Category: roadgeeking

We’re now half way through 2022, and boy what a year it has been so far for almost anything but the highway. Highway news, if I perceive things right, has been lighter this year. You can see for yourself: just jump down to the headlines after my introductory prather.

As I said: It’s been a year so far. The news about COVID has been pushed to the background, but the disease is still around creating havoc. More folks I know are getting the disease; luckily being double-vaxed double-boosted is making it less severe. We’ve had the findings of the Jan 6 commission, which are gobsmacking, to say the least. We’ve had the decisions of the Supreme Court, which are equally gobsmacking. As Pete Seeger sang, “There is mean things happening in this land…”

But closer to home, it’s also been a year. I’ve got a cholesteatoma in my ear, meaning it is constantly stuffed and distracting (surgery looks to be early August). My wife is still dealing with being in a wheelchair after her fall last November; progress is slow. Weekends have been busy with theatre, and Tom has been busy with other stuff, so we haven’t had the chance to record more podcast episodes yet. We’re still looking for music for the show, and we’re also looking for experts for brief interviews related to episode topics.

So June has been a whirlwind. July may not be much better, with theatre every weekend and a week’s vacation.

But you don’t care about any of that, do you. You care about the headlines. So here are the headlines about California’s highways for June. The headline list seems to be getting smaller–I’m finding less articles about significant road work (I’m not that interested in simple resurfacing), and more articles about transit and rail. I think that’s the direction things are going currently: increase the number of people per vehicle on current roads (as opposed to capacity for more vehicles), and increase broader transit options. But here’s what I found:

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• Routes 25 and 156 Roundabout (FB). Construction begins May 31 on Highway 25/156 roundabout. Construction of a roundabout at the intersection of State Routes 25 and 156 will begin May 31—immediately following the Memorial Day holiday, according to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
• $2.3B Union Station makeover takes another step forward (Urbanize LA). In a vote taken last week, the Metro Board of Directors approved a funding agreement with California High Speed Rail Authority for the initial phase of Union Station’s $2.3-billion makeover and expansion. The project, called Link Union Station, expands upon a longtime plan to construct run-through tracks at the southern end of the passenger rail hub, allowing trains to cross over the US-101 freeway. This would eliminate Union Station’s historic stub-end layout, which forces all trains to enter and exit through the five-track throat to the north of the station platforms.
• You may commute over one of these structurally deficient bridges in California (KTLA). A recent inventory by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association took a look at structurally deficient bridges in California. Bad news is … there are a lot. The ARTBA, a trade group that represents road construction workers, said in its 2022 report that 5.8% of California’s bridges can be categorized as “structurally deficient.” That’s 1,493 bridges according to the group. And these aren’t bridges along dusty roads or in rural parts of the state. Many of the structurally deficient bridges get hundreds of thousands of crossing every day, according to the ARTBA.
• Dr. Sally Ride Memorial Highway (FB). It was my honor to recognize the historic achievements, and Valley roots, of Dr. Sally Ride at today’s Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel dedication of a portion of the 101 as the “Dr. Sally Ride Memorial Highway”.
• ＄The ghosts of L.A.’s unbuilt freeways (Los Angeles Times). Maybe you can hear them whispering, as your tires hiss along freeway concrete: the almost-weres, the might-have-beens, the freeway ghosts of Los Angeles, the thoroughfares dreamed up, planned for, but never built. There are more — oh, so many more — than you might have wished or feared, even in the cloverleaf heart of Freeway L.A. The Whitnall Freeway, the Industrial Freeway, the Temescal Freeway, the Laurel and Topanga and Malibu Canyon freeways, the Sierra Freeway, and the legendary Beverly Hills Freeway, discarded like an unproduced screenplay when such stars as Lucille Ball and Rosalind Russell gave it a big N-O.
• ＄Caltrans gets $35 million to add bike lanes, replace traffic lights along PCH stretch (Orange County Register). From replacing traffic signals to constructing new bike lanes meant to keep cyclists safe, a handful of transportation upgrades are planned along Pacific Coast Highway from Newport Beach to the Orange-Los Angeles county line. Nearly $40 million was recently announced for the improvements. The Caltrans district in Orange County is expected to begin work starting next year on the projects that will span more than 20 miles of the scenic highway.

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Another month comes to an end, and that means it is time for headlines. But before I jump into the headlines, I want to highlight a few other notable things that have happened over the last month:

• Tom Fearer of Gribblenation and I have started a podcast on California Highways. It is called California Highways: Route by Route and you can find our first full sample episode at the episode’s page on caroutebyroute.org, on the episode’s page at Anchor.FM; or an almost all major podcast platforms. This sample episode is about Route 105. We hope to start Season 1 sometime in late June.
• The latest updates to the California Highways web page are up. This includes the review of the SHOPP and the STIP, as well as some interesting upcoming legislation.
• The primary elections in California are less than two weeks away. I believe in being an informed voter, and so examine every candidate on my sample ballot, and write up a summary. This election, this process took me almost 20 hours to do. You can find my summary here; it links to the other pages where I go through all the candidates that led to my decision. I don’t ask (or expect) you’ll agree with my conclusions, but perhaps my research will help you be better informed. What’s most important, however, is that you VOTE. Voting affects the highways and our state in so many ways, and this is your chance to influence the process.

May has been a tiring and stressful month for me. I’ve been dealing with medical problems for me and the continued recovery of my wife from a fall last November; and I’ve had loads of writing projects (the election, podcast, and highway pages as noted above, plus a number of theatre reviews). I’ve had little time to destress, and my main avenue of de-stressing (listening to music) is impacted by the medical problem (ear issues). Let’s hope things go better in June.

But you don’t care about any of that, do you. You care about the headlines. So here are the headlines about California’s highways for May. The headline list seems to be getting smaller–I’m finding less articles about significant road work (I’m not that interested in simple resurfacing), and more articles about transit and rail. I think that’s the direction things are going currently: increase the number of people per vehicle on current roads (as opposed to capacity for more vehicles), and increase broader transit options. But here’s what I found:

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• I-15 Exit Ramps At Clinton Keith Getting Wrong-Way Driver Prevention (Lake Elsinore, CA Patch). In an effort to prevent wrong-way driver crashes on Inland Empire freeways, Caltrans District 8 has identified priority exit ramps that need attention, and Clinton Keith Road at Interstate 15 in Wildomar is on the list. On Tuesday, the north- and southbound Clinton Keith Road offramps will be closed at I-15 so that Caltrans crews can install wrong-way prevention “enhancements,” according to the state agency.
• Wildlife Undercrossing In Santa Cruz Breaks Ground (Santa Cruz, CA Patch). A project is now underway that will create a wildlife undercrossing beneath state Highway 17 to provide a route for mountain lions and other wildlife to travel safely between two large areas of habitat — both of which are separated by four lanes of the busy traffic corridor. Groundbreaking took place Friday for the Laurel Curve Wildlife Undercrossing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It will connect 460 acres of land on both sides of Highway 17 that has been preserved in a conservation easement by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.
• Last two-lane stretches of Highway 70 now being widened to four lanes (Chico Enterprise-Record). When roadwork currently underway on Highway 70 is complete, Chico will no longer be the largest city in California that isn’t accessed by a four-lane highway. While Highway 70 still has to wind through Marysville, the two projects running north and south from the Yuba/Butte county line will wrap up 16 years of work, costing in excess of $500 million. “I’m really glad it’s being done,” said Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly. “I look forward to getting our people in and out of town and down to Sacramento safely.”
• California Allocates More Than Half Billion Dollars for Projects (Construction Equipment Guide). Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, accounts for $317 million, more than half of the funding. “The CTC’s welcome decision to green light more than half a billion dollars to maintain and repair California’s aging transportation infrastructure is not only in keeping with our time-tested “fix-it-first” strategy, but also represents another big step to build and maintain a transportation system that serves all who travel in California, whether by foot, bicycle, bus, train or automobile,” said Steven Keck, acting director of Caltrans. Projects that were recently approved include:
• Hwy 1 Toro Creek Bridge to be replaced near Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo Tribune). Drivers and cyclists, get ready for another lengthy construction project on busy Highway 1, this one replacing the northbound lanes of the Toro Creek Bridge. The two-span, ocean-view bridge is near the Dog Beach area north of the Morro Bay strand area, and about a half mile south of Old Creek Road. Traffic on the scenic highway will be reduced to a single lane in each direction during the two-phase project, which is expected to continue into the spring of 2023. Signs will notify drivers and cyclists about the changes; detours will be established for bicyclists.
  Pasadena and Caltrans Reach Agreement to Relinquish 710 Freeway Stub to City (Streetsblog Los Angeles). When I worked for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign a decade and a half ago, my boss used to tell me that a proposed freeway project was never really dead; that the best we could do is defund it and make it politically unpalatable to bring back. I learned this lesson the hard way when a New Jersey road project I helped get defunded was presumed “dead,” then was revived and built with funding from the Obama-era American Rescue and Recovery Act. But if the 710 Freeway “gap” project, which Streetsblog readers voted to dub the “Big Dig” over a decade ago may finally be dead enough that it can’t rise and terrorize residents of Los Angeles, Pasadena and South Pasadena. The North 710 Freeway project was slated to spend $6+ billion dollars for tunnels under these cities, until overwhelming opposition led the Metro board to cancel the project back in 2017.

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Whew! In between everything else I’ve been doing, I’ve also been working on updates to the highway pages. The latest batch is done. Here’s the change log:

The original plan was for this update to cover March and April. It stretched mostly into May, due to a variety of factors: a number of backed up theatre reviews, an entire weekend lost to writing my detailed sample ballot analysis, and various caregiving and (of lately) non-COVID health issues. Alas, some of those are still ongoing. What did you say? I couldn’t hear you. Sigh.

One major delaying factor was the podcast. Yes, Tom Fearer and I have started a new podcast series that we’re calling “California Highways: Route by Route“. It will be a joint production of California Highways and Gribblenation. The eventual plan is to have one or more episodes for each numbered highway in the state (just like I do on this site), combining the information here such as legislative changes, highway history, naming history, and major projects with the extensive historical research Tom has done in the archives, and on his trips on the road. The first season will be background, going through the history of California Highways in a broad sense, explaining highway numbering and naming, and explaining the governance and regulatory processes and organizations that bring us highways. The second season will start with the highways proper, with multiple episodes devoted to long or significant route (for example, it looks like Season 2 will focus on Route 1 and Route 2, and there will be entire seasons on Route 99 and US 101. I expect this to be a retirement project for me—I’ve plotted out all the highways, and it looks like there will be at least 35 seasons (12 or so episodes a season, with initially an episode monthly)! Right now, a teaser episode is up and we’ll be putting up a full sample episode by early June, as I get more familiar with the audio editing tools. late June or July will bring the first real episode. So watch for “California Highways: Route by Route” on our anchor.fm site; at its forever home at the California Highways: Route by Route website, or in all the traditional podcast venues (and it better be, as I use the namesake device—an iPod Classic—to listen to my podcasts (no streaming here)).

Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers in March and April 2022 (which are posted to the roadgeeking category at the “Observations Along The Road” and to the California Highways Facebook group) as well as any backed up email changes. I also reviewed the the AAroads forum (Ꜳ). This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research^(ℱ), contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from ConcreteBob⁽²⁾, Tom Fearer⁽³⁾, Cameron Kaiser⁽⁴⁾, kernals12⁽⁵⁾, Plutonic Panda⁽⁶⁾, rschen7754⁽⁷⁾, Dale Sanderson⁽⁸⁾: Route 1^(ℱ), Route 4^(ℱ), I-5⁽³⁾, Route 7⁽³⁾, I-10⁽⁶⁾, Route 19⁽³⁾, Route 20^(ℱ), Route 25^(ℱ), Route 26^(ℱ,3), Route 33⁽³⁾, Route 38⁽³⁾, US 40⁽³⁾, Route 41^(ℱ), LRN 43⁽³⁾, Route 46^(ℱ), Route 47^(ℱ,3), US 50^(ℱ), Route 58^(ℱ), Route 60^(3,4), Route 67^(ℱ),  Route 70⁽³⁾, Route 76^(ℱ,3), Route 78^(3,7), I-80^(ℱ),  Route 86^(ℱ), Route 99^(ℱ,3), US 101^(ℱ), Route 103^(ℱ,3), Route 107⁽³⁾, I-110^(ℱ,3), Route 111^(ℱ), Route 126⁽⁵⁾, Route 135^(ℱ), Route 145^(ℱ), Route 148 (Capitol Southeast Connector)⁽²⁾, Route 152^(ℱ), Route 164⁽³⁾, Route 187⁽³⁾, Route 188⁽³⁾, Route 213⁽³⁾, LRN 231^(ℱ,3), Route 243⁽³⁾, US 466⁽⁸⁾, I-710^(ℱ).
(Source: private email, Highway headline posts through the April Headline post, AARoads through May 27, 2022)

Update the state highway numbering page based on observations from Tom Fearer. Put in a new header logo, courtesy of the graphic skills of J. Scott Hayden, moderator of the California Roads, Signs, and Maps: A Collection of Old & New Facebook Group.

Added a link to Gribblenation’s Oahu Highways page. As a reminder: If you have a regional page (state, country), please let me know so I can add it to the links directory. Yes, this is old-fashioned in these days of search engines, but it still does serve to increase the visibility and ranking of all sites.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site. As usual, I recommend to every Californian that they visit the legislative website regularly and see what their legis-critters are doing. As many people are unfamiliar with how the legislature operates (and why there are so many “non-substantive changes” and “gut and amend” bills), I’ve added the legislative calendar to the end of the Pending Legislation page. No bills were passed during this review period (although one naming resolution, SCR 39, was sent to the Governor). A number of Assembly Bills had their non-substantial contents replaced with something substantial—most notable was a bill that will authorize relinquishment of Route 107 in Redondo Beach. Also notable was a new resolution to remove the designation of the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway (including removal of all signs).

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. I reviewed the March, April, and May agendas for the Coastal Commission meetings. No actions rose to the level of Highway Page significance.

As the March 2022 CTC approved the newest iteration of the SHOPP and the STIP, after processing the CTC agenda items, I went through the SHOPP and STIP to ensure that any new items that rose to the level of interest were captured in the pages. From the SHOPP, updates were made to: Route 4, Route 14, Route 24, Route 49, Route 96, Route 99, Route 110, and Route 246. The updates to the STIP give a lot less detail (for example, there are no postmiles nor detailed descriptions of the changes)—you’re lucky to get a title, county, route, and project number. Based on what I could figure out from the STIP, updates were made to I-10, Route 57, US 395, I-680. Note that a number of line items appeared to reference a postmile, but never indicated the route. My guess is that the STIP items will eventually make their way into the SHOPP (especially as they have PPNOs).

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the March and April 2022 meetings of the California Transportation Commission (although April was a one-day meeting and had no items of interest as the focus was rail and transit). As always, note that I tend not to track items that do not impact these pages — i.e., pavement rehabilitation or replacement, landscaping, drainage, culverts, roadside facilities, charging stations, or other things that do not impact the routing or history, unless they are really significant. As such, the following items were of interest:

The last headline post was on April 1^st, so I must confess that there was one falsehood in the post:  “Maybe the right answer is just to put a fake headline somewhere in the headline list, and see if anyone falls for the rickroll.” That was just a tease to get you to go through all the headlines. Nothing was false.

However, there was one near truth:

• How about: I’ve heard a lot about the growth of podcasting. Maybe now is the time for me to do that podcast I’ve always dreamed about doing detailed Theatre Reviews. I could make 10s and 10s of dollars towards my retirement. Now that’s worth quitting my job for. Plausible, but… would folks really fall for it.

The real truth is that I am starting a podcast, but it isn’t on theatre reviews. Right, I’m doing it with Tom Fearer from Gribblenation, and we’ll be going route by route through all the numbered highways in California. Right now, we’ve got a teaser episode up, and a sample and first episode written. We’ll be getting more written in May, and recording the same and first few episodes. You can find the forever home of the podcast at California Highways: Route by Route (caroutebyroute.org); you can find the alternate route over on anchor.fm. Subscribe, and we hope to have the sample episode — exploring Route 105 — up sometime in May.  We are still looking for someone to donate a public domain theme for the podcast; contact daniel@caroutebyroute.org if this interests you. We will also (eventually) be looking for podcast donors and sponsors, but that isn’t set up yet.

I’m also still working on the March/April updates to Cahighways.org. The ✔ below means that I’ve gone through the headline for the pages; I still have to go through the Gribblenation updates, the AAroads updates, the legislative actions, the CTC and Coastal Commission minutes. I also will need to go through the updated STIP and SHOPP, as they were approved at the March meeting. So the March/April updates should be posted sometime in late May.

The headline list is much smaller this month. Perhaps there are more paywalls blocking things. Perhaps there are less articles of interest for my pages (there are loads of articles on transit, but few new roads or major road changes right now). But you take what you get. Still, there are a few things of interest.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• ✔ Officials Approve $312 Million for 126 Highway Projects in California (Construction Equipment Guide). As part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s landmark $1.1 billion Clean California initiative, Caltrans is awarding $312 million for 126 projects along the state highway system. Designed to foster cultural connections and civic pride, the projects are expected to generate 3,600 jobs as part of the multiyear initiative led by Caltrans to upgrade interstates and beautify community gateways and public areas along highways, streets and roads while creating thousands of jobs for Californians. Ninety-eight percent of the projects will benefit historically underserved or excluded communities. […] Developed in close collaboration with tribal and local governments, non-profits and businesses, the 126 state beautification projects include art installations, green space and proposals that improve safety and promote community connections. Construction begins in April 2022. Some of the larger projects include: …
• ✔ Public Feedback Wanted On Caltrans’ HWY 49 Project (myMotherLode.com). Caltrans and the Calaveras County Public Works Department want to hear from the public regarding a construction project on Highway 49 in San Andreas. The State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) construction project stretches from one end of town to the other along the highway. The town hall will give the public a chance to hear and see drawings of the project that will upgrade facilities to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards with curb ramps, sidewalks and crosswalks.
• ✔ Caltrans to add 41 parking spaces in Downtown Ramona starting this month (Ramona Sentinel). After a year-long delay, Caltrans will start a project to create 41 parking spaces in Downtown Ramona as early as this week, Caltrans officials said Tuesday. The parallel parking project between Eighth and 10th streets on state Route 78 could be done a few weeks after it starts, said Caltrans Public Information Officer Cathryne Bruce-Johnson. The restriping will create parallel parking spaces for 21 vehicles on the westbound side of SR-78/Main Street, and 20 parking spaces on the eastbound side of the street in currently designated No Parking areas.
• ＄＄ Temecula ‘smart freeway’ project could improve 15 Freeway commute (Press Enterprise). Transportation officials are banking on technology to ease the frustrating 15 Freeway commute in southwest Riverside County. The Riverside County Transportation Commission is investing $18 million in a “smart freeway” pilot project that will target the northbound drive along 8 miles of the 15, from the San Diego-Riverside county line near Temecula to the 15-215 freeways split in Murrieta. In that section, where commuters returning from San Diego County jobs daily encounter delays, the agency plans to work with Caltrans to install an array of sensors to measure traffic flow, volume and speed at various points, said David Lewis, capital projects manager for the commission.
• ✔ Southern Marin routes eyed for flooding relief (East Bay Times/Marin IJ). Officials are considering plans to raise portions of Highway 101 and Highway 1 to ease flooding in southern Marin. A proposed project along Highway 101 would elevate a portion of the southbound lane and offramp at the Marin City exit; construct a 700-foot floodwall between the highway and a stormwater pond; and install pumping mechanisms to increase flow from the pond into the Richardson Bay, according to Caltrans and state Sen. Mike McGuire. The project also includes an effort to raise Highway 1 north of the Manzanita commuter lot, which is closed routinely because of flooding. An automatic tide gate would be installed at the lot and drainage would be reconstructed. The Mill-Valley-Sausalito multiuse path also would be raised by about 3 feet.

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April 1^st.  April Fools Day. So what could I tell you that you would plausibly believe, but would be completely false?

• How about: I’ve decided that the numbering naysayers are right, and I-238 is truly an abomination and they should complete the I-710 no matter what it takes. No, you would see right through that as well. I’m too neutral to take positions like that.
• How about: I’ve decided that the vaccy naysayers are right, and I’m not going to get that 4th shot. Nah, you’d see right through that.
• How about: I’m getting close enough to retirement. I’ve decided to chuck it all and go out for one gigantic roadtrip, traveling every road in California. Nah, I think I enjoy my real job too much, plus gas is far too expensive for anyone to believe that.
• How about: After all this time, I’ve decided that music streamers are right, and I’m going to chuck my iPod Classics and stream away. Me? Never. They are my Precioussssssss.
• How about: I’ve heard a lot about the growth of podcasting. Maybe now is the time for me to do that podcast I’ve always dreamed about doing detailed Theatre Reviews. I could make 10s and 10s of dollars towards my retirement. Now that’s worth quitting my job for. Plausible, but… would folks really fall for it.

Maybe the right answer is just to put a fake headline somewhere in the headline list, and see if anyone falls for the rickroll. That sounds good. So with that, let’s get to the roads.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• ＄ Who decides what roads and freeways get fixed next? (Daily Bulletin). Q: Rosie Shaw asked about road construction. Shaw, who lives in Riverside County, asked how it’s determined which roads and/or freeways are tabbed for construction work or repairs, including roads in small cities, and where the funding comes from.
• State Route 26/Fremont Street Bridge Replacement Project (FB/District 10). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is preparing to begin a project that will improve vertical clearance for freight vehicles by replacing the State Route 26 (SR-26)/Fremont Street Overcrossing of State Route 99 in Stockton. Beginning February 28, 2022, crews will work during day and night shifts for approximately 200 days – Sundays through Fridays – with completion expected in late 2022. Roadside message signs will be placed on SR-26/Fremont Street and on SR-99 to alert motorists of scheduled highway and ramp closures.
• State Route 99 Rehabilitation Project Through the City of Merced (FB/District 10). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is preparing to begin a project that will rehabilitate approximately 20 lane miles of State Route 99 (SR-99) between Franklin Road and Childs Avenue through the city of Merced. Construction will be done in phases and is scheduled to start on Sunday, March 6, 2022, with completion expected in August 2023.
• ＄ The Ghost of Harry Bergman’s Roadside Museum on Highway 371 (Esotouric’s Secret Los Angeles). Greetings from your friendly historic Los Angeles sightseeing tour company, now offering digital programming until we can again organize groups to gather and explore the city we love. For our latest post that’s hidden from the rest of the internet, we want to take you on a very short road trip along State Highway 371, the rural road between Aguanga (pronounced Ah-WAHN-ga, from the Luiseño word awáanga, meaning “dog place”) and Anza—or between Temecula and Palm Desert, to use more familiar destinations.
• Opinion: Alien circles in downtown? (Madera Tribune). Some years from now, passengers in a low-flying airplane may report seeing “alien circles” right in downtown Madera. However, unlike the “crop circles” that are sometimes reported to exist in mid-West farmlands, the local phenomenon has a logical explanation. After years of prompting and procrastination, Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) is finally going to do something to improve State Route 145 through the City of Madera. After multiple meetings with city officials and stakeholders, the state has produced “State Route 145 Pavement Project and Complete Streets,” under the direction of John Liu, Deputy Director, Caltrans District 6 Maintenance and Operations. The plan consists of a “South Segment” along 3,020 feet of South Madera Avenue, from Avenue 13 to the East Madera Underpass Bridge; a “Downtown Segment,” including major modifications from E Street to Lake Street; and a “North Segment” from Lake Street to an area a bit short of the High-Speed Rail (HSR) underpass.
• The US highway that helped break segregation (BBC Travel). Along US Route 40, African diplomats were routinely denied service at local establishments. But their treatment set off a civil rights struggle that led to outlawing segregation. Adam Malick Sow had a headache. He was several hours into his trip from New York to Washington DC, and after his limousine crossed into the state of Maryland, he asked his driver to find a place to stop. A few miles later, the newly appointed ambassador to the United States from the African nation of Chad stepped into a diner along US Route 40 and asked for a cup of coffee. The answer on a summer day in 1961 would change history.

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And the first updates for 2022 to the California Highways Website are live. Enjoy. And as always… ready, set, discuss …

February 2022:

And with the flip of a calendar page, we’re in a new year. Hopefully 2022 will see the COVID numbers continue to decline, continuing infections go down, and our moving into an endemic vs a pandemic phase. We will eventually get this to a level where we can live with it, and it will be like a seasonal flu: fatal for some, a serious illness for others, mild for still others, and some will be resistant. As always, you can do your part to help us return to the new normal, when we can get out on the road again: do what you can do to stop the spread of the disease (wear masks, get vaccinated), and stay home when you don’t feel well or have been around folks that might have been contagious. I know this sounds like a broken record each update, but I’m tired of dealing with this from the last two years. I’m doing my part—with your help, perhaps we can get past this.

Beyond that, 2022 has started out really busy: We’re understaffed at work and the customer wants more (and we’re looking for good folks, so if you see something of interest let me know and I might be able to refer you in). My wife is still recovering from her fall in November, and I’m still acting as a caregiver. We still have the occasional theatre. But I’m taking some time to get these updates done for you. So let’s begin, shall we?

Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers in January and February 2022 (which are posted to the roadgeeking category at the “Observations Along The Road” and to the California Highways Facebook group) as well as any backed up email changes. I also reviewed the the AAroads forum (Ꜳ). This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research^(ℱ), contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from GaryA⁽²⁾, Nathan Edgars (NE2)⁽³⁾, Tom Fearer⁽⁴⁾, Great Lakes Roads⁽⁵⁾, Tike Narry⁽⁶⁾]: Route 1^(ℱ,4), Route 2^(ℱ), I-5^(ℱ), US 6⁽³⁾, Route 12^(ℱ), Route 17^(ℱ), Route 19⁽⁴⁾, Route 22⁽⁴⁾, Route 32^(ℱ), Route 35^(ℱ),  Route 37^(ℱ), Route 39⁽⁴⁾, US 40⁽⁴⁾, Route 42⁽⁴⁾, Route 47⁽³⁾, US 66⁽⁴⁾, Route 67⁽⁴⁾, Route 75^(ℱ), Route 78^(ℱ), I-80^(ℱ,4), Route 89^(ℱ), US 91⁽⁴⁾, Route 99^(ℱ,4), US 101^(ℱ), US 101A⁽⁴⁾, Route 103⁽³⁾, I-105⁽⁴⁾, Route 118^(ℱ,2), Route 123^(ℱ), Route 125^(4,5), I-215^(ℱ), Route 133^(ℱ,4), Route 138^(ℱ), Route 198^(ℱ), Route 231^(ℱ), Route 238^(ℱ),  Route 239⁽⁶⁾, Route 241^(ℱ,4), Route 261^(ℱ,4), I-505^(ℱ), Route 710^{(ℱ, 3)}, I-880^(ℱ).
(Source: private email, Highway headline posts through February 27, 2022 as indicated, AARoads through 02/27/2022)

Added the Gribblenation page “Golden State Highways” to the appropriate regional links page. As a reminder: If you have a regional page (state, country), please let me know so I can add it to the links directory. Yes, this is old-fashioned in these days of search engines, but it still does serve to increase the visibility and ranking of all sites.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site. As usual, I recommend to every Californian that they visit the legislative website regularly and see what their legis-critters are doing. As many people are unfamiliar with how the legislature operates (and why there are so many “non-substantive changes” and “gut and amend” bills), I’ve added the legislative calendar to the end of the Pending Legislation page. The last day for bills to be introduced is Feb 18; to get a new bill after that, and existing bill must be amended. As a result, quite a few “non-substantial changes” bills are introduced as placeholders. These bills that make a minor meaningless grammatical change in some provision, just so there is a bill in the system that can later be amended to do something else after the deadline for introducing bills has passed. Some of the more amusing ones are AB1673 (Counties); AB1901 (California State Boundaries); AB1953 (Assembly Great Seal); AB1967 (State Government); AB2174 (Traffic Control Devices); AB2493 (Cities and Counties); AB2760 (Utility poles and structures); and SB1243 (Counties). This also shows “hot topics” for the year, included bills related to retail shoplifting, cryptocurrency, catalytic converter thefts, broadband equity, and elections. At this point, no bills have been passed in the 2022 session. Note: As a side-impact of this, I made some formatting changes to make the legislative page easier to read.

Through the headline discovery I do, I discovered the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. I reviewed the agenda for the 2021 and 2022 Coastal Commission meetings, and noted the following actions that rose to the level of Highway Page significance:

• February 2022 (Weds., 11.a) Application № 4-21-0182 (Caltrans, Santa Barbara Co.).
  Application of Caltrans to replace Route 217 bridge at San Jose Creek with new bridge with four traffic lanes, standard bridge railings and shoulders, separated bicycle and pedestrian path, and coastal hazards adaptation features, located between the City of Goleta and the University of California, Santa Barbara in unincorporated Santa Barbara County. (SD-V)
  ❧ Moved to Consent Calendar, APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS
• September 2021 (Thurs., 10.a): September 2021 Application № 1-21-0074 (Caltrans, Fort Bragg)
  Application of California Department of Transportation to widen two-lane Route 1 bridge over Pudding Creek to add shoulder width and separated pedestrian walkways with relocation of utility lines and drainage improvements at Highway 1 crossing of Pudding Creek in City of Fort Bragg, Mendocino County. (AL-A)
  ❧ Moved to Consent Calendar, APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS
• January 2021 (Weds 11.a) January 2021 Application № 1-20-0422 (Caltrans, Del Norte County)
  Application of California Department of Transportation to demolish and replace existing two-lane U.S. Highway 101 (Dr. Fine) bridge over Smith River with new two lane bridge with separated pedestrian walkway and construct temporary detour bridge, relocate utility lines, and replace culverts at Highway 101 crossing of Smith River, Del Norte County. (TG-A)
  ❧ APPROVED WITH CONDITIONS

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the January 2022 meeting of the California Transportation Commission. As always, note that I tend not to track items that do not impact these pages — i.e., pavement rehabilitation or replacement, landscaping, drainage, culverts, roadside facilities, charging stations, or other things that do not impact the routing or history, unless they are really significant. As such, the following items were of interest:

February. Short month. Lots of headlines. Before we get to it, folks, just a reminder to keep doing what you’re doing. Numbers are going down, and that’s a good thing. Of course, that’s not our only worry these days. Please send strength–however you send strength–to Ukraine. May the people be strong and safe; may the country stand against this unwarranted aggression.

With that, let’s get to the roads.

P.S. Expect the Highway Page updates in the next day or two.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• Coronado Bridge Suicide Deterrent Project (District 11/FB). We’re releasing the Coronado Bridge Suicide Deterrent Project study for community review. A suicide barrier would be installed from the Bayshore Bikeway in the City of Coronado to Newton Avenue in the City of San Diego. The official comment period runs from January 31 to March 1st.
• Calaveras County Bridge Replacement Project (District 10/FB). Do you want a public meeting on changes proposed for the Calaveras County Bridge Replacement Project on State Route 12 in Calaveras County? Public comment will be accepted from February 3 to March 4, 2022. For more information, click on the flyer or visit the Caltrans, District 10 website at dot.ca.gov/d10/projects.html.
• Caltrans seeks feedback in highway projects between Butte, Sacramento (actionnewsnow.com). Caltrans is looking for feedback from the community on a proposed project that could improve Highway 70 and Highway 99 between Butte and Sacramento counties. During a survey feedback in September, Caltrans developed a list of 80 proposed highway improvement projects for the corridor. Included in that list are new freeway interchanges, expanding park and ride capacity, designated bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways, and more highway or turn lanes.
• Rehab project completed ahead of schedule (Antelope Valley Press). With traffic cruising by on the already completed southbound lanes of State Route 14, Caltrans and local officials celebrated the completion of the Rosamond-Mojave Rehabilitation Project, months ahead of schedule. Tuesday’s ribbon cutting ceremony was held on the still-closed northbound lanes of the highway. They are expected to be fully opened Feb. 10, which will return the highway to a four-lane, divided route between Rosamond and Mojave.
• ＄ San Jose ditches Charcot Extension Overpass near school (Mercury News). In a major victory for parents and teachers who fiercely fought the idea, a longtime plan to build a new overpass next to a primary school in North San Jose has been abandoned. The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to drop a proposal that’s been on the books for nearly three decades, marking a sharp reversal from the council’s stance in 2020 when they approved the project’s environmental impact report. The overpass would have extended North San Jose’s Charcot Avenue about .6 miles from Paragon Drive over I-880 to Oakland Road.
• ＄ Express lanes to open in San Mateo County (San Mateo Daily Journal). The new tolled express lanes on Highway 101 are set to open Friday, Feb. 11, from the Santa Clara County line to Whipple Avenue in Redwood City but drivers will have to get a new FasTrak device to use them, according to officials. The Express Lanes will operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and all drivers must have a FasTrak Flex device to qualify for free or reduced tolls. Users of flex devices move a switch to show how many passengers they have on each trip. Those without the special device can be fined or penalized. Tolls will be adjusted depending on demand and traffic patterns.
• Residents call for increased safety on major Petaluma roadway (Petaluma Argus Courier). Petaluma residents are calling for an increase in traffic safety as part of long-awaited plans to improve conditions along the busy North McDowell thoroughfare. In a virtual meeting last Wednesday, city officials and the Parisi Transportation Consulting group presented plans to reconstruct a section of North McDowell Boulevard in a multiple-phase project set to break ground later this year. David Parisi, founder of the consulting firm, said the project’s first phase would focus on pavement repairs, while the next phase could entail a “Complete Streets” approach.
• Ryer Island ferry will be removed from service during scheduled maintenance (Local News Matters). A vital connection to one of the Delta’s inhabited islands will be out of service for several weeks beginning this month, Caltrans announced. The Real McCoy II ferry boat that serves as a link between Rio Vista and Ryer Island along State Route 84 in Solano County, will be out of operation beginning Feb. 7 so that required engine upgrades can be completed. The work is expected to be finished sometime by “late” March, according to Caltrans.

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As we flip the calendar into 2022, we breath a deep sigh of relief (and hope there wasn’t anything infectious in that deep breath we took).

Hopefully, this will be a year where we will finally start to move out of this. You can do your part. Take all the measures you can to prevent further spread of this disease, and to protect you, your family, and those around you. This is what we need to do to get back out on the road having roadtrips.

One thing you can do from your desk is collect headlines, and that’s what I’ve been busily doing. Here are your headlines for January. My goal is to get the updates to the highway pages back to an every other month cadence, so look for updates in early March. And with that, here are your headlines. Ready, set, discuss.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. ]

Highway Headlines

• Crews working to remove rocks, dirt at site of Hwy 1 rockslide in SLO County (KSBY). A roughly 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 remains closed due to a rockslide a couple of miles south of Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County. The popular road is traveled by millions of people each year from all over the world. “We are heading to San Francisco and now we are stuck in here,” said Fabio Queiroz of Brazil. If you’re planning on taking the coastal highway into Big Sur, you’ll be met with a road closure sign at the elephant seal viewing area in San Simeon. There are also a couple of signs warning of the closure miles before that.
• SR-135 RESURFACING PROJECT IN SANTA MARIA BEGINS NEXT WEEK (Edhat). A project to resurface six-miles of State Route 135 (Broadway) from the US 101/State Route 135 Interchange to Lakeview Road will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Travelers will encounter weekly lane closures in each direction of State Route 135 Sunday night through Friday morning during the overnight hours between 8 pm and 6 am. Adjacent streets may be closed during the overnight hours and during the day with traffic control from 9 am until 3 pm. Delays should not exceed 10 minutes. Travelers are encouraged to proceed safely in this work zone. The contractor for this $12 million dollar project is CalPortland Construction of Santa Maria, CA.
• Golden Gate Bridge announces fix for noise nuisance (Marin I-J). Engineers have developed a $450,000 plan to muffle the loud humming noise that has been emanating from the Golden Gate Bridge on windy days. The sound was an unintended result of wind upgrades on the bridge railing last year. Residents living in nearby communities such as Sausalito and San Francisco’s Presidio area were most affected, but the strange humming could be heard from several miles away. The noise is generated by fast northwesterly winds passing through the new railings and wind fairings that were installed on the western side between the two towers.
• Local leaders representatives respond to Caltrans’ plans for Union Avenue (KBAK). Back on December 15th, Ward 2 Bakersfield City Councilman, Andrae Gonzalez, and other city group leaders and representatives from local bike groups announced they were sending a letter to Caltrans, urging them to make needed improvements to Union Avenue, to stop deaths of pedestrians and cyclists that are happening. “I think we need to remember and put all of this in context, that 28 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities have occurred, within a three-mile stretch on Union Avenue, since 2009. That’s far too many casualties,” Andrae Gonzales, Bakersfield City Councilman for Ward 2, said.
• City removes historic lampposts off Glendale-Hyperion bridge following thefts (The Eastsider LA). This weekend reports circulated that more classic bronze lampposts had gone missing or were stolen off the Glendale-Hyperion bridge, which links Atwater Village and Silver Lake. While reports of the thefts have not been confirmed, it turns out city crews have been removing some of the nearly 12-foot-high lights for safe keeping before they could be stolen. The Bureau of Street Lighting has removed and stored 18 lights from the bridge, said Department of Public Works spokeswoman Elena Stern. Following reports of thefts in September, the city determined that a total of 7 lampposts had been stolen. But that number has now risen to 17, Stern said.
• An Ode To Highway 1 (The Nob Hill Gazette). As we contemplate travel in 2022, road trips continue to hold a lot of appeal. And with access to such a storied thoroughfare as Highway 1, Californians aren’t complaining. We celebrate our coastal passageway with a three-part look at its engineering, its personal charms and worthy reasons to explore anew.
• I-80 Yuba Pass Separation Overhead (SOH) Replacement (FB/District 3). Caltrans is currently seeking public feedback on two proposed Interstate 80 (I-80) improvement projects in Placer and Nevada counties. A $101.8 million project proposes to replace and widen the Yuba Pass Separation Overhead (SOH) bridges near the State Route 20 separation in Nevada County. The project would improve freight efficiency along I-80 by increasing the load carrying capacity and address structural deficiencies that necessitate bridge replacement: concrete cracking and spalling, high corrosive chloride content, superstructure repainting, bridge deck concrete degradation, and weight-bearing pad failures.
• State Route 18 Emergency Repair Project Update (KBHR 93.3). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) continues repairs on an emergency project at a washout section of State Route 18 (SR-18) near Panorama point between 40th St and SR-138 near Crestline. Crews continue to make repairs and bring in necessary equipment and materials. Currently, crews work to keep the area as dry as possible take priority as more winter weather is predicted. To expediate the repairs, the route will remain closed to the public until further notice so crews can utilize the full roadway. Caltrans is evaluating all traffic handling situations and will have more updates on this in the future. Emergency responders will have access for emergency situations.

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