As we flip the calendar into 2022, we breath a deep sigh of relief (and hope there wasn’t anything infectious in that deep breath we took).
Hopefully, this will be a year where we will finally start to move out of this. You can do your part. Take all the measures you can to prevent further spread of this disease, and to protect you, your family, and those around you. This is what we need to do to get back out on the road having roadtrips.
One thing you can do from your desk is collect headlines, and that’s what I’ve been busily doing. Here are your headlines for January. My goal is to get the updates to the highway pages back to an every other month cadence, so look for updates in early March. And with that, here are your headlines. Ready, set, discuss.
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. ]
Highway Headlines
- Crews working to remove rocks, dirt at site of Hwy 1 rockslide in SLO County (KSBY). A roughly 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 remains closed due to a rockslide a couple of miles south of Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County. The popular road is traveled by millions of people each year from all over the world. “We are heading to San Francisco and now we are stuck in here,” said Fabio Queiroz of Brazil. If you’re planning on taking the coastal highway into Big Sur, you’ll be met with a road closure sign at the elephant seal viewing area in San Simeon. There are also a couple of signs warning of the closure miles before that.
- SR-135 RESURFACING PROJECT IN SANTA MARIA BEGINS NEXT WEEK (Edhat). A project to resurface six-miles of State Route 135 (Broadway) from the US 101/State Route 135 Interchange to Lakeview Road will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Travelers will encounter weekly lane closures in each direction of State Route 135 Sunday night through Friday morning during the overnight hours between 8 pm and 6 am. Adjacent streets may be closed during the overnight hours and during the day with traffic control from 9 am until 3 pm. Delays should not exceed 10 minutes. Travelers are encouraged to proceed safely in this work zone. The contractor for this $12 million dollar project is CalPortland Construction of Santa Maria, CA.
- Golden Gate Bridge announces fix for noise nuisance (Marin I-J). Engineers have developed a $450,000 plan to muffle the loud humming noise that has been emanating from the Golden Gate Bridge on windy days. The sound was an unintended result of wind upgrades on the bridge railing last year. Residents living in nearby communities such as Sausalito and San Francisco’s Presidio area were most affected, but the strange humming could be heard from several miles away. The noise is generated by fast northwesterly winds passing through the new railings and wind fairings that were installed on the western side between the two towers.
- Local leaders representatives respond to Caltrans’ plans for Union Avenue (KBAK). Back on December 15th, Ward 2 Bakersfield City Councilman, Andrae Gonzalez, and other city group leaders and representatives from local bike groups announced they were sending a letter to Caltrans, urging them to make needed improvements to Union Avenue, to stop deaths of pedestrians and cyclists that are happening. “I think we need to remember and put all of this in context, that 28 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities have occurred, within a three-mile stretch on Union Avenue, since 2009. That’s far too many casualties,” Andrae Gonzales, Bakersfield City Councilman for Ward 2, said.
- City removes historic lampposts off Glendale-Hyperion bridge following thefts (The Eastsider LA). This weekend reports circulated that more classic bronze lampposts had gone missing or were stolen off the Glendale-Hyperion bridge, which links Atwater Village and Silver Lake. While reports of the thefts have not been confirmed, it turns out city crews have been removing some of the nearly 12-foot-high lights for safe keeping before they could be stolen. The Bureau of Street Lighting has removed and stored 18 lights from the bridge, said Department of Public Works spokeswoman Elena Stern. Following reports of thefts in September, the city determined that a total of 7 lampposts had been stolen. But that number has now risen to 17, Stern said.
- An Ode To Highway 1 (The Nob Hill Gazette). As we contemplate travel in 2022, road trips continue to hold a lot of appeal. And with access to such a storied thoroughfare as Highway 1, Californians aren’t complaining. We celebrate our coastal passageway with a three-part look at its engineering, its personal charms and worthy reasons to explore anew.
- I-80 Yuba Pass Separation Overhead (SOH) Replacement (FB/District 3). Caltrans is currently seeking public feedback on two proposed Interstate 80 (I-80) improvement projects in Placer and Nevada counties. A $101.8 million project proposes to replace and widen the Yuba Pass Separation Overhead (SOH) bridges near the State Route 20 separation in Nevada County. The project would improve freight efficiency along I-80 by increasing the load carrying capacity and address structural deficiencies that necessitate bridge replacement: concrete cracking and spalling, high corrosive chloride content, superstructure repainting, bridge deck concrete degradation, and weight-bearing pad failures.
- State Route 18 Emergency Repair Project Update (KBHR 93.3). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) continues repairs on an emergency project at a washout section of State Route 18 (SR-18) near Panorama point between 40th St and SR-138 near Crestline. Crews continue to make repairs and bring in necessary equipment and materials. Currently, crews work to keep the area as dry as possible take priority as more winter weather is predicted. To expediate the repairs, the route will remain closed to the public until further notice so crews can utilize the full roadway. Caltrans is evaluating all traffic handling situations and will have more updates on this in the future. Emergency responders will have access for emergency situations.
