Day: September 9, 2017

We’re up to the closing three-day weekend of the summer, and that means it is time to start on a website update. It’s been a busy summer and a hot summer, with an almost 4,900 road trip from Los Angeles CA to Madison WI and back, out through the middle (Colorado, Nebraska) and back through St. Louis and the “mother road”. Work has continued on California Highways, especially thanks to some tax modifications that provided a much needed infrastructure boost to the state. As for that promised Infrastructure bill from the Feds, it remains just that, a promise.

Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the papers (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. This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research⁽¹⁾, contributions of information or leads (via direct mail) from Mike Ballard⁽²⁾, Bill Deaver⁽³⁾, Andy Field⁽⁴⁾, Gonealookin_/AARoads⁽⁵⁾, Ron Langum⁽⁶⁾, NE2_/AARoads⁽⁷⁾, Alex Nitzman⁽⁸⁾, Max Rockatansky_/AARoads⁽⁹⁾, Joe Rouse⁽¹⁰⁾, Sparker_/AARoads⁽¹¹⁾; Michelle Sandoval⁽¹²⁾, Richard Severeid⁽¹³⁾: Route 1⁽¹⁾, Route 4⁽⁶⁾, I-5⁽¹⁾, Former US 6⁽²⁾, I-8⁽¹⁾, I-10⁽¹⁾, Route 12⁽¹³⁾, I-15⁽¹⁾, Route 16⁽¹⁾, Route 25⁽¹⁾, Route 27⁽¹⁾, Route 29⁽¹⁾, Route 32⁽⁹⁾, Route 36⁽¹⁾, LRN 36^(7,9,11), Route 37⁽¹⁾, US 40⁽⁹⁾, Route 41^(9,11), Route 43⁽⁹⁾, Route 49^(1,9,7,11), US 50^(1,5,9), Route 57⁽¹⁾, Route 58^(1,10), Route 62⁽¹⁾, Route 63^(7,9,11), Route 65⁽⁹⁾, Former US 66⁽¹⁾, Route 70⁽⁹⁾, Route 75⁽¹⁾, Route 76⁽¹⁾, I-80^(1,9), Route 87⁽¹⁾, Route 88^(9,11), Route 89⁽¹⁾, Route 91⁽¹⁾, Route 94⁽¹⁾, LRN 94⁽¹¹⁾, Route 99^(1,13), US 101^(1,4), Route 104^(9,11), Route 108⁽¹⁾, Route 120⁽⁹⁾, LRN 120⁽⁹⁾, Route 121⁽¹⁾, Route 124^(9,11), Route 132⁽¹⁾, Route 134⁽¹⁾, LRN 135⁽⁹⁾, Route 136⁽⁹⁾, Route 138⁽¹⁾, Route 140⁽⁹⁾, Route 145⁽⁹⁾, Route 146⁽⁹⁾, Route 152⁽¹⁾, Route 155⁽¹¹⁾, Route 158⁽⁹⁾, Route 163⁽¹⁾, Route 172^(9,11,7), Route 174⁽¹⁾, Route 178^(1,9), Route 180⁽⁹⁾, Route 201⁽⁹⁾, Route 203⁽⁹⁾, Route 204⁽¹⁾, Route 211⁽¹¹⁾, Route 237⁽¹⁾, Route 269⁽⁹⁾, Route 270⁽⁹⁾, US 395⁽¹⁾, I-405⁽¹⁾, US 466⁽³⁾, Route 480⁽¹⁾, I-505⁽⁸⁾, I-580⁽¹⁾, I-605⁽¹⁾, I-680⁽¹⁾, I-710⁽¹⁾, Monterey County Route G13⁽⁹⁾, Monterey County Route G14⁽⁹⁾, Tulare County Route J37⁽⁹⁾; FAQ⁽¹²⁾. Note: Almost all of the SB 1 projects discussed here are resurfacing or repair of infrastructure, not new construction or widening. Thus, they are below the level of detail that I normally capture in these pages.

Noted the passing of Matthew Salek’s Highways of Colorado (and updated the regional pages appropriately). If I had lights, I’d dim them in it’s memory as another major roadsite disappears.

Updated the highway types page to clarify the difference between being a scenic highway in the legislative code and being an actual state scenic highway. The Q2-2017 Mile Marker explained the difference: “Many highway corridors are eligible for Scenic Highway status, but receiving an official designation requires the local government to apply to Caltrans for approval and adopt a Corridor Protection Program. The local governing body must develop and implement measures that strictly limit development and control outdoor advertising along the scenic corridor. ”

Sometimes an innocent question can lead one down an interesting path. Such is the case with the question I received from David Walker, who asked “Who or what named the ditches on I-10?”. This led me to UglyBridges.com and the National Bridge Inventory. This resulted in an addition to the FAQ, and a list of ditch names for I-10. I thought I might add them for some other desert routes, but the interface doesn’t make that easy. Another query that didn’t lead to an easy update to the site was a reporter from the OC Register, Kurt Snibbe, who wanted to do a piece explaining California’s road signs. It didn’t quite fit into a particular road’s page, and didn’t quite fit onto a specific numbering page, so it was shoehorned into the page on signing standards and the FAQ. Read More …