So, how’s about the weather? 🙂 We’re finally starting to dry out and we’ve even had a few warm days (although this week we’re back to cold and dreary). But the calming of the atmospheric river has allowed construction crews to fan out and start work… and that’s a good thing. As for me, I’ve started work on the next round of updates to the Highways Site, and theatre attendance has picked up (although I haven’t had the urge to start writing reviews return yet — they are a lot of work).
The podcast continues. As I noted last time, we’ve decided that the fight for interviews is slowing things down. If we can get them, we’ll generally release them as a bonus episode. That should shorten our episodes. I’m pleased to note that our sample episode just crossed the 100 listens boundary, but some of the other episodes need to catch up. So go to your favorite podcatcher application and search for our podcast. You can also listen through the Spotify page. Please explore our back catalog, as we wind down season one. I’ll probably take a month or two break between seasons (I need time to start on the next season’s episodes)
OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for April:
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 1.10: Highway Numbering: County Signed Routes.In this episode, we complete our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the County Signed Route system. This system, started in 1959, uses a blue pentagon with yellow numbers, and applies to significant routes at the county level. It is the last episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the County Signed Route system, how the routes are numbered, some significant county signed routes, and what is happening with the system today. There is no interview. We’re going to move the interview segments into separate bonus episodes, owing to the difficulty of obtaining and scheduling the interviews. There are two episodes left in the season: one exploring highway naming, and one exploring the organizations related to the state highways. (29:38)
Back episodes are available at the Podcast’s forever home, as well as on its Spotify for Podcasters home. The Spotify (nee Anchor.FM) link also has links to the podcast’s page on most major podcasting services.
Highway Headlines
- Signage, striping, shuttles — study suggests solutions for Highway 49 at confluence (Mountain Democrat). A years-long study looking into a bevy of concerns regarding a stretch of Highway 49 between Cool and Auburn provides a list of potential fixes. Narrow roadways, tight turns, limited shoulders packed with parked cars, hikers and river-goers crossing the road to and fro and oversized trucks driving through tight turns all contribute to exacerbated drive times and raise the risk of possible traffic incidents on Highway 49. The El Dorado County Transportation Commission, in partnership with California State Parks, Caltrans, El Dorado County and the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency, conducted a study after concerns were raised by local residents and authorities in early 2020.
- State Route 127 Pavement Project to Start on Monday April 3 (Sierra Wave). Work is scheduled to begin Monday, April 3, on the State Route 127 Pavement Project at two locations on State Route 127 in eastern Inyo County: · From postmile 21, approximately 7 miles north of the town of Shoshone, to postmile 34.5, approximately 7 miles south of Death Valley Junction · From Death Valley Junction to the Nevada State Line to the north. This construction project will rehabilitate the pavement by grinding down the roadway and overlaying asphalt, which will restore the pavement to a good service condition and extend the service life of the highway. Existing traffic signs will be upgraded to current state standards and specifications.
- ＄Caltrans to address Verano/Highway 12 intersection at next Springs Municipal Advisory Council meeting (Sonoma Index-Tribune). After three pedestrian deaths in three years at the intersection of Highway 12 and Verano Avenue, Caltrans and Sonoma County Public Infrastructure will make reports about the dangerous roadway during the next Springs Municipal Advisory Council meeting on April 12. The public is welcome to attend, in person or online, or submit comments for consideration. Community members have long lamented that the high-traffic corner is dangerous and should be equipped with more safety features. Public officials have said it’s a challenging area for infrastructure, as Highway 12 is managed by the state while Verano Avenue is a county road.
- Big changes are coming to San Pablo Avenue. Here’s what residents have to say (The Oaklandside). East Bay residents had their first opportunity Thursday to see new designs for the San Pablo Corridor Project, which is expected to reshape one of the region’s most important roads and its surrounding streets. At a community meeting held at the Berkeley Adult School, the Alameda County Transportation Commission revealed designs for intersections on San Pablo Avenue and for the network of bike boulevards in Berkeley and Oakland that will run on sidestreets parallel to San Pablo Avenue. Over 100 people participated, sticking colorful post-it notes with feedback on poster boards displaying road redesigns.
- Southbound I-5 lane closures could be in place for a while (The SCV Signal). Drivers heading back and forth through the Grapevine will now have to deal with another potential delay after what a Caltrans official Thursday described as a “historic amount of rainfall” created a landslide that collapsed the shoulder on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5. A stretch of the two right-most lanes on I-5, north of Templin Highway, will remain closed while the repairs are underway, according to Mike Comeaux, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
