October 2020 – Observations Along the Road

🛣 Headlines About California Highways – October 2020

Posted onSaturday, October 31, 2020Authorcahwyguy

And with that, October is done. Only two months left in the strange year that is and soon will have been 2020. I think few don’t want 2020 to be overwith. Folks are counting the days. Me? I’m counting the headlines. Only two more headline posts left in the year. So while your little one are pestering you for candy because they aren’t out walking the streets, here are some headlines to keep you busy so you can tell them to come back later.

[💰 Paywalls and 🚫 other annoying restrictions: LAT/LA Times; SJMN/Mercury News; OCR/Orange County Register; VSG/Visalia Sun Gazette; RDI/Ridgecrest Daily Independent; PE/Press Enterprise; TDT/Tahoe Daily Tribune; SFC/San Francisco Chronicle; MODBEE/Modesto Bee; SACBEE/Sacramento Bee; NVR/Napa Valley Register; DB/Daily Breeze; LADN/Los Angeles Daily News; SDUT/San Diego Union Tribune; RBDN/Red Bluff Daily News; SONN/Sonoma News; LBPT/Long Beach Press Telegram; PD/Press Democrat]

💰_/LAT Long Beach prepares to open a $1.47-billion bridge. Fog hovers just above the new Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach. Workers are scattered over a job site cluttered with traffic cones, construction vehicles and a few small cranes, and Duane Kenagy is giving a tour. Since signing on as executive director for the project in 2014, Kenagy has grown accustomed to playing docent to an international cast of visiting politicians, students, bureaucrats and media. Barring delays, the bridge will open Monday, and cars and trucks — by some estimates, 60,000 a day, now rattling across the old bridge just a few feet away — will sail over this gleaming new span connecting the 710 Freeway and downtown Long Beach to the nation’s busiest port complex.
The new long beach bridge: Gerald Desmond bridge is being replaced. The bridge has served its purpose. Half a century after it was built, the Gerald Desmond is still able to serve the City of Long Beach in southern California but it has come to be called “functionally obsolete” by engineers. The stress caused by the higher number of cars and trucks that have come to use it as a result of the port’s growing importance to the U.S. economy has taken its toll on the massive structure. In fact, 15% of all imports that arrive to the country as cargo travels across the bridge, which connects the city with Terminal Island where several of the port’s large tenants are located.
$1.47 Billion New Bridge, With 100-Year Lifespan, Opens In Long Beach. A new bridge that will connect Long Beach to the world officially opens Friday with a lyover of military planes, a boat parade, and a procession of zero-emission and low-emission cargo trucks. The six-lane, cable-stayed bridge replaces the Gerald Desmond Bridge and will be a major regional highway connector as well as improve the movement of cargo.
Metro Plans to Take Out 200+ Downey Homes to Widen 5 and 605 Freeways. The full details are not yet entirely clear, but Metro and Caltrans are finalizing plans to widen portions of the 605 and 5 Freeways – and the project will destroy hundreds of homes, primarily in the city of Downey. Metro calls the project the “I-605 Corridor Improvement Project” (605 CIP) though the project includes portions of other freeways: the 5, 10, 60, and 105. The project would touch on nine San Gabriel Valley cities – Baldwin Park, Downey, City of Industry, El Monte, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, South El Monte, and Whittier, as well the unincorporated county areas Avocado Heights, Rose Hills, West Whittier/Los Nietos.
💰_/SDUT Caltrans tries again to tame the roller coaster ride that is San Diego’s Route 52. In Southern California, where the car has long been king, completion of a new section of freeway can be cause for celebration. So it was on two summer days in 1987 and 1988, when officials held four-hour parties in the center of soon-to-open stretches of state Route 52 in Kearny Mesa. There were refreshments, live music, dancing, military exhibits, parades — mini-carnivals, minus the thrill rides.
Completion of Iconic New Bridge Celebrated in Long Beach. A sparkling parade of green trucks, a dramatic vintage aircraft flyover and fireboat sprays christened today’s ceremonial opening of the new bridge at the Port of Long Beach, reaffirming the region’s importance to international shipping and heralding in an iconic structure that dramatically shifts the Southern California skyline. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201002005503/en/

📰 Returning to a Balanced Court – A Proposal

Posted onMonday, October 12, 2020Monday, October 12, 2020Authorcahwyguy

Recently, the subject of “Court Packing” has been in the news, because of the Trump administration’s perceived “packing” of the court with Conservative justices, which itself was the byproduct of the Republican Senate refusing to process President Obama’s nominees for the court during his last term. The imbalance this created has led to the desire for a return to balance, which is the goal of what we hear called “court packing” (which, itself, is a pejorative term creating bias — the real goal is a “return to court balance” of having an even number of Justices from each side). There have been other approaches floating around out there, most centered on the notion of getting rid of lifetime terms for judges, and instituting term limits. Here is my proposal:

All nominees by a President for the Appellate or Supreme Court must be approved or rejected by the Senate within 90 days of nomination. Failure to act results in the nominated Justice receiving an automatic interim 2 year appointment to the position, after which the Senate must approve or reject for the Justice to continue in the position.
All Appellate and Supreme Court Justices must have their positions reconfirmed by the Senate on every 11th anniversary of their starting in the position.
All Appellate and Supreme Court Justices have a term limit of 31 years. At this point, a two-thirds vote of the Senate can extend their term for additional five year terms.

This would apply to new and sitting justices. This creates no new immediate openings, but does provide the opportunity for greater turnover in justices, and the ability to more easily remove weak or bad justices. By using odd numbers for the terms, this staggers the reconfirmation process across 8 year Presidential cycles, hopefully restoring balance as the political pendulum swings.

🛣 Changes to the California Highways Website – Aug/Sep/Oct 2020

Posted onSunday, October 11, 2020Authorcahwyguy

This period is shorter one, focused on update. This update includes the August and September headlines, the actions of the legislature, and the August 2020 CTC meeting. Of particular interest are the legislative actions, which saw the authorization of relinquishment of a number of routes, but NOT the passage of the bill related to Route 241.

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 (Ꜳ). This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research⁽¹⁾, contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from Ted Cabeen⁽²⁾, Tom Fearer⁽³⁾, Mark Harrigan⁽⁴⁾: Route 1⁽¹⁾, Route 2⁽¹⁾, Route 4⁽³⁾, I-5⁽¹⁾, I-8⁽¹⁾, Route 9⁽³⁾, I-10⁽¹⁾, Route 14⁽¹⁾, Route 22⁽¹⁾, Route 23⁽¹⁾, Route 24⁽¹⁾, Route 29⁽¹⁾, Route 36⁽¹⁾, Route 44⁽³⁾, US 50⁽¹⁾, Route 55⁽¹⁾, Route 60⁽¹⁾, Route 64⁽¹⁾, Route 75⁽¹⁾, I-80⁽¹⁾, Route 84⁽¹⁾, Route 85⁽¹⁾, Route 91⁽¹⁾, Route 99^(1,3), US 101⁽¹⁾, I-105⁽¹⁾, Route 118⁽¹⁾, Route 120^(1,³⁾, Route 121⁽¹⁾, Route 125⁽¹⁾, Route 138/HDC⁽¹⁾, Route 151⁽³⁾, Route 152⁽¹⁾, Route 154⁽¹⁾, Route 168⁽²⁾, Route 170⁽¹⁾, Route 175⁽³⁾, Route 180⁽³⁾, Route 187⁽¹⁾, Route 190⁽³⁾, Route 192⁽¹⁾, Route 197⁽¹⁾, Route 198⁽¹⁾, US 199⁽¹⁾, Route 207⁽³⁾, Route 216⁽¹⁾, Route 236⁽³⁾, Route 252⁽¹⁾, Route 253^(1,³⁾, Route 273⁽³⁾, I-405⁽¹⁾, Route 440⁽³⁾, Route 480⁽¹⁾, I-580⁽¹⁾, I-605⁽¹⁾, I-680^(1,4), I-710⁽¹⁾, I-805⁽¹⁾, I-880⁽¹⁾, County Sign Route A27⁽¹⁾.

Added Carolina Crossroads to the Regional Routes pages. Updated information on the Trails section top page about the history of the National Old Trails Road. Added more information on Scenic Highway designations to the State Highway Types page. Added links to the AASHTO Route Numbering Archive to the Interstate History, US Highway Numbering, and Interstate Highway numbering pages.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the new 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. Noted the passage (or took particular notice) of the following bills:

🛣 Headlines About California Highways – September 2020

Posted onThursday, October 1, 2020Authorcahwyguy

Whew. And those years are a wrap. You’re probably confused, thinking the year doesn’t end for a few months. Not quite. The last two weeks have seen two years come to an end: the Jewish year of 5780, and the government fiscal year of FY19-20. And this year, I’ll take any year ending I can get, if it brings me closer to 2021, and perhaps getting back to the old new normal, as opposed to the new new normal. In any case, the year ends have been keeping me busy, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my collecting headlines about California Highways. So here, for your edification and enjoyment, are the articles of interest that came across my desk. Note: There seem to be a lot less headlines this month — I’m guessing due to impacts from COVID and slowdowns due to the fires. Oh, and as it is the end of September, I’ve started on the next round of updates to the highway pages (which will cover the August and September headlines, legislative actions (including the end of the session), and CTC actions).

So, as always, ready, set, discuss.

Commuters may have to pay to use North Bay highways 101, 37, 12 under Bay Area plan. Toll roads may be more common for San Francisco Bay Area commuters in the coming years — but not at the speed one might think. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission sent a letter to the Bay Area’s county transportation agencies in early August to help with funding on projects that alleviate congestion on the highways. The primary option involves express lanes that require tolls to be paid if motorists are not in a carpool or public transit. In the North Bay, U.S. Highway 101, along with State Routes 12 and 37, were singled out as possible toll targets.
🎥 Virtual Open House for the State Route 99 Lomo Crossing Safety Project (Video). Welcome to our Virtual Open House for the State Route 99 Lomo Crossing Safety Project in Sutter County. Caltrans has produced a short video outlining the preliminary measures the Department is proposing to increase safety at the intersection of SR-99 and Live Oak Boulevard/Encinal Road.
BYPASS SAFETY MEASURES ON THE WAY. Your odds of getting in a collision on the 120 Bypass as you near Highway 99 if you are trying to head south toward Ripon and Modesto is six times higher than the statewide average. That tidbit from a Caltrans study helped set in motion the first phase of a $131.5 million project at the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 to improve vehicle movements and capacity. The project, expected to break ground a year from now, won’t be in place until 2023. In the meantime Caltrans is taking steps aimed at reducing the potential for carnage until two lanes are in place for eastbound 120 Bypass heading toward Modesto are in place.
Caltrans awards $6 million to construction company to fix highways damaged from CZU Lightning Complex. Caltrans is responding to highway damage in Santa Cruz County following the destructive CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Caltrans is mobilizing several contractors and sub-contractors to help with the repairs including fallen and hazardous trees, burned guardrails, destroyed traffic signs and markers and damaged retaining walls. Caltrans District 5 awarded Granite Construction of Santa Cruz a $6 million emergency contract to clear, repair and restore segments of Highway 1, 9 and 236 in Santa Cruz County.
💰_/SONN Commuters may have to pay to use North Bay highways 101, 37, 12 under Bay Area plan. Toll roads may be more common for San Francisco Bay Area commuters in the coming years — but not at the speed one might think. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission sent a letter to the Bay Area’s county transportation agencies in early August to help with funding on projects that alleviate congestion on the highways. The primary option involves express lanes that require tolls to be paid if motorists are not in a carpool or public transit. In the North Bay, U.S. Highway 101, along with State Routes 12 and 37, were singled out as possible toll targets.
Geotechnical Studies For Last Chance Grade Project Continue as Caltrans Fixes ‘Ski Jump’. Though environmental studies to find the best possible route around Last Chance Grade continue, Caltrans crews have been busy this summer to ensure U.S. 101 stays open. Caltrans continues to repair storm damage at the slide-prone area roughly 9 miles south of Crescent City, the agency stated in a “Progress Update Summer 2020” mailer sent to Del Norters recently. Crews are also correcting a dip in the highway, which locals have dubbed the ski jump, project manager Jaime Matteoli told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday.
More than $1.6B allocated to for work on state’s transportation system. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) allocated on Aug. 14 more than $1.6 billion for transportation projects throughout the state, including about $1.3 billion for State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) projects, Caltrans’ “fix-it-first” program aimed at preserving the condition of the State Highway System. The projects allocated for funding will create an estimated 21,720 jobs, including direct, indirect and induced economic impacts. [Santa Ynez] Area state highway projects allocated funds include: ..