Category: roadgeeking

As we pass from May into June, I’d welcome you to the June Gloom, but it came early. As I write this, I’ve been busily working to get the March and April (and now May) updates to the Highway Pages done. They are closer — I just finished going through the March and May CTC minutes. This weekend I’ll process these headlines, and the updates should be good to go

The first season of the podcast is winding down. We have one episode left to record, and then I’ll take a couple of months off to start writing Season 2, when we will actually start going route by route through the state highways. Season 2 will have 10 episodes on Route 1, and two on Route 2. Hopefully, the sound quality is getting a bit better. I’m learning as I go on, and I think on some I overprocessed and overcompensated for breaths, creaks, and other bumps (uh) in the night. Our sample episode has crossed 105 listens, but many are still falling short. Visit our Spotify for Podcast episodes page, our main podcast site, or use your favorite podcasting app to catch up on our back episodes. We have a 6-part series on the history of the state highway system, and a 4-part series on highway numbering.

What else? We’re back to attending theatre regularly, although I haven’t started writing reviews again. Although we’re not going to be able to make it this year, if you’re near Hollywood in June, I encourage you to go down to old US 66 and attend the Hollywood Fringe Festival. There should be at least one show of interest out of the hundreds of shows being presented.

OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for May:

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 1.11: Highway Naming. In our penultimate episode of the season, we explore highways and their names. Tom and Daniel discuss how highways got their names in the past, as well as how highways are named today through the legislature. You’ll see a discussion of historical names, destination-based names, and memorial names. We’ll also explore auto trail names, as well as some of the more notorious names that highways have been given. Lastly, listen until after the end credits for a discussion about an aspect of naming that people often forget. (38:01)

Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its Spotify for Podcasters home. The Spotify (nee Anchor.FM) link also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.

Highway Headlines

• City meeting with Caltrans director inspired optimism about truck climbing lanes project (Tehachapi News). The most optimistic news reported at Monday night’s City Council meeting came from Councilman Phil Smith. During the council comments portion at the end of the meeting, Smith shared news of a recent meeting he and city staff had with the new director of Caltrans about the proposed truck climbing lane for Highway 58. Caltrans recently released environmental reports related to the project, and another Highway 58 project west of Tehachapi — the Keene Pavement Project — is even further along in the planning process. But funding the projects once the planning and design are complete remains an obstacle.
• ＄Last piece of remade Bay Bridge expands access to Yerba Buena, Treasure Island (Napa Valley Register). The last piece of the massive Bay Bridge reconstruction will open Sunday, almost 10 years after the main span bearing Interstate 80 began carrying traffic. The new eastbound off-ramp to Yerba Buena Island will increase access to Treasure Island, where San Francisco officials hope to develop thousands of new homes, retail and commercial space, and hotel rooms. City plans have touted Treasure Island as San Francisco’s newest emerging neighborhood. “It’s a much better connection to the island,” said Bart Ney, a spokesman for Caltrans. “There’s all kinds of development.”
• ＄American Canyon says annexation might ease Highway 29 traffic (Napa Valley Register). American Canyon officials want to annex 83 acres and develop a portion with industry and businesses and — if all goes as described — a road extension that takes some traffic off busy Highway 29. The city is working on an environmental impact report for its proposed Paoli/Watson Lane annexation. This land is east of Highway 29 near Paoli Loop Road. What might seem to be an American Canyon-centric issue could have ramifications for anyone driving in the south county. The proposed annexation would allow a Newell Drive extension to connect with the highway. “The city intends to extend Newell Drive as a parallel roadway to (Highway) 29 to relieve traffic congestion,” the draft environmental impact report said. How much relief is unclear, though an extended Newell Drive would handle more than existing traffic in this fast-growing area. Nearby Watson Ranch is planned to someday host more than 1,000 homes.
• ＄Caltrans work will partially or fully close Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro (Daily News). Most, if not all, of the Vincent Thomas Bridge could close for one to two years beginning around 2025 so the nearly 60-year-old San Pedro span can get a new roadbed for the first time since it was built. Details on the California Department of Transportation project, estimated to cost $628.5 million, are just now rolling out — with the news coming as a surprise to many of those who will be heavily impacted. Caltrans will host a virtual meeting, as part of an extensive state and federal scoping process for the project, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4. Work is anticipated to take place from 2025 to 2027. Replacing the roadway, Caltrans officials say, is necessary to maintain the bridge, which turns 60 in November, into the future. The road in both directions has been damaged over time by saltwater, moisture and heavy use.
• Plan to add toll to Highway 37 for safety funding faces opposition (CBS San Francisco). Between flooding during King Tides and everyday commute congestion, Highway 37 in the North Bay has long been a major concern of the State. Transportation officials have come up with a plan to fix the vital connecting road, but the method to pay for it is drawing criticism – and raising concerns about how future projects may be funded. The roadway sits only a few feet above the water and has already experienced shutdowns due to flooding. So, the State’s long-term plan is to turn the road into a four-lane “causeway,” essentially, a low-level bridge that will span most of the 21 miles from Vallejo to Novato. It would include a bike and pedestrian lane and a rail line for the SMART commuter train. That will take billions of dollars and more than 20 years to complete. But there is also a short-term plan involving one section of the highway.
• State to consider Highway 37 toll (Marin I-J). Highway 37, the major North Bay commuter route linking Marin and Vallejo, could become a toll road for the second time since it was built nearly a century ago under a proposal before the state this month. The California Transportation Commission is set to decide whether to approve the toll at its May 17-18 meeting in San Francisco. The toll would take effect in 2027 and be similar to tolls on state-owned bridges in the area, which would be at least $8 in 2027. Bay Area transportation agencies and Caltrans are seeking to add the toll to the 12-mile corridor to pay for significant changes to the highway in response to grueling traffic conditions and sea-level rise projections. The near-term project plans to widen a 10-mile, traffic-prone section of road between Sears Point and Mare Island, where the highway bottlenecks to one lane in each direction. The estimated $430 million widening project, planned for completion in 2027, would add a carpool lane in each direction for vehicles with at least two occupants. The carpool lane would not be tolled.

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So, how’s about the weather? 🙂 We’re finally starting to dry out and we’ve even had a few warm days (although this week we’re back to cold and dreary). But the calming of the atmospheric river has allowed construction crews to fan out and start work… and that’s a good thing. As for me, I’ve started work on the next round of updates to the Highways Site, and theatre attendance has picked up (although I haven’t had the urge to start writing reviews return yet — they are a lot of work).

The podcast continues. As I noted last time, we’ve decided that the fight for interviews is slowing things down. If we can get them, we’ll generally release them as a bonus episode. That should shorten our episodes. I’m pleased to note that our sample episode just crossed the 100 listens boundary, but some of the other episodes need to catch up. So go to your favorite podcatcher application and search for our podcast. You can also listen through the Spotify page. Please explore our back catalog, as we wind down season one. I’ll probably take a month or two break between seasons (I need time to start on the next season’s episodes)

OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for April:

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 1.10: Highway Numbering: County Signed Routes.In this episode, we complete our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the County Signed Route system. This system, started in 1959, uses a blue pentagon with yellow numbers, and applies to significant routes at the county level. It is the last episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the County Signed Route system, how the routes are numbered, some significant county signed routes, and what is happening with the system today. There is no interview. We’re going to move the interview segments into separate bonus episodes, owing to the difficulty of obtaining and scheduling the interviews. There are two episodes left in the season: one exploring highway naming, and one exploring the organizations related to the state highways. (29:38)

Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its Spotify for Podcasters home. The Spotify (nee Anchor.FM) link also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.

Highway Headlines

• Signage, striping, shuttles — study suggests solutions for Highway 49 at confluence (Mountain Democrat). A years-long study looking into a bevy of concerns regarding a stretch of Highway 49 between Cool and Auburn provides a list of potential fixes. Narrow roadways, tight turns, limited shoulders packed with parked cars, hikers and river-goers crossing the road to and fro and oversized trucks driving through tight turns all contribute to exacerbated drive times and raise the risk of possible traffic incidents on Highway 49. The El Dorado County Transportation Commission, in partnership with California State Parks, Caltrans, El Dorado County and the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, conducted a study after concerns were raised by local residents and authorities in early 2020.
• State Route 127 Pavement Project to Start on Monday April 3 (Sierra Wave). Work is scheduled to begin Monday, April 3, on the State Route 127 Pavement Project at two locations on State Route 127 in eastern Inyo County: · From postmile 21, approximately 7 miles north of the town of Shoshone, to postmile 34.5, approximately 7 miles south of Death Valley Junction · From Death Valley Junction to the Nevada State Line to the north. This construction project will rehabilitate the pavement by grinding down the roadway and overlaying asphalt, which will restore the pavement to a good service condition and extend the service life of the highway. Existing traffic signs will be upgraded to current state standards and specifications.
• ＄Caltrans to address Verano/Highway 12 intersection at next Springs Municipal Advisory Council meeting (Sonoma Index-Tribune). After three pedestrian deaths in three years at the intersection of Highway 12 and Verano Avenue, Caltrans and Sonoma County Public Infrastructure will make reports about the dangerous roadway during the next Springs Municipal Advisory Council meeting on April 12. The public is welcome to attend, in person or online, or submit comments for consideration. Community members have long lamented that the high-traffic corner is dangerous and should be equipped with more safety features. Public officials have said it’s a challenging area for infrastructure, as Highway 12 is managed by the state while Verano Avenue is a county road.
• Big changes are coming to San Pablo Avenue. Here’s what residents have to say (The Oaklandside). East Bay residents had their first opportunity Thursday to see new designs for the San Pablo Corridor Project, which is expected to reshape one of the region’s most important roads and its surrounding streets. At a community meeting held at the Berkeley Adult School, the Alameda County Transportation Commission revealed designs for intersections on San Pablo Avenue and for the network of bike boulevards in Berkeley and Oakland that will run on sidestreets parallel to San Pablo Avenue. Over 100 people participated, sticking colorful post-it notes with feedback on poster boards displaying road redesigns.
• Southbound I-5 lane closures could be in place for a while (The SCV Signal). Drivers heading back and forth through the Grapevine will now have to deal with another potential delay after what a Caltrans official Thursday described as a “historic amount of rainfall” created a landslide that collapsed the shoulder on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5. A stretch of the two right-most lanes on I-5, north of Templin Highway, will remain closed while the repairs are underway, according to Mike Comeaux, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.

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It’s been a wet winter, hasn’t it. Really really wet. Wet enough that road closures due to flooding have become the norm, and hillsides are slipping and sliding. The rain has also delayed construction work; and that has gotten me into arguments on Nextdoor about the pace of completion for the Reseda exit off of Route 118 (read the comments). It appears that loads of people don’t understand road projects and how road construction works, and just want to blame … someone. Welcome to Nextdoor.

But on the plus side: I completed the first round of updates to the California Highways site for 2023, and that included loads of planning maps uncovered by Joel Windmiller. As always, if you have interesting history on a route you think might work for the pages, send it to me. I also changed my synchronization method between browsers, and that led to a lot more articles being saved. So there are loads of headlines this month. Note that, with respect to storm damage: I’m less interested in flooding and hillside slips unless they create damage that takes a long time to heal (such as Route 1). I’m more interested in major sinkholes, as that will require big-time SHOPP funding to fix.

The podcast continues. As of the last episode, we’ve decided that the fight for interviews is slowing things down. If we can get them, we’ll generally release them as a bonus episode. I’d say that should shorten our episodes, but the last one was a long one anyway. What amazed me more was the discussion it engendered: Never has a podcast episode announcement started such discussion. It appears some people really hate the Interstates for taking away their US highways, or the hate some of AASHTO’s numbering choices. I try to stay neutral on those subjects: I try to report what is, and why it is that way. I can’t change what has been done, and I’m not in the position to change these things in the future.

OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for March:

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 1.09: Highway Numbering: Interstate Highways. In this episode, we continue our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the Interstate Highway system. This system, started in 1956, uses the red, white, and blue shields. It is the third episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the Interstate Highway system, how the Interstate Highways are numbered, the history of California’s chargable interstates (i.e., highways that counted towards the federal 42,500 mile limit), the history of California’s non-chargeable interstates, some interstate submissions that were never approved, and we opine about some of the most common questions about California interstates. (57:38)

Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its Spotify for Podcasters home. The Spotify (nee Anchor.FM) link also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.

Highway Headlines

• ＄Stretch of 5 Freeway named after Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles Times). The stretch of the 5 Freeway where Tommy Lasorda started his trips to Dodger Stadium and exited after games now bears his name. Twenty-seven miles southeast of what Lasorda called “Blue Heaven on Earth” is the “Tommy Lasorda Dodger Legend Memorial Highway.” The pair of green highway signs are already up on the 5 Freeway in Fullerton, near the former Dodgers manager’s longtime home. The signs are on the northbound and southbound lanes between Lincoln Avenue and Ball Road.
• Bait and Switch: Caltrans and Metro Quietly Scale Back 71 Freeway Widening in Pomona (Streetsblog Los Angeles). This week, Metro revealed new details about the under-construction widening of the 71 Freeway in the city of Pomona. Metro and Caltrans had promoted the project as a nearly 2-mile-long freeway widening, with an upgraded pedestrian overcrossing – but it has been quietly scaled back to a ~1.5-mile widening with no pedestrian component. For decades, Metro and Caltrans planned to convert State Route 71 from an Expressway to a Freeway – meaning expanding the current four-lane configuration to eight lanes. Caltrans terms the result “a cleaner and more sustainable travel network for the future” because two of the four new lanes will be HOV lanes. SR-71 expansion didn’t get off the ground until Metro came up with funding. Specifically, Metro’s Measure M sales tax expenditure plan programmed $248.5 million for the project. Metro also sought and received a $43 million grant from the state’s Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) which is funded via S.B. 1 gas tax revenues.
• I-15 widening project has an unclear completion date, Caltrans says (KLAS 8 News Now). From F1 to the Super Bowl, millions are expected to hit the I-15 towards Las Vegas to get there. But, some Clark County officials are concerned those driving from California cannot do it safely and efficiently. They blame it on the prolonged widening of I-15 from Barstow to the Nevada state line, a project that was anticipated to complete nearly one year ago. In December 2021, former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and current California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the project, identifying the 113-mile stretch of road as “an economic lifeline corridor due to its role in the supply chain.” They added that 11 million Las Vegas visitors use it to get into town annually. “It should be done by the summer,” Sisolak said to reporters at the 2021 press conference. That expectation was never met, and drivers continue to pay the cost with their time.
• Caltrans to begin Highway 1 street improvement project (Paso Robles Daily News). Caltrans is set to commence a $13 million construction project on Highway 1 in San Luis Obispo County. The major improvement project will span nearly seven miles, from the US 101 Interchange at State Route 1/Mattie Road in north Pismo Beach, through Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Oceano, and end just south of Valley Road near Gracia Way. Funding for the project includes $11.4 million in federal funds and $1.6 million from the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, also known as Senate Bill (SB) 1. CalPortland Construction of Santa Maria will serve as the contractor for the project.
• Committee could reunite California neighborhoods (CalMatters). A new select committee in the California Legislature will explore ways the state can reconnect neighborhoods that decades ago were torn apart by interstates and highways. During the nation’s interstate highway construction boom in the 1950s and ’60s, numerous urban neighborhoods were sliced through, often isolating residential areas largely populated by minorities and low-income residents from surrounding communities — and from economic opportunity. More than 1 million people lost their homes, researchers have estimated. Federal transportation officials noted that in the first 20 years after the 1957 Federal Highway Aid Act launched nationwide highway construction, more than 475,000 households were displaced.
• State to consider if dismantling Interstate 980 would repair damage to Black neighborhoods (East Bay Times). The arrival of $680,000 in federal funding could revive proposals to eliminate Interstate 980, the relatively little-used highway that separated West Oakland neighborhoods from the rest of the city when it opened almost a half-century ago. Map of I-980 in OaklandWith the grant funding in tow, state transportation department Caltrans will begin studying how those communities could be reconnected and if the highway could be replaced by a city street that’s less invasive to the mostly Black neighborhoods it divided. “For too long, I-980 has been a scourge on the East Bay: instead of bringing communities together, it has been a barrier to economic opportunity for the primarily Black neighborhood of West Oakland,” Congresswoman Barbara Lee said in a statement celebrating the new funding.

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Ah, 2023. You’ve started out wet and snowy. We needed the water, and you’ve provided it … except perhaps in the areas that feed the Colorado River basin. But being inside has afforded me the time to work on the highway pages. Loads of email from Joel Windmiller was another reason — you’ll find loads of new route adoption and route proposal maps, thanks to Joel. So here are your updates to start the new year:

This update covers January and February 2023. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. Episodes are regularly posted around the middle of the month. 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:

• January | CA RxR 1.07: Highway Numbering: State Highways and Post Miles (featuring an interview with Andy Richardson, a Caltrans retiree and a Subject Matter Expert on GIS and the Post Mile system).
• February | CARxR 1.08: Highway Numbering: U.S. Highways (Part I) (no interview; when arranged, that will be Part II)

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 January and February 2023 (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 Bigmikelakers⁽²⁾, Peter Bryan⁽³⁾, Concrete Bob⁽⁴⁾, Duke87⁽⁵⁾, Tom Fearer⁽⁶⁾, Steve Riner⁽⁷⁾, Chris Sampang⁽⁸⁾, William Sanford⁽⁹⁾, Edward Weiss⁽¹⁰⁾, Joel Windmiller⁽¹¹⁾: Route 1^(ℱ,11,8),  Route 2⁽¹¹⁾, Route 4⁽⁹⁾, I-5^(ℱ,2,11), Route 9^(ℱ,11),  I-10⁽¹¹⁾, Route 12⁽¹¹⁾, Route 14⁽¹¹⁾, I-15⁽¹¹⁾, Route 16⁽¹¹⁾, Route 17⁽¹¹⁾, Route 18⁽¹¹⁾, Route 20⁽¹¹⁾, Route 21^(ℱ,11), Route 24^(ℱ,11), Route 29⁽¹¹⁾, Route 30⁽¹¹⁾, Route 32⁽¹¹⁾, Route 36^(9,11),  Route 37^(ℱ,11), Route 38⁽¹¹⁾, Route 39^(ℱ,11), Route 44⁽¹¹⁾, Route 47⁽¹¹⁾, Route 48⁽¹¹⁾, Route 49^(6,11), US 50^(ℱ,11), Route 51⁽¹¹⁾, Route 57^(11,10), Route 58^(ℱ,9), Route 61⁽¹¹⁾, Route 64^(ℱ,11), Route 65⁽¹¹⁾,  US 66⁽¹¹⁾, Route 68⁽¹¹⁾, Route 70^(ℱ,9,11), US 70^(ℱ,7), Route 71⁽¹¹⁾, Route 77^(ℱ), Route 78⁽¹¹⁾, I-80^(ℱ,9,11), Route 82^(ℱ), Route 84⁽¹¹⁾, Route 85⁽¹¹⁾, Route 87^(ℱ), Route 88⁽¹¹⁾, Route 89⁽¹¹⁾, Route 90⁽¹¹⁾, Route 91^(ℱ), Route 92⁽¹¹⁾, Route 96⁽⁶⁾, Route 99^(ℱ,11), US 101^(ℱ,6,11),  I-105⁽¹¹⁾,  Route 108^(9,11), Route 113⁽⁴⁾, Route 114⁽¹¹⁾, Route 116⁽¹¹⁾, Route 120^(9,11), Route 121⁽¹¹⁾, Route 126⁽¹¹⁾, Route 128⁽¹¹⁾, Route 132⁽¹¹⁾, Route 138⁽¹¹⁾, Route 141⁽¹¹⁾, LRN 141⁽⁶⁾, Route 142⁽⁶⁾, Route 143⁽¹¹⁾, Route 145⁽¹¹⁾, Route 152⁽¹¹⁾, Route 159⁽⁶⁾, Route 160^(ℱ,11), Route 166⁽¹¹⁾, Route 170⁽¹¹⁾, Route 172⁽¹¹⁾, Route 178⁽¹¹⁾, Route 183⁽¹¹⁾, Route 193⁽¹¹⁾, US 199⁽¹¹⁾, I-210⁽¹¹⁾, Route 237⁽¹¹⁾, Route 245⁽¹¹⁾, Route 250⁽⁶⁾, Route 251⁽¹¹⁾, Route 275^(ℱ), I-280^(ℱ,5,11), Route 299^(9,11), FAI I-305^(ℱ), Route 371⁽³⁾, I-380⁽¹¹⁾, I-405^(2,11), Route 480^(ℱ), I-505⁽¹¹⁾, I-580⁽¹¹⁾, I-605⁽⁶⁾, I-680⁽¹¹⁾, I-710^(ℱ,11), I-880⁽¹¹⁾, I-980^(ℱ), County Sign Route J22⁽⁶⁾, County Sign Route S25^(ℱ). In particular, note the contributions of Joel Windmiller this cycle; Joel contributed loads of route adoption, route proposal, and route rescission maps to the pages.
(Source: private email through 3/5/2023, Highway headline posts through the February Headline post, AARoads through 2/25/2023)

Added links for maps and GIS resources to the main Maps page. Hat tips to Nathan Edgars II (in an email from 2008 that I just got to), as well as the January episode of California Route by Route. Updated the history of Sacramento with a 1958 planning map, courtesy of Joel Windmiller.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2023-02-24. 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. This is the start of a new legislative session, so at this point mostly bills are being introduced. Welcome to the 2023-2024 session, folks.

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. There was no January meeting, and no items of interest from the February meeting.

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the January 2023 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:

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Two months down. Alright, who had “Snow in the Hollywood Hills in February” on their climate bingo card? Anyone. We were on vacation in Escondido at the end of February, and the drive back had us seeing snow on the mountains between Riverside and Orange counties, snow on the mountains of San Diego, snow above La-Canada Flintridge and Sylmar, and even snow in the Santa Susanna Mountains above Porter Ranch. But don’t worry, soon it will be back over 100 in Northridge again. Vacation gave me time to process loads of great email I’ve been sent by Joel Windmiller — expect to see loads of information on freeway proposals, adoptions, and rescissions in the next highway page update. But before I can finish that off, I need to post the February headlines so I can process them.

The podcast continues. For our most recent episode, someone from AASHTO said he would do an interview… and then stopped responding to emails. So we posted Part I, and if he ever responds it will be Part II. We do have the interview lined up for 1.09, and I’m still working on someone for 1.10 and 1.11. Want to help? Here’s what I’m looking for:

• For 1.10: We’re looking at the county sign routes. I’m looking for someone from a County Public Works department to talk about their involvement with the County Sign Route system, as Caltrans seems to have forgotten about it.
• For 1.11: I’d like an Assemblycritter to talk about naming resolutions. I’ve sent out a few queries, but no bites as of yet.
• For 1.12 (the last episode of the season): I’m working on getting someone from the CTC to talk about what they do.

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

As for the February headlines: The ones that caught my eye were very light this month. The winter weather was part of it; part of it is that I don’t really care about resurfacings or temporary closures (except for larger problems like sinkholes). So not only was February a short month, it was a light headline month. Plus, the tool I use for grabbing headlines (Eversync) seems to have been acting up and not always synchronizing. As a result, some of these headlines might be duplicated from January, and if I missed an article of interest, please let me know.

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

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 1.08: Highway Numbering: U.S. Highways (Part I).In this episode, we continue our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the U.S. highway system. These are the white shields with black numbers. It is the second episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the US highway system, how the US highways are numbered, how things have changed in the post-Interstate era, and we wax rhapsodic on the nostalgia of US highways. The remaining episodes in the miniseries will explore the numbering of and the history of California’s Interstates, and the signed county route system.Our interview for this episode was to be with Jim McDonnell of AASHTO on AASHTO’s role in assigning US and Interstate numbers. But we’ve run into scheduling difficulties and haven’t been able to coordinate a recording time by our scheduled drop date. So consider this Part I of the episode. When we can get things coordinated with Jim we’ll record and release Part II.

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 92 Closed in San Mateo County (NBC Bay Area). Highway 92 in San Mateo County continues to be shut down in both directions and authorities early Friday had no estimated time lanes would reopen. The county sent an alert at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday indicating the closure from upper Skyline Boulevard to Pilarcitos Creek Road. It did not initially specify a reason for the complete closure but later said the hazard was classified as a sinkhole. Motorists were urged to take alternate routes. Caltrans recommended drivers take Highway 1 via Pacifica to get to and from Half Moon Bay. There is another sinkhole on Highway 1 at Pescadero that has traffic down to one lane in that area.
• A trip down the most mysterious road in California (SF Gate). A crucifix-shaped swimming pool crumbles in the desert sun. Alongside it, five decrepit concrete baths once filled with the promise of cleansing sins. Warm mineral water, tapped from what was said to be a holy underground river, drew desperate salvation searchers to this remote California wasteland. Today, part of the pool sinks into the banks of the ancient lakebed upon which this strange settlement was built.
• DOT provides $29.4M to repair California roads damaged by floods (Transport Dive). The Federal Highway Administration is providing $29.4 million in emergency funding to repair California highways, roads, bridges and other infrastructure damaged in flooding in December and January, the agency announced Tuesday. The money is immediately available for use by the California Department of Transportation and four federal land management agencies following severe storm damage that affected as many as 40 of the state’s 58 counties. At least 22 people died as a result of the storms, The Los Angeles Times reported.
• Hwy 70 through Feather River Canyon remains closed indefinitely; new slides occurring (Plumas News). Caltrans District 2 released the latest information on Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon, this morning, Jan. 26. There continues to be new slide activity, including an event that came down on equipment operating in the area. Luckily, the operator was not injured in the incident. Following is the update: Highway 70 remains closed to through traffic between Jarbo Gap (west of Pulga) and the Greenville Wye (junction with State Route 89) due to continuing slide activity.
• Caltrans announces new repair projects on Highway 101 near Willits (The Ukiah Daily Journal). The California Transportation Commission recently allocated more than $988 million to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reported. “The CTC’s investments will help rebuild California’s transportation infrastructure while increasing transit and active transportation options,” Caltrans Director Tony Tavares was quoted as noting in a press release, which also pointed out that the “funding (being allocated) includes more than $450 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, and more than $250 million from Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. Local projects [near Ukiah/Willits] recently approved include:
• California Transportation Commission approves millions in Northern California transportation projects (Lake County News). The California Transportation Commission, or CTC, has allocated over $988 million to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state. This funding includes more than $450 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, or IIJA, and more than $250 million from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. “The CTC’s investments will help rebuild California’s transportation infrastructure while increasing transit and active transportation options. These projects reflect the CTC and Caltrans’ commitment to safety and meeting future challenges,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. Projects the CTC approved [in Lake County] include:

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Ah, a new year. Hopefully, 2023 will see you all happy, healthy, and safely on the roads. On my side, we got a new episode of the podcast up, focusing on the numbering on state highways — both the signed numbers and post miles. It’s a really interesting episode. We’re working on the next one — on the history of US highways and their numbering — right now.

As always, I’m looking for interviews:

• For 1.08: We return to the US highway system, so I’m looking for someone from AASHTO on the process for getting highway numbers approved. I’ve got a lead on this…
• For 1.09: We return to the Interstates. We’ll be talking to Andy Field, who did some of the first Interstate highway pages for California and is one of the “A”s behind AARoads.
• For 1.10: We’re looking at the county sign routes. I’m working with the Caltrans Local Assistance Programs office, as well as the LA Department of Public Works.
• For 1.11: I’d like an Assemblycritter to talk about naming resolutions. I’ve sent out a few queries, but no bites as of yet.

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

The headlines for January were lighter. Work slows down in the winter, plus we had all the rains. I’ll note that work for the next round of highway page updates will commence once these headlines are posted. I know I’ve got the January CTC meeting, plus Joel Windmiller has been sending me loads of newspaper articles to go through. I figure I’ll be doing a bunch of work over President’s Day weekend.

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

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 1.07: Highway Numbering: State Highways and Post Miles.In this episode, we explore numbering systems in state highways. It is the start of a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. Specifically, this episode explores the rhymes and reason for the assigning of signed route numbers to highways with the state shield. This includes looking at the patterns in those numbers, and how the numbering system stands today after the Great Nenumbering. The subsequent episodes in the miniseries will explore the numbering system of US Highways, the numbering of and the history of California’s Interstates, and the signed county route system.The episode also explores another numbering system on state highways: Post Miles. As opposed to sequential mileage numbers as is found in other states, California uses a system called post miles that identifies points along a highway using a combination of a county and a mile point from the southern/western county line, possibly with clarifying prefixes or suffixes. We discuss this system is good detail.Our interview is with Andy Richardson, who retired from Caltrans as a Subject Matter Expert in Geographical Information Systems, Linear Referencing Systems, and Postmiles. Andy worked as a GIS specialist for the State of California since 1988, including Caltrans between 2001 and his retirement in 2021. In his last years at Caltrans, he implemented the Department’s current Linear Referencing System.

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

• ＄Band of bighorn sheep could stop Caltrans from reopening part of Highway 39 (San Gabriel Valley Tribune). What would prevent Caltrans’ from pursuing its latest attempt to rebuild part of State Route 39 high up in the San Gabriel Mountains, washed away by Mother Nature 44 years ago? The list of possibilities includes more rock slides, giant falling boulders, snowy weather and the cost, which could climb to $57 million or more. But the biggest obstacle standing in the way of Caltrans’ project to repair an official state highway built in 1957 by order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower is a skittish population of protected sheep known for their crowns of curled horns.
• AGC: Billion-Dollar Funds Will Fix Golden State Spans (Construction Eqpt. Guide). As part of the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, California is receiving approximately $4.2 billion over five years to address the repair and replacement of highway bridges. This translates into $849.4 million in initial funding for the five-year bridge repair program. The bridge formula program represents the largest federal investment ever made to repair and upgrade bridges — dedicating $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and $825 million for Tribal transportation facilities. The $849.4 million that California is receiving represents more than double the amount of any other state. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and local transportation agencies in the state will target the funds to improve the nearly 1,500 bridges rated to be in “poor” condition in the state.
• ＄How Disney’s Sierra Nevada ski resort changed environmentalism forever (Los Angeles Times). Let’s start 2023 by looking six decades into the past. That’s how long it’s been since Walt Disney proposed building a massive ski resort at Mineral King, a gorgeous mountain valley in California’s Sierra Nevada bordered on three sides by  Sequoia National Park. The ensuing controversy — and Sierra Club lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service — played a significant role in shaping the modern environmental movement. It’s a story that Daniel Selmi, an emeritus law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, deftly brings to life in a book released last year, “Dawn at Mineral King Valley: The Sierra Club, the Disney Company, and the Rise of Environmental Law.”
• ＄Widening Highways Doesn’t Fix Traffic. So Why Do We Keep Doing It? (The New York Times). Interstate 710 in Los Angeles is, like the city itself, famous for its traffic. Freight trucks traveling between the city and the port of Long Beach, along with commuters, clog the highway. The trucks idle in the congestion, contributing to poor air quality in surrounding neighborhoods that are home to over one million people. The proposed solution was the same one transportation officials across the country have used since the 1960s: Widen the highway. But while adding lanes can ease congestion initially, it can also encourage people to drive more. A few years after a highway is widened, research shows, traffic — and the greenhouse gas emissions that come along with it — often returns.
• More than $405 million in transit related projects included in FY23 congressionally directed spending (Mass Transit). President Joe Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, into law on Dec. 29, 2022, to fund government activities through Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The act includes $21.2 billion for public transit and $16.6 billion for passenger and freight rail. The bill also includes specific funding for projects designated as “community project funding/congressionally directed spending,” a designation that returned under the FY22 appropriations process. The omnibus package included more than $406 million for more than 140 transit, passenger rail, transit access and transit-oriented development projects. The three accounts under the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) projects received designated funding includes Highway Infrastructure Programs, which included transit access projects, Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) and Transit Infrastructure Grants, which accounts for $360.5 million of the total transit related project spending. More than $13 million in funding for projects related to transit was included in the designations under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Fund.

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Another year has come to a close. It’s been a tiring one — I could list my reasons, but I’m sure you have a list of your own. All we can hope is that 2023 uses lube. But still, there were a few good things that happened. I got the new podcast off the ground, and we’ve had some real interesting interviews. I just need to learn how to edit the sound a bit better (and get a better microphone setup). I’ve kept the site up to date with updates, and people still seem to appreciate the work. So, in that vein, here are the updates for the California Highways website for November and December:

This update covers November and December. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. Episodes are regularly posted around the middle of the month. 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:

• December | Episode 1.06: Chronology – CEQA and Reality (featuring an interview with Gary Ruggerone, a Caltrans retiree and a Subject Matter Expert in CEQA and NEPA).

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 November and December 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 Tom Fearer⁽²⁾, Joel Windmiller⁽³⁾: I-5⁽³⁾, I-10⁽³⁾, Route 16^(ℱ), Route 20^(ℱ), Route 30^(3,2), Route 39^(ℱ), Route 41^(ℱ), Route 46^(ℱ), Route 49⁽²⁾, Route 67^(ℱ), Route 70^(ℱ), I-80^(ℱ), Route 99^(ℱ,2), US 101^(ℱ,2), Route 106⁽²⁾, Route 156⁽²⁾, Route 210⁽²⁾, Route 211⁽²⁾, I-280^(ℱ), Route 330⁽²⁾, I-580^(ℱ).
(Source: private email, Highway headline posts through the December Headline post (as indicated), AARoads through 12/29/2022)

Reviewed the Traversable Highways report from 2013 (hey, I just discovered it). Updated the following pages: Route 1, Route 12, Route 13, Route 14, Route 18, Route 24, Route 37, Route 39, Route 47, Route 48, Route 54, Route 56, Route 61, Route 64, Route 65, Route 74, Route 77, Route 81, Route 84, Route 87, Route 90, Route 91, Route 92, Route 93, Route 100, Route 102, Route 104, Route 108, Route 109, Route 118, Route 122, Route 125, Route 128, Route 130, Route 142, Route 143, Route 148, Route 152, Route 162, Route 164, Route 169, Route 170, Route 178, Route 179, Route 180, Route 181, Route 190, Route 211, Route 217, Route 227, Route 234, Route 235, Route 238, Route 239, Route 249, Route 251, Route 257, Route 258, Route 270, Route 276, Route 280, Route 281, Route 285, Route 380, Route 605, Route 710.

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. This is the start of a new legislative session, so there wasn’t much activity. The major change to the page was updating the legislative calendar, and deleting the bills from the 2021-2022 session. Welcome to the 2023-2024 session, folks.

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. There was no December meeting.

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the December 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:

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December was an interesting month. It started with the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). That — combined with a post-conference cold and difficultly coordinating an interview — led to a delay in getting Episode 1.06 up. But it’s there for your listening pleasure now.

I appreciate much more what a podcast producer does, especially the hard job of scaring up interviews. I think I’ve got a lead for 1.07; I’m still working on 1.08 and beyond. I’m looking for someone who is willing to talk for 30 minutes or so on the following:

• For 1.08: We return to the US highway system, so I’m looking for 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.
• For 1.10: We’re looking at the county sign routes, so I’m look for someone from the Caltrans Local Assistance Programs office, or someone from a County public works department.

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

The headlines for December were light. Perhaps fewer piqued my interest this month, but I do think the pace has turned to a focus on resurfacing and disaster repairs, and that’s of less interest for the pages. Speaking of the pages: I’m working on the last round of updates to the California Highways pages for 2022, which should be up slightly after this post.

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

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 1.06: Chronology – CEQA and Reality.In this episode, we conclude our exploration the history of the State Highway System with the last episode in this 6-part miniseries. This episode focused on the post-1969 era in the stat highway system: the changes in the highway system after 1969; the impact of the environmental quality acts, and the growing involvement of the regional transportation agencies. We also explore the changes in governance of state highways. Our interview is with Gary Ruggerone, who was the Caltrans District 5 Environmental Branch Chief from June 1980 until December 2010 when he retired from Caltrans. He started as as an Environmental Planner in D7 in March 1979, one of 5 environmental planners hired off the very first Environmental Planner Civil Service Exam. He was directly involved with Caltrans during the early days of CEQA and NEPA and is joining us to provide valuable insight on the impact of the CEQA. Gary is currently the Owner/Principal Environmental Planner of Piedra Environmental Consultants, a local environmental planning firm specializing in CEQA and NEPA analysis and regulatory permit compliance for transportation-related projects. A life-long resident of California, Gary earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, and a Master of Arts in Population Aquatic Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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

• The future of Bay Area freeways could have per-mile tolling (SF Gate). Transportation officials for the Bay Area are in the middle of a planning exercise to adapt the region’s freeway system for the next generation of drivers.  One proposition in the early stages of consideration is to treat freeways as a public utility, therefore subjecting them to operation costs that would be accrued through tolling. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is starting to envision a future of Bay Area travel where per-mile tolls appear on freeways and highways across the region.
• Lawmaker May Take SF Out of Its Freeway Removal Slump (San Francisco Standard). A state lawmaker asked the state’s transportation department to figure out what it would take to remove what’s left of San Francisco’s Central Freeway and to look into what can be done with two other freeways. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) formally asked the California Department of Transportation to study the cost and logistics for taking down the Central Freeway, the Bayshore Viaduct of Interstate 80 between 17th Street and the Bay Bridge, and Interstate 280 north of U.S. 101.
• Transportation officials consider plan for Bay Area commuters to pay tolls on busy freeways to reduce traffic, emissions (ABC7 San Francisco). The future of Bay Area commuters could include tolls, not only at bridges but also on freeways. Transportation officials are considering the proposal as part of an effort to ease traffic congestion and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Officials say congestion is mounting, partly because they’ve kept the user price of driving on freeways down. Officials are considering the Plan Bay Area 2050, a joint project between the MTC and Association of Bay Area Governments. They say the tolling idea would include all lanes of certain freeways-not just the express lanes.
• Contractor: Golden Gate Bridge suicide net will cost $400M (AP News). A suicide prevention net on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge that is already years behind schedule will cost about $400 million, more than double its original price, because of problems sparked by the government agency that manages the span, the lead contractors allege. The allegations filed Monday in state court by Shimmick Construction Co. and Danny’s Construction Co. say that changes to and flaws in the government’s net design and the lack of transparency about the deterioration of the bridge’s maintenance platforms have raised the construction price from $142 million to at least $398 million.
• Modesto’s State Route 132 West Project | What to know (ABC 10). The State Route 132 West project has been a goal for the city of Modesto for 60 years. Highway 132 currently runs through streets in Modesto, causing issues with congestion, shipping, and even pollution due to idling vehicles. The project is supposed to make the area safer and keep trucks moving by relieving some of the traffic on Maze Boulevard. The long-anticipated $100 million project received over 70% of funding from the state and federal government, with a majority from the state. The local region funded about 30% of the project.
• ＄City’s path followed Agoura Road (The Acorn). The vintage, late-1940s postcard shown above provides a glimpse of Agoura Road when it was part of the main route from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara long before the 101 Freeway was built. The tall “Agoura” sign at the upper right of the picture—possibly dating back to the 1920s—welcomed travelers to a little hamlet where they could grab gas and food. But it was more than that. Known now as the Historic Quarter of Agoura Hills, the area south of the 101 Freeway off the Chesebro Road exit along Agoura Road, can also be thought of as the closest thing to a downtown the city has ever had.

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