California Highways – Articles of Interest: 1/1/2013-1/15/2013

As I wrote in my highway update post at the end of 2012, I’m moving to a model of posting articles of interest related to California Highways on either a bi-monthly or weekly basis, due to Facebook’s hiding of articles and the increasing difficulty in going back in the group’s feed. This is the first of those posts. The following articles related to California Highways have recently been posted since the beginning of the year:

• Caltrans names Sutliff as first female chief engineer. She has been with Caltrans for 26 years, and has a BS Civil Engineering from UC Davis.
• Caltrans spends more than $300K to dress up Escondido ‘gateway’. The California Department of Transportation is spending more than $300,000 sprucing up the Interstate 15/Valley Parkway interchange because it’s considered the gateway to Escondido.
• Port of Long Beach to break ground on Gerald Desmond Bridge. Although technically not on a state highway, the bridge is part of the state highway system and is pretty much associated with I-710 in Long Beach. See the I-710 page at cahighways.org for information on this project. More on the Gerald Desmond Bridge from KTLA and CurbedLA.
• How El Camino Real, California’s ‘Royal Road,’ Was Invented. A history of how the El Camino Real achieved its notoriety fame. (h/t Anneliese Ågren)
• $53.7 million will go to widening 15/215 freeway interchange in Devore.Cajon Pass travelers came one step closer to relief from the 15/215 freeway bottleneck Friday as the state allocated $53.7 million for the Devore interchange and 15 Freeway widening project, and opened up other funding streams for projects throughout Southern California. The Cajon Pass was one of 44 projects from the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles to the High Desert that received $306 million from the California Transportation Commission.
• SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: I-215 changes coming. Drivers will see some changes on Interstate 215 through downtown San Bernardino next week as transportation officials work to complete the six-year widening project….
• Pomona council set consider options for 71 Freeway widening project. Three options for the widening of the 71 Freeway will go to City Council members tonight that could lead to expediting construction.State and county transportation agencies need the city to select one of three construction options in order complete a proposal to compete for project funding through a state public-private partnership program. …
• Work begins on US 101 / Airport Boulevard interchange overhaul. Workers will begin cutting down trees along Highway 101 at Airport Boulevard [1/8/2013] to make way for a new interchange meant to ease the morning snarl. That interchange is one of the most heavily used in Sonoma County, serving the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport and 6,000 workers in adjacent business parks….
• Work to begin this month on new I-880 carpool lanes in San Leandro. Caltrans crews will begin widening a three-mile stretch of Interstate 880 in San Leandro later this month to add a southbound carpool lane and replace two overpasses. As a result, drivers will soon see nightly ramp and lane closures between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Completion of the first segment, which spans from Hegenberger Road to just north of Davis Street, is scheduled for the fall of 2014. The second segment, from Davis Street to just south of Marina Boulevard, is slated to be done by spring 2016 and includes new overpasses at Davis Street and Marina Boulevard to “improve vertical clearance on Interstate 880 and reduce the frequency of big rigs with high loads hitting the bridges,” according to the Caltrans website. …
• Sepulveda Pass Class. It looks like the Skirball Cultural Center will be doing a class on the Sepulveda Pass.The class will chart the history of the place, including how land that once belonged to the Tongva Indians gave way to Spanish mission and ranchero use. It will consider the formation of suburbs, but also will talk about people- — the Sepulvedas, who lived in what is now the South Bay, and engineer William Mulholland. Moving closer to the present, it will talk about the relocation of the former University of Judaism (UJ), which had previously been at several different L.A. sites, to its Familian campus on Mulholland Drive. Schedule permitting, the final class will feature a visit by Skirball Chairman and CEO Uri Herscher and a discussion of how the area known as the top of the hill became a Jewish hub. It will meet Feb. 10 and 24 and March 3 and 17 from 2pm to 4pm. Cost is $75; registration information is here. Not sure if I’m going to be able to go yet.
• HOV Connector between I-5 and CA 14 Opens. The ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday, January 11, 2012.
• Capistrano residents air road-project concerns. Caltrans officials had expected about 60 people to attend a public-information meeting Thursday night about the agency’s upcoming reconstruction of the I-5/Ortega Highway interchange. More than 150 showed up….
• Route 46 widening nears completion in Kern. You’ll find it on page 4 of the Kern COG quarterly report, along with a report on the progress of the Westside Highway (which isn’t a state highway, but is being funded by the CTC).
• New proposed budget would reorganize California transportation. Six state transportation departments will be grouped together under one central agency this July, “streamlining” future projects and ending wasteful spending, if Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed 2013-14 budget is approved.
• Caltrans’ I-5/Ortega Highway Interchange Project to Affect South County Motorists. Caltrans is scheduled to begin major construction for the massive Interstate 5/Ortega Highway Interchange project in mid-February. It’s a project that’s been on the minds of traffic officials, city leaders and residents for more than a decade and will likely stay that way for at least two more, when it’s scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2015.
• Caltrans earmarks $3.7 million for north state bridge repairs. A $3.7 million bridge rehabilitation project that includes 19 spans in Shasta and Siskiyou counties has been allocated state funds. The bridges stretch from south of Dunsmuir to Hornbrook in northern Siskiyou County.
• Editorial: Caltrans Should Consider Plan B for US 101 in Montecito. Some thoughts on the removal of the left exits near Montecito, just S of Santa Barbara (this is near where the Big Yellow House was).
• California Transportation Commission Allocates $64 Million In New Transportation Funding With Mariposa County Receiving $25,000. Continuing the push to rebuild California’s infrastructure, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) today allocated $64 million to 43 projects that will reduce traffic congestion and repair highways, local streets, and bridges.
• Ridge Route repair group runs up against Forest Service. The original ridge route was LRN 4, and was later signed as US 99. Most of the discussion in this article relates to the first incarnation.
• Caltrans will unlock ‘locks of love’ on bridge. An update on the removal of the “locks of love” on the Main Street Bridge over Route 17 (the bridge just S of the Route 17/Route 9 interchange). The reason for removal actually makes sense: they didn’t design the fence for the additional weight of the locks, and the fence could then collapse in heavy winds.