We’ve now crossed into July. Half the calendar year is past. Things are starting to heat up (finally) weather-wise, here in Southern California, after a cool and dreary June. The March/April/May updates to the highway pages are done, and I’ve had a bit of a respite. With the posting of these headlines, work will comments on the next round of updates to the pages, which will probably be posted around Labor Day. Also commencing will be the writing of scripts for California Highways: Route by Route season 2, where we’re going to start going through the highways route by route. Things are just starting a little slow, as I’m recovering from MOHS surgery right under my eye — which makes wearing glasses and working at my computer a pain. Hopefully, I’ll be back up to speed in a week or two.
The last episode of the first season of the podcast was delayed due to vacations (both Tom’s and mine). Tom explored the Grand Canyon and that area of Neveda and Arizona, which is captured over on the Gribblenation blog. I did some more exploration of the California desert and mountains, having fun on Route 62 (including a visit to the World Famous Crochet Museum), Route 74, Route 86, Route 111, Route 243, and Route 371. We’re recording the last episode tonight, and it should be posted July 4th. Season 2 will have 10 episodes on Route 1, and two on Route 2. Hopefully, the sound quality is getting a bit better. I’m learning as I go on, and I think on some I overprocessed and overcompensated for breaths, creaks, and other bumps (uh) in the night. Episode 1.01 is up to 114 listens over on Spotify, and the most recent episode is at 52. Visit our Spotify for Podcast episodes page, our main podcast site, or use your favorite podcasting app to catch up on our back episodes. We have a 6-part series on the history of the state highway system, and a 4-part series on highway numbering.
What else? We’re back to attending theatre regularly, although I haven’t started writing reviews again. Last night was Into the Woods at the Ahmanson Theatre (an excellent production about a road trip). I’m also going to mention an interesting project from a work colleague of mine: Bob Clemons. Bob is doing a bicycle trip he’s calling “Pier to Pier”, where he is riding from the Santa Monica Pier in California to the Steel Pier in New Jersey, mostly along Route 66. He’s been doing a daily photo/commentary log you can find here. I’m finding it fascinating: both for his love of the road, his love of courthouses, and his love of beer flights.
OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for June:
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
No episodes posted in June. We’re recording episode 1.12 today, on the organizations of the state highway system, and it should be posted on Tuesday, July 4.
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
- Onramp on 57 Freeway in San Dimas causing dangerous rollover crashes; residents call on Caltrans to possibly add guardrails (ABC7 Los Angeles). There’s a dangerous onramp on the 57 Freeway in San Dimas that’s reportedly caused multiple vehicles to roll down into a shopping center parking lot down below. According to business owners, nearly a dozen drivers have slid off the northbound onramp from Bonita Avenue and the Arrow Highway, sending their vehicles tumbling down. Surveillance video shared with Eyewitness News captured an SUV sliding off the onramp and rolling over multiple times. It happened around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
- Damage to Hwy 178 appears to be getting worse, Caltrans gives no estimate for reopening (KGET Bakersfield). Highway 178 has been closed for five days due to road damage and it appears that road cracks have gotten bigger. A fleet of Caltrans engineers and a geologist from Sacramento are assessing the damage to the road. Their report will determine possible solutions and a timeline for repairs. There are some complications with fixing the road. One is the surging Kern River impeding future repairs but a solution for that is already in the works.
- Placer County commissions plan for North Lake Tahoe highway transit improvements (Sierra Sun). Placer County is continuing efforts to address traffic concerns and enhance transit along state routes 89 and 267 in North Lake Tahoe with short-term and long-term improvements. The Placer County Board of Supervisors last week approved a $511,838 contract with Wood Rodgers Inc. to create a strategic implementation and phasing plan to advance implementation along the two corridors, both of which connect Interstate 80 to North Lake Tahoe. The plan will include collaboration with stakeholder groups such as Caltrans, the Town of Truckee, emergency responders, local businesses and residents in the region. The plan will expand on the transportation recommendations provided in the county’s Resort Triangle Transportation Plan that the board approved in October 2020. The RTTP outlined initiatives to reduce traffic, get people out of their cars, encourage alternative commuting options and address congestion.
- Granite wins $29M Highway 1 project (Construction Dive). Granite Construction will be going to the beach this summer after winning a $29 million contract to widen California’s iconic Highway 1 in Santa Cruz. Work includes the construction of four retaining walls, one soldier pile retaining wall and a 650-foot-long box girder pedestrian bridge over Highway 1 at Chanticleer Avenue, according to a Granite news release. The Watsonville, California-based contractor will widen the freeway in both directions from Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz to 41st Avenue in nearby Capitola, with an additional lane of travel in each direction added to the existing earth median.
- Konocti Corridor Ribbon Cutting Ceremony (Redheaded Blackbelt). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will host a ribbon cutting ceremony for the completion of the $85 million first segment of the Konocti Corridor Project on Wednesday, June 7 in Lake County. This project is a cooperative effort funded by Caltrans, the Lake County Area Planning Council (LAPC), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Located between the communities of Lower Lake and Kelseyville, the new three-mile segment of State Route 29 was widened to a four-lane expressway to improve safety.
- Big Sur Likely to Be Inaccessible From Highway 1 From the South Through the Summer as Cleanup Work Continues (SFist). The southern route into Big Sur on Highway 1 is going to be closed for the next several months, Caltrans says, in an update on the progress of work to clear debris from a major landslide that occurred this past winter. Big Sur residents and much of Northern California is well aware that whenever we have a rainy winter, it’s likely to mean Big Sur will be cut off from civilization for some period of time. The land above and below Highway 1 in the Big Sur area is pretty dynamic in general, with dirt, sand, and rocks that are slowly trying to make their way to the ocean, and Mother Nature frequently having a laugh at the expense of California’s highway engineers who insist on maintaining a road there. This year’s big slide happened at an area called Paul’s Slide — though this was far from the only debris slide this rainy season. A section of Highway 1 here was partly inundated by dirt and debris as far back as January, as California got pummeled by heavy rains. But then Paul’s Slide did what it has done in the past, sliding in a major way in mid-March and completely burying the roadway.
