As a reminder: 2026 marks the 30th Anniversary of this website. The changelog for 1996 shows the first “official” changes in October 1996, although it notes that “Changes before early 1996 were not specifically noted, although this site, in various forms, dates back at least as far as 1992, and possibly as early as 1986. Searching on Google Groups uncovers an early posting of the state highway list in December of 1992 to the Usenet Group ca.driving. In 1995, there was a posting of the highway list in response to a question, showing a last modified date of 1994. By October 1996, postings were being made showing the existence of the California Highways page off of Pacificnet.The earliest capture of the site on the Wayback Machine is in December 1998.” So welcome to the start of the 30th Anniversary year, or perhaps the 40th Anniversary year, of California Highways!
2026 also marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the Federal Route System, also know as the US Highway System. US 66 is getting the lion’s share of the attention, but let’s not forget the other major routes in California: US 40, US 48 ז״ל, US 50, US 60, US 66, US 80, US 91, US 99, US 101 (and those late-comers, US 6, US 70, US 91, US 95, US 97, US 199, US 299, US 395, US 399, US 466). All together now:
How do we know it’s my birthday?
How do we know it’s not your birthday?One two three
One two three
One two three four?
This is the new song
We sing for birthdaysBouncy and merry
And not quite as scary
The new birthday song
I really do think the other highways deserve some love, especially US 99 and US 101. US 40 and US 50 get a little from the Lincoln Highway Association; and a bit of US 99 gets some love from the Ridge Route folks.
Now, on to the updates:
This update covers April, May, and June 2026. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Podcasters, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Podcasters). The following episodes have been posted since the last update on March 27, 2026:
- June | CA RxR 4.12: Route 14, Route 64, LRN 290: The Valley Freeways that Never Happened. Episode 4.12 starts our exploration of the last route of this season: Route 14. Segment (a) of Route 14 is the unbuilt “Reseda to the Sea” freeway, so we take this opportunity to discuss the unbuilt freeways of the San Fernando Valley: the Reseda Freeway (Route 14), the Whitnall Freeway (Route 64), the Laurel Canyon Freeway (Route 170), and the freeway plans for Sunland Tujunga, the Angeles National Forest (Route 118, Route 122, Route 249), and the plan for the Mulholland Expressway (Route 268). We also discuss LRN 14 (part of US 40) and Sign Route 14 (which became Route 91). We’ll discuss the built portion of Route 14 between I-5 and US 395 in the last official season 4 episode. With respect to Tom’s sound quality: It’s better. Daniel’s mic has an occasional “pop” or “thump” problems; we’ll hopefully fix that in Ep 4.13. We’re also working to line up 2-3 bonus episodes during the season break. (Spotify for Creators)
- May | CA RxR 4.11: Route 13: Oakland and Berkeley. With Episode 4.11, our attention turns to Route 13. In this episode, we look at LRN 13, Sign Route 13, and Route 13. LRN 13 was the Sonora and Mono Wagon Road, which became today’s Route 219 and Route 108. Sign Route 13 was short-lived, quickly being renumbered as Sign Route 17 and Route 17, and is today’s Route 17, I-880, and I-580 N of the Bay Bridge. The post-1964 Route 13 of today runs from Route 61 to Route 61 through Oakland and Berkeley, and is best known as the Warren Freeway and Ashby Blvd. As for Route 61, you’ll just have to listen to the episode. Next time: In Ep 4.12, we’ll look at Route 14 and the unbuilt freeways of the San Fernando Valley. Lastly, note that in this episode Tom was having microphone trouble, so his sound is a bit off (and I don’t know Audacity well enough to fix it). (Spotify for Creators)
- April | CA RxR 4.10: Route 12: Into the Sierras. Episode 4.10 concludes our exploration of Route 12 with an exploration of the final section of the route: From Route 99 in Lodi to Route 49 near San Andreas. This is a segment that travels through the foothills of the Sierras, running through Lodi, Lockeford, Clements, Valley Springs, and San Andreas along what was originally LRN 24. We also review LRN 12, which we visited before in our episodes on Route 8, for LRN 12 became I-8 between San Diego and El Centro. In our next episode, our attention turns to Route 13, and includes a discussion of LRN 13, the original Sign Route 13 which was quickly renumbered as Sign Route 17, and today’s Route 13 which runs through Oakland and Berkeley, although the route is unconstructed between the Oakland Airport and I-880. (Spotify for Creators)
- March | CA RxR 4.09: Route 12: Crossing the Wetlands. Episode 4.09 continues our exploration of Route 12 through an exploration of the middle section of the route: From Fairfield/Cordelia through the “Drive to Stay Alive” corridor, on through the wetlands of Rio Vista, and into the central valley and Lodi. We explore the big change in routing that happened in Rio Vista. We also look at some major projects within this segment, as well as some of the interesting names. We also review LRN 12, which we visited before in our episodes on Route 8, for LRN 12 became I-8 between San Diego and El Centro. Our exploration of Route 12 will conclude in Episode 4.10, which will cover Route 12 from Route 99 to the Sierra Foothill and San Andreas, where it meets Route 49. (Spotify for Creators)
Turning to the updates to the California Highways pages: Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers and my research for the fifth season of the podcast in April, May, and June 2026 (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(ℱ), contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from Tom Fearer(2), Mike Palmer(3), Plutonic Panda(4) Relaxok(5), Mike Roberson (Mapmikey)(6)]: Route 1(ℱ), Route 4(ℱ), I-5(ℱ), US 6(2), I-10(ℱ), Route 12(ℱ), I-15(ℱ), Route 20(ℱ), Route 24 (I Street Bridge)(ℱ), Route 29(ℱ), Route 33(ℱ), Route 36(ℱ), Route 37(ℱ,5), Route 41(ℱ,2), Route 46(2), Route 47(ℱ), Route 49(ℱ), US 50(ℱ), Route 62(ℱ), US 66(ℱ), Route 67(ℱ), Route 68(ℱ), Route 78(ℱ), US 80(ℱ,6), Route 92(ℱ), US 97(ℱ), Route 99(ℱ), US 101(ℱ), Route 102 (Placer Parkway)(ℱ), I-105(ℱ), Route 107(3), Route 118(2), Route 119(ℱ), Route 120(ℱ,2), Route 134(ℱ), Route 138(ℱ), Route 138 (High Desert Corridor)(ℱ), Route 150(ℱ), Route 166(ℱ), Route 168(2), Route 187 – Santa Monica Pier(4), Route 197(ℱ), US 199(ℱ), Route 215(ℱ), Route 247(ℱ), US 395(ℱ), US 399(ℱ,6), US 466(2), I-580(ℱ), I-605(ℱ), I-710(ℱ), I-805(ℱ), I-880(ℱ), I-980(ℱ), County Sign Route G5(3), County Sign Route J8(ℱ).
(Source: private email through 6/25/2026, Highway headline posts through and including the June 2026 Headline post (up to “After more than a decade of planning, Glendale has finally approved a $31M L.A. River bridge to Griffith Park — spanning 320 feet and opening by 2031” (HL) and “Pyramid Hills Road” (GN)), AARoads through 6/25/2026)
Started work on Season 5 of the Route by Route podcast. Research for and preparation of the episodes posted or written during this period resulted in changes and updates to the following routes: LRN 14, I-15, Route 24, Route 31, US 66, Route 71, Route 79, Route 91, US 95, Route 103, Route 163, Sign Route 195, Route 206, Route 215, Route 252, Route 371, US 395, I-710, Sign Route 740.
Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2026-06-20. 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 (updated for 2026) to the end of the Pending Legislation page. This is early in the even-numbered year session, so there’s a lot of introduction of placeholder bills, and a lot of amending of those placeholder bills (and bills that remained active from the previous year). Noted the passage of the following bills / resolutions (I also identified a number of errors in bills and resolutions, and submitted comments as indicated):
