It’s been a roller coaster month. Heavy rains and sunshine. Roads washing out and being repaired. But it is a new year, and hopefully once we get past the winter, a good one. Here are your headlines for the month:
- Highway 101 in SLO County CA had big upgrades in 1960s. A quick way to start a heated conversation is to bring up the topic of highway improvements. Unlike water and sewer pipes, which are hidden underground, a highway represents public tax dollars and engineering on display right in front of the windshield. When highways work as planned, they are unmemorable. When we do remember them, it is often because of trouble — from inconvenient waiting in traffic to the tragic aftermath of collisions.
- 2019 will be a busy year for big road construction projects in Orange County. It will be a busy 2019 for major freeways in Orange County. The 405 Freeway will continue to undergo a $1.9 billion expansion between State Route 73 and the 605 Freeway – adding regular and carpool lanes and widening or reconstructing more than 18 bridges. Work will continue all year, with completion expected in 2023. “It has been decades since there has been an expansion like this,” Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman Joel Zlotnik said. “This is the largest (project) that OCTA has undertaken.” Nearly $600 million will be spent on two major projects that will start on the 5 Freeway in 2019: Adding a carpool lane between State Route 55 and State Route 57, and adding a regular traffic lane between Avery Parkway and Alicia Parkway.
- Discovery: CA 33 actually multiplexed CA 166.. Had an interesting little map discovery today regarding CA 33. It turns out that CA 33 actually multiplexed CA 166 East out Taft starting in 1950 which lasted all the way up the 1964 Highway Renumbering when it was routed to Ventura. The CA 166/CA 33 can be seen on this 1950 State Highway Map:
- Solano freeway improvements still STA priorities for 2019. The top priorities for the Solano Transportation Authority have a familiar feel. With one critical funding source secured by voters and another approved by voters, the Solano Transportation Authority will move forward on projects that include the Interstate 80/I-680/Highway 12 Interchange, the I-80 express lanes, the I-80 westbound truck scales and the Highway 37 and Solano County Fairgrounds interchange.
- Paving prompts lane closures along Highway 14. Commuters returning to work for the first time in the new year can expect to face lane closures along Highway 14 beginning Wednesday as Caltrans pursues a long list of paving projects. A check of the Caltrans website devoted to news of the latest lane closures lists scores of paving projects scheduled to begin Wednesday and continue each day and night until Sunday. Road work in both the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway is scheduled to begin at one minute after 9 a.m., according to the schedule. Some of the lane closures will see work crews working overnight and into the early morning hours. On Friday night, for example, paving is expected to shut down two northbound lanes of Highway 14 between Shadow Pines Boulevard at Soledad Canyon Road and Agua Dulce Canyon Road from 11 p.m. until 8 a.m. Saturday. No Caltrans official could be reached New Years Day to confirm the schedule or provide insight into any possible changes made to it.
