It’s that time of the month again: time for sharing the collection of headlines about California highways from November. It’s been an interesting and busy month, especially as I’ve been working on that highway pages. That’s what the little ✔ means — because all month I’ve been going through these headlines for the pages, and the next post on the blog should be the page updates. This, of course, means I’m still working on the updates, so let’s get the headlines out of the way so I can get back to work.
But first: It is Thanksgiving time, and I’d like to express my thanks for those who read and enjoy these posts, who comment on them, and who share information with me for my pages. This is truly a community effort — I’m not doing this to make money. You help make this a resource for the community.
- ✔ CA-99 Widening Defunded – Where is the Money Going?. Two weeks ago, CBS47 lobbed the following headline: Gov. Newsom redirects gas tax money to fund railway systems, not highways. Unfortunately, the reporting was pretty light on details. Where is the money going? Where did the money even come from? CBS got the following statement from Caltrans: …
- ✔ Route to Idyllwild Reopens After 8-Month Closure Due to Storm Damage. When heavy rainfall pounded the San Jacinto Mountains back in February, water and debris flooded the scenic mountain highway that leads to Idyllwild. A section of a mountain slope buckled near Lake Fulmor during the storm, leaving behind a gaping hole in the roadway that serves as the main route in and out of the Idyllwild, Mountain Center and Pine Cove mountain communities.
- ✔ Route 243 Opens. State Route 243 Opening today at 6 p.m. #Caltrans8
- ✔ Second segment of Los Patrones Parkway opens in Rancho Mission Viejo. The southern segment of Los Patrones Parkway opened to traffic in Rancho Mission Viejo on Thursday, Oct. 17. The completed project extended the parkway about a mile and a half from Chiquita Canyon Drive to Cow Camp Road. “It really begins to open up our community to the broader south county region in terms of access and mobility, so we are really excited about it,” said Mike Balsamo, senior vice president of governmental relations for Rancho Mission Viejo.
- ✔ 60 Truck Lanes Newsletter (October 2019). Progress! Our crews are continuing to make headway with construction of the State Route 60 Truck Lanes Project, with a focus in September on excavation, drainage, wildlife crossings, and dust control. On the north side of Route 60, crews are building large slopes to excavate and deposit excess dirt from the hillsides. Our team is moving an average of 15,000 cubic yards of dirt per day to adjacent fill locations. This will prevent dirt from needing to be hauled off-site, saving 14,000 truck trips to and from the project area.