Two months down. Alright, who had “Snow in the Hollywood Hills in February” on their climate bingo card? Anyone. We were on vacation in Escondido at the end of February, and the drive back had us seeing snow on the mountains between Riverside and Orange counties, snow on the mountains of San Diego, snow above La-Canada Flintridge and Sylmar, and even snow in the Santa Susanna Mountains above Porter Ranch. But don’t worry, soon it will be back over 100 in Northridge again. Vacation gave me time to process loads of great email I’ve been sent by Joel Windmiller — expect to see loads of information on freeway proposals, adoptions, and rescissions in the next highway page update. But before I can finish that off, I need to post the February headlines so I can process them.
The podcast continues. For our most recent episode, someone from AASHTO said he would do an interview… and then stopped responding to emails. So we posted Part I, and if he ever responds it will be Part II. We do have the interview lined up for 1.09, and I’m still working on someone for 1.10 and 1.11. Want to help? Here’s what I’m looking for:
- For 1.10: We’re looking at the county sign routes. I’m looking for someone from a County Public Works department to talk about their involvement with the County Sign Route system, as Caltrans seems to have forgotten about it.
- For 1.11: I’d like an Assemblycritter to talk about naming resolutions. I’ve sent out a few queries, but no bites as of yet.
- For 1.12 (the last episode of the season): I’m working on getting someone from the CTC to talk about what they do.
If you or someone you know would be interested in helping this project, please contact me.
As for the February headlines: The ones that caught my eye were very light this month. The winter weather was part of it; part of it is that I don’t really care about resurfacings or temporary closures (except for larger problems like sinkholes). So not only was February a short month, it was a light headline month. Plus, the tool I use for grabbing headlines (Eversync) seems to have been acting up and not always synchronizing. As a result, some of these headlines might be duplicated from January, and if I missed an article of interest, please let me know.
Enough of this shameless self-promotion. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for February:
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.]
California Highways: Route by Route Podcast
CARxR 1.08: Highway Numbering: U.S. Highways (Part I).In this episode, we continue our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the U.S. highway system. These are the white shields with black numbers. It is the second episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the US highway system, how the US highways are numbered, how things have changed in the post-Interstate era, and we wax rhapsodic on the nostalgia of US highways. The remaining episodes in the miniseries will explore the numbering of and the history of California’s Interstates, and the signed county route system.Our interview for this episode was to be with Jim McDonnell of AASHTO on AASHTO’s role in assigning US and Interstate numbers. But we’ve run into scheduling difficulties and haven’t been able to coordinate a recording time by our scheduled drop date. So consider this Part I of the episode. When we can get things coordinated with Jim we’ll record and release Part II.
Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its anchor.fm home. The anchor.fm also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.
Highway Headlines
- Highway 92 Closed in San Mateo County (NBC Bay Area). Highway 92 in San Mateo County continues to be shut down in both directions and authorities early Friday had no estimated time lanes would reopen. The county sent an alert at about 3:30 a.m. Thursday indicating the closure from upper Skyline Boulevard to Pilarcitos Creek Road. It did not initially specify a reason for the complete closure but later said the hazard was classified as a sinkhole. Motorists were urged to take alternate routes. Caltrans recommended drivers take Highway 1 via Pacifica to get to and from Half Moon Bay. There is another sinkhole on Highway 1 at Pescadero that has traffic down to one lane in that area.
- A trip down the most mysterious road in California (SF Gate). A crucifix-shaped swimming pool crumbles in the desert sun. Alongside it, five decrepit concrete baths once filled with the promise of cleansing sins. Warm mineral water, tapped from what was said to be a holy underground river, drew desperate salvation searchers to this remote California wasteland. Today, part of the pool sinks into the banks of the ancient lakebed upon which this strange settlement was built.
- DOT provides $29.4M to repair California roads damaged by floods (Transport Dive). The Federal Highway Administration is providing $29.4 million in emergency funding to repair California highways, roads, bridges and other infrastructure damaged in flooding in December and January, the agency announced Tuesday. The money is immediately available for use by the California Department of Transportation and four federal land management agencies following severe storm damage that affected as many as 40 of the state’s 58 counties. At least 22 people died as a result of the storms, The Los Angeles Times reported.
- Hwy 70 through Feather River Canyon remains closed indefinitely; new slides occurring (Plumas News). Caltrans District 2 released the latest information on Highway 70 through the Feather River Canyon, this morning, Jan. 26. There continues to be new slide activity, including an event that came down on equipment operating in the area. Luckily, the operator was not injured in the incident. Following is the update: Highway 70 remains closed to through traffic between Jarbo Gap (west of Pulga) and the Greenville Wye (junction with State Route 89) due to continuing slide activity.
- Caltrans announces new repair projects on Highway 101 near Willits (The Ukiah Daily Journal). The California Transportation Commission recently allocated more than $988 million to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reported. “The CTC’s investments will help rebuild California’s transportation infrastructure while increasing transit and active transportation options,” Caltrans Director Tony Tavares was quoted as noting in a press release, which also pointed out that the “funding (being allocated) includes more than $450 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, and more than $250 million from Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. Local projects [near Ukiah/Willits] recently approved include:
- California Transportation Commission approves millions in Northern California transportation projects (Lake County News). The California Transportation Commission, or CTC, has allocated over $988 million to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state. This funding includes more than $450 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, or IIJA, and more than $250 million from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. “The CTC’s investments will help rebuild California’s transportation infrastructure while increasing transit and active transportation options. These projects reflect the CTC and Caltrans’ commitment to safety and meeting future challenges,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. Projects the CTC approved [in Lake County] include:
