Observations Along the Road

And I thought October was busy! November was equally busy with theatre, recording and producing Episode 1.05, and getting the updates to the highway page done. December is starting with the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC), with may mean a delay of a week or two in getting Episode 1.06 up.

I’ve come to learn that one of the hardest parts of podcasts is scaring up interviews. We’re still finalizing the interview for Episode 1.06, and I’m still open on upcoming episodes. I’m looking for someone who is willing to talk for 30 minutes or so on the following:

• For 1.07: The California Post-Mile System: Its origin, its use, and why California sticks with it.
• For 1.08: We return to the US highway system, so I’m looking for someone to discuss some of the history of the numbers of US highways in the state; or, alternatively, someone from AASHTO on the process for getting highway numbers approved.
• For 1.09: We return to the Interstates, so I’m looking for someone with some interesting insights on California’s interstate submittals.

If you or someone you know would be interested in helping this project, please contact me.

The updates to the California Highway pages were posted last week; the next update round will be between Christmas and New Years. I’m finishing off the last podcast script for Season 1 this week.

Enough of this shameless self-promotion. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for November:

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.]

California Highways: Route by Route Podcast

• CARxR Ep. 1.05: Chronology – The Great Renumbering and New Freeways. In this episode, we’re continuing to explore the history of the State Highway System, focusing on the construction boom in the 1960s under the administration of Pat Brown. This period saw the great renumbering, as highways were unified under a combined legislative / sign route system (as opposed to the separate systems that existing previously). It also saw a tremendous expansion of the freeways as construction worked hard to meet the construction deadlines. The period ended with the passage of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the election of Ronald Reagan, and the Freeway Revolts. Our interview is with Arturo Salazar, a retired District 7 Caltrans engineer and moderator of the Freeways of Los Angeles Facebook group.

Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its anchor.fm home. The anchor.fm also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.

Highway Headlines

• Highway 101 project in Salinas is set to begin on Nov. 6 (KSBW 8). Caltrans will begin a six-month project in Salinas starting on Nov. 6 at Highway 101 North and Kern Street. This project will include widening, and extending the E. Market St. onramp to northbound U.S. 101 by 1,500 feet, repaving of the roadway, and construction of a concrete barrier and a retaining wall. When construction begins there will be a closure of the East Market Street onramp to northbound Highway 101for six months.
• Why is Highway 101 in the middle of Santa Rosa? (Press Democrat). Having Highway 101 run north and south smack through the middle of Santa Rosa may be convenient, but the divide it creates between east and west is mostly unfortunate. Some Santa Rosans in the 1940s thought the Highway 101 route could be placed around the town instead of through it and proposed routes further east or west, possibly along Fulton and Wright roads, to ease truck traffic in the city. But some businessmen worried about potential customers being rerouted too far from shops lobbied to have it close to downtown, and ultimately the city council agreed.
• Express lanes on Highway 101 starting to open (San Mateo Daily Journal). The Highway 101 express lane section from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco is now open to the public, with transit authorities declaring it a soft opening. The express lanes will be open to vehicles with three or more passengers and motorcycles only from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. The new express lanes will be open to all vehicles during all other times. Full operations will start in early 2023 once crews complete construction for signal operations. SamTrans spokesperson Dan Lieberman said by email tolling will not start until the official opening in 2023, with the lane still operating as a HOV 3+ lane, rather than a general purpose lane. SamTrans spokesperson Mahmoud Abunie said the soft opening would allow transit officials to examine traffic flow and signal runs for carpoolers while also allowing the public to use it. Abunie said the public desire to see it opened also played a role in the soft opening.
• ＄New Bay Area express lanes on Hwy. 101 are opening. Here’s how you can buy your way into them (San Francisco Chronicle). Drivers with two or more passengers in their cars can pull into the new express lanes on Highway 101 along much of the Peninsula, even as engineers and contractors finish installing and testing toll equipment. The lanes, which stretch nearly 16 miles from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City on the south to Interstate 380 on the north, will be a combination of a toll lane and a carpool lane when they fully open early next year, offering free rides to carpoolers and allowing anyone to buy their way in.
• Bay Area city moves to ban all right turns on red lights (SF Gate). “I don’t want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light,” Alvy Singer famously said about moving from New York to California. That incentive may no longer be true of Berkeley, after the first steps in a proposal to ban right turns on red lights citywide was approved last week. “From the way we design our roads to the rules we set for them, cars are given priority in the public right of way at the express detriment to pedestrians and cyclists,” Berkeley councilmember Terry Taplin wrote in the budget proposal, first shared by Berkeleyside, that was approved on Thursday. “One such example is the de facto right given to cars to turn ‘Right on Red’ at signalized intersections.”

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I know what I’m thankful for this weekend: Finishing these updates. Between the podcast, these updates, theatre, moving stuff from my office back home (a side effect of the ranch moving to a “hoteling” model if you aren’t in 4 days a week or more), and getting ready for ACSAC, it’s been hard to find the time to get these done. But done they are, so you can enjoy them as you get into the holiday season.

This update covers August, September, and October. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. Since July, we’ve kept up the schedule of regular posting of episodes. You can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org/ , the show’s page on anchor.fm, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Anchor.FM) . The following episodes have been posted since the last update:

• August | Episode 1.02: Building a State Highway System: The 1920s (featuring an interview with Joel Windmiller of the Lincoln Highway Association on the history of the US highway system)
• September | Episode 1.03: Building a State Highway System: The 1930s (featuring an interview with Morgan Yates, archivist of the Auto Club of Southern California on the Auto Club’s role in signing highways)
• October | Episode 1.04: Building a State Highway System: Expanding the State Highway System after WWII (featuring an interview with Dr. Jonathan L. Gifford (George Mason University) on the impact of the Interstate System)
• November | Episode 1.05: Chronology – The Great Renumbering and New Freeways (featuring an interview with Arturo Salazar, a retired District 7 Caltrans engineer and moderator of the Freeways of Los Angeles Facebook group)

We’re still looking for interviews for upcoming episodes in Season 1. Please let me know if you have any leads for the following episodes:

• For 1.06: Someone familiar with CEQA and its impact on the highway construction process; also the impact of regional transportation planning agencies
• For 1.07: Someone familiar with California’s state highway numbering, and in particular, with how post miles are used in California.
• For 1.08: Someone familiar with AASHTO’s role in highway numbering.

Turning to the updates to the California Highways pages: Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers in August, September, and October 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 FredAkbar⁽²⁾, Tom Fearer⁽³⁾, Matthew Goetz⁽⁴⁾, kernals12⁽⁵⁾, Jim Ross⁽⁶⁾, Chris Sampang⁽⁷⁾, Joel Windmiller⁽⁸⁾: Route 1^(3,5), Route 11^(ℱ), Route 12^(ℱ), Route 14^(ℱ), Route 17^(ℱ), Route 20^(ℱ), Route 24⁽⁷⁾, Route 29^(ℱ), Route 30^(ℱ), Route 36^(ℱ), Route 37^(ℱ,4), Route 46^(ℱ), Route 49^(ℱ,3,8), US 50^(ℱ), Route 52^(ℱ), Route 56^(ℱ), Route 58^(ℱ), US 66^(3,6), Route 60^(ℱ), I-80^(ℱ), Route 81⁽³⁾, Route 86⁽³⁾, Route 88⁽⁸⁾, Route 99^(ℱ,3), US 101^(ℱ,2,3), Route 106⁽³⁾, Route 108^(ℱ), Route 128^(ℱ), Route 132^(ℱ,3), Route 135^(ℱ), Route 140⁽⁸⁾, Route 156^(ℱ), Route 170^(ℱ), Route 198⁽³⁾,  I-210^(ℱ,3), Route 215^(ℱ), Route 248⁽³⁾, Route 256⁽³⁾, Route 259^(ℱ), I-405^(ℱ), I-605^(ℱ), I-680^(ℱ), I-805^(ℱ), County Sign Route J14⁽³⁾, County Sign Route S31^(ℱ).
(Source: private email, Highway headline posts through the October Headline post (as indicated), AARoads through TBD)

Added some images of proposed State Route signage to the State Route numbering page. Images courtesy of the ACSC and Morgan Yates.

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. We’re near the end of the session, so here’s what made it out of the process:

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October was another busy month. This time, it was more theatre, combined with finishing and posting Episode 1.04 of the California Highways – Route by Route podcast (Anchor.FM Home, with links to most major podcatching services), getting ready for Episode 1.05 (we start recording as I post this), and getting out my detailed ballot post. Oh, and I’ve been working on the next round of highway page updates (which has resulted in some delayed theatre reviews).

I’ve come to learn that one of the hardest parts of podcasts is scaring up interviews. I finally got someone for Episode 1.05, and now for the upcoming episodes, I’m looking for someone who is willing to talk for 30 minutes or so on the following:

• For 1.06: The impact of CEQA on road construction in California — including the process both before and after CEQA — as well as the impact of the growing importance of regional transportation agencies on the State Highway System.
• For 1.07: The California Post-Mile System: Its origin, its use, and why California sticks with it.
• For 1.08: We return to the US highway system, so I’m looking for someone to discuss some of the history of the numbers of US highways in the state; or, alternatively, someone from AASHTO on the process for getting highway numbers approved.

If you or someone you know would be interested in helping this project, please contact me.

With respect to the main highway pages: I’ve processed the August and September headlines, as well as all the legislative actions (there were lots of naming resolutions). Once this is posted I’ll get to work on the October headlines and AARoads, and then it is on to the CTC minutes. The goal is still to have those updates done in November. Podcast scripts are written through 1.10; all that remains is the naming and transportation organizations episode.

Enough of this shameless self-promotion. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for October:

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.]

California Highways: Route by Route Podcast

• CARxR Ep. 1.04: Expanding the State Highway System after WWII. In this episode, we’re continuing to explore the history of the State Highway System, focusing on the period as WWII was ending, the Interstate system was emerging, and the construction boom was starting. This is part of our first season of California Highways: Route by Route, where we are exploring the background needed for our route by route journey. In this episode, we see the birth of the Freeway System in California, starting with the Collier-Burns act increasing state funding for highways, and State and Federal recommendations for higher-capacity systems. We see the growth in cities and urban areas pushing demand for the same, leading to the definition of the Freeway and Expressway System. We cover the passage of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act, and the subsequent freeway conversion and construction boom. Our guest interview is with Dr. Jonathan L. Gifford of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is also the director of the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy. His doctoral dissertation examined the history and development of the interstate highway system from its origins in the 1930s through its design and deployment in the 1960s and beyond.

Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its anchor.fm home. The anchor.fm also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.

Highway Headlines

• Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. Reconstructs Highway in Mojave Desert (Construction Eqpt. Guide). U.S. Highway 395 is a priority interregional highway in the Caltrans Interregional Transportation Strategic Plan, part of the National Network of truck routes, and included in the Caltrans Highway Freight Network. “The highway is vital to the economy of the Eastern Sierra region and is one of five major recreational corridors identified for Southern California,” states the project web page. Crews from Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. began construction on the last stretch (12.5-mi., postmile 29.2 to postmile 41.8) of U.S. Highway 395 last January, to update this section to two lanes in each direction with a 10-ft. shoulder on each side.
• ＄ Ramona officials urge Caltrans to repair intersection after two fatal collisions (Ramona Sentinel). The death of a 68-year-old Ramona woman in a Sept. 19 rollover crash has renewed calls for road improvements at the Mussey Grade Road and state Route 67 intersection. The intersection has been the site of two other serious accidents in recent months, including one in which a 90-year-old man died in a head-on collision that pushed his vehicle backward and into the path of another vehicle, and another that left a woman with serious injuries. The Sept. 19 collision occurred about 3:40 p.m. as the woman stopped her 2005 Dodge Ram on westbound Mussey Grade Road, then turned left onto south SR-67. When she made the turn, she drove into the path of a northbound 2004 Toyota Prius, which broadsided the pickup, said California Highway Patrol Officer Matthew Baranowski. The truck overturned and landed on its roof.
• Caltrans to make safety improvements on stretch of State Route 36 (Times-Standard). Caltrans is planning safety improvements to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions on a two-mile stretch of State Route 36 between Hydesville and Carlotta. A public meeting to talk about the project’s environmental document and gather input from the community was held on Sept. 28 at Cuddeback Elementary School, and more than 50 people attended. “Our project team was encouraged by the community’s interest as they provided needed insight and information that we will incorporate into our design,” said Caltrans District 1 Project Manager Marie Brady. “The community also brought up other areas of interest, near and within the project limits, for further investigation, which is exactly what we look for when engaging with folks.”
• Our Future 101 – Ventura County’s Highway 101 HOV Project (VCTC). Commuters? Travelers? No, it’s us, Ventura County drivers. We tend to use the 101 like a main street. We jump on the freeway to cross town to take our kids to school, go to the farmer’s market, and commute to and from work daily, within the county. There are few alternatives for the 101 and the improvements over the years have not kept up with the demands we place on the 101. Congestion is projected to more than double in the next 20 years. Fortunately, help is on the way. The Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC), working in partnership with Caltrans and the local cities and the County of Ventura, has taken the lead to identify improvements along this important connection to all we do.
• Caltrans completes Dry Creek Bridge project (Yahoo!News). After more than two years of construction, the Dry Creek Bridge renovation project in Yuba County has been completed, offering drivers more space on a previously narrow road and bridge. Officials with Caltrans held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday to commemorate the completion of the project on Highway 20 in Browns Valley, along with other road projects that concurrently developed. The Browns Valley project is the last of five major projects to be completed along Highway 20, said Caltrans Project Manager Johnny Tan. The five-mile section between Marysville Road and Timbuctoo Place was renovated and rehabilitated in order to provide wider lanes and shoulders to give commercial and recreational drivers more space to travel and pull off from the road.
• Caltrans Breaks Ground on Chumash Museum Highway Beautification Project (Noozhawk). Caltrans broke ground this week on the Chumash Museum Highway Beautification project along a stretch of State Route 246 near Santa Ynez. The project is made possible through Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, a sweeping, $1.2 billion, multiyear clean-up effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create thousands of jobs and join with communities throughout the state to reclaim, transform and beautify public spaces. The $1.3 million Chumash Museum Highway Beautification project — the first of 12 Clean California-funded Central Coast beautification projects to break ground — will improve a half-mile section of the highway by installing artistic fencing, native plant landscaping, upgraded irrigation using recycled water, decorative crosswalks for pedestrians and bicyclists, and better directional signage.
• PCH projects will protect vulnerable highway – Santa Monica Daily Press (Santa Monica Daily Press). Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) could be getting some much needed attention just north of Santa Monica with two Caltrans projects on the way that could shore up the delicate coastal thoroughfare. One of the projects dates back to 2016, when high surf swept away a portion of the highway’s shoulder, exposing a high pressure gas pipeline in the Tuna Canyon area not far from Malibu’s southern border.

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