads crossing the pending project…
• ‘No clear path’ on I-80/680 interchange project. A long-awaited project to ease congestion at the Interstates 80/680 interchange could become a road to nowhere under new Buy America regulations, transportation officials said. Solano Transportation Authority Deputy Executive Director Janet Adams said new portions of the federal Buy America regulations threaten the agency’s efforts to put the project out to bid this summer.
• I-80 in spotlight at transportation board retreat. More changes are coming to the local stretch of Interstate 80, among them the day that ramp metering lights are turned on. The Solano Transportation Authority Board of Directors — made up of the mayors from the county’s seven cities and a county supervisor — held an afternoon retreat Wednesday at the Ranch Solano Clubhouse. Interstate 80 was the star.
• Mapping the end of the road on the 405. With the massive 405 Project now two-thirds complete, officials have unveiled a staggered endgame schedule which calls for major portions of the project to wrap up this year while work on one troublesome segment continues into 2014.

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Last Sunday was the third installment of my Skirball class on the Sepulveda Pass (#1, #2). I thought I would take a little time while I eat my lunch to share what I remember with you. The focus of this class was the San Diego Freeway, and the instructor was basing much of his material on the seminal book by David Brodsly.

Oh, and before you say it… yes, the instructor had to ask me not to interject a lot during this session. Yes, he had to ask me more than once

The session started out by exploring the place of the freeway in shaping Los Angeles. He started by showing some videos about Carmageddon, including the famous Hitler Carmageddon video. He did this to emphasize the 405‘s current role as a vital traffic artery.

He then emphasized this by noting how we orient with freeways. As an example of this, ask a native Angeleno to draw a map of the city. What is the first thing they draw for reference: the freeways. LA is not shaped by its natural landmarks; in fact, without the freeway system on a map, it is difficult for people to orient themselves. As part of this exercise, the instructor handed out a map of Southern California with just the major freeways on it, and asked people to identify whatever else they wanted. The resulting maps varied greatly, based on people’s interest and where they lived. One guy drew mostly railroads. Me? More streets, more highways, and more communities. The exercise reminded me of something in Brodsly’s book — a series of maps that showed chronotherms — that is, a series of circles that represented 10 minutes away, 20 minutes away, etc., and how that changed over time.

Next, the instructor explored how the freeway system came to Los Angeles. He talked about the traffic problems that were present with the introduction of the automobile, and some of the earliest traffic studies — the 1924 Major Traffic Street Plan. He noted how this called for a series of traffic separations by purpose — parkways for people; and commercial routes for trucks. He then talked about the Auto Club traffic  survey in 1937, and its recommendation of a series of controlled access parkways. In this discussion, he noted that the primary role of the Auto Club was to … sell insurance. I added a clarification here that the Auto Club was also primarily responsible for signage of highways until the 1950s in both parts of the state, including posting highway numbers. I didn’t mention that the Auto Club was not originally insurance; the original incarnation grew out of the good roads movement and later moved into services to benefit the motorist… such as insurance and maps. [Note: as a plug here, looking at my maps page would be useful]

He next discussed the start of the Interstate system, including the usual stories about Eisenhower’s cross-country trip and his experiences in Germany. I pointed out there that much of the story is urban legend, and recommended he read “The Big Road” by Earl Swift, which provides a good discussion of the creation of the Interstate system. In this discussion, he used the 1956 Metropolitan Transportation Engineering Board planning map from my site. He talked briefly about some of the planned freeways that were never constructed (I added some more clarifications here ), and then focused in on the Beverly Hills Freeway. In particular, he talked about the protests that killed the BH Freeway (Route 2), mostly led by the rich establishment in Beverly Hills and Bel Air (much of this same establishment are the folks protesting the Metro extension under Beverly Hills HS)*. He wondered why there were not similar protests for the San Diego Freeway, which also went through rich neighborhoods. The answer, he opined, was that (a) these rich communities weren’t there at the time the route was selected and construction began (late 1950s), and (b) there was such a tremendous need for the route given the lack of alternatives and the capacity limitations of the existing road.
[*: Researching this, I discovered that both Jan Perry and Kevin James are against the subway going under Beverly Hills; this may make me reconsider my vote later today.]

He then talked about the San Diego Freeway itself — how much earth was moved during construction and such. More importantly, he talked about how the creation of the freeway made the crest of the hill a viable location for institutions, which leads to the story of the Jewish institutions on the hill… which will be the next class.

For me, there was a lot that should have been discussed and wasn’t. I might have also brought up the 1963 state highway map, for example. But even more so, I would have liked to have learned more about the history of the route itself. How did the city or county identify the need for a road over Sepulveda Pass, and in what order were the various canyon roads (Topanga, Laurel, Coldwater, Beverly Glen) constructed. Are there any interesting nuggets in the studies? [This information should all be in the city or county public works department, if not the Auto Club). As for the freeway, there are usually a number of alternatives considered, even in the days before EIRs. It would be interesting to see what alternatives were considered and some of the engineering tradeoffs. It would also have been useful for him to talk about some of the future plans (although I filled folks in on this).

Oh, lunch is over. Time to get back to work.

Music: Hot (Squirrel Nut Zippers): “Twilight”

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