September. The tail end of summer and the start of fall. Leaves should be falling, but here in Southern California we’re facing the possibility of the tail end of a hurricane that is blowing up from Baja. Of course, that will be followed by more Santa Ana winds and fires. Will Big Sur stay open for the October roadmeet? I don’t know, and I don’t follow the prediction markets. But I do follow the headlines.
As always, we start with the California Highways: Route by Route podcast: I’m still working on Season 5: I just finished writing the second Route 18 episode (5.07). I’ll be taking a break to do the next round of updates for the website, and then get back to writing. We’ll be starting to record Season 5 next week, so look for the first Season 5 episode in mid to late September. Zencaster is working well for recording the podcast, and I think we’ve solved the microphone problems. I also got some more editing tips visiting a high school friend who has worked in terrestrial and internet radio, which I’ll try when I edit Season 5. Please let us know if it sounds better.
As a reminder: You can help our listening audience grow. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. Share the podcast on Facebook groups, and in your Bluesky and Mastodon communities. Leave a review, and tell us about it. For those that hear the early episodes, the sound quality of the episodes does get better — we were learning. 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 Creators, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcatching app or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Creators) . The following episodes have been posted this month:
- August | CA RxR 4.15: Bonus: 25 Years of Gribblenation. Episode 4.15 is the second of two bonus episodes. The year 2026 marks 25 years since Adam Prince, Doug Kerr, and Brian LeBlanc started the website. This episode features a discussion with Daniel, Tom (a Gribblenation contributor), Adam, and Doug about the past, present, and future of Gribblenation. Learn the story of how the site came to be, how the name was chosen, the hiccups along the way, and where the site is today. More importantly, learn the philosophy behind Gribblenation: To not only tell the facts and the history of the roads, but to tell the stories behind the roads. Next update: Coming sometime in late September 2026 will be Season 5 of the podcast, starting with the story of Route 15 and I-15 between San Diego and Temecula. (Spotify for Creators)
As a reminder: One of the sources for the highway page updates (and the raison d’etre for for this post) are headlines about California Highways that I’ve seen over the last month. I collect them in this post, which serves as fodder for the updates to my California Highways site, and so there are also other pages and things I’ve seen that I wanted to remember for the site updates. Lastly, the post also includes some things that I think would be of peripheral interest to my highway-obsessed highway-interested readers.
Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for August 2026:
Key
[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions, such as demanding your email in order to display the article. 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. Using archive.ph usually works for these sites. See this article for more tips on bypassing paywalls. ＄＄ paywalls are even more annoying. Archive.ph doesn’t work, and you may not be able to get the full details. 🎥 indicates a primarily video article. 🎩 indicates hat/tip to someone for finding this article. ✔ indicates that the article was processed as part of the recent “Updates to California Highways” cycle. ]
Highway Headlines
- Houston Is Proof: You Can’t Build Your Way Out of a Traffic Jam (Space Daily). Picture a road so wide that from the middle of it you cannot make out what shops are on the other side. Twenty-six lanes of concrete laid flat across west Houston, wide enough to land a jumbo jet on. Now picture it at five thirty on a Tuesday, packed solid, everyone breathing their own exhaust and quietly wondering what the three billion dollars bought. That is the Katy Freeway, and it is the most expensive economics lesson anyone has ever poured in concrete.
- Port of LA studies Vincent Thomas Bridge fix for megaships (Port Technology International | 🎩 Plutonic Panda). The Port of Los Angeles, the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly evaluate long-term options for replacing or modifying the Vincent Thomas Bridge. The bridge is a critical link in the US supply chain. The agreement launches what the Port describes as a once-in-a-generation planning effort to assess concepts that would improve safety, sustainability and freight mobility while keeping the port competitive as global trade evolves. The MOU sets out a roadmap for the three parties to evaluate replacement or modification concepts through Caltrans’ project development process, with the initial phase focused on planning, technical evaluation and environmental review. Subject to approval by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, the port will contribute $5 million towards preliminary engineering, environmental studies and other technical work needed to assess potential alternatives.
- Old Sac I-5 Dream Deck (FB/Inside Sacramento). After his death in 1912, Daniel Burnham, the legendary Chicago architect, was celebrated as much for his famous quote as for his high-profile planning projects. “Make no little plans,” Burnham said. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood, and probably will not themselves be realized.” When I think of what U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui recently pulled off for her local congressional district, the more Burnham’s quote resonates. “Make big plans,” he went on. “Aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram, once recorded, will never die, but, long after we are gone, will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.”
- ＄ Here’s the latest on the $114M Highway 101 wildlife crossing (VC Star). Crews have drilled supports and started to pour concrete for the Agoura Road stretch of a wildlife crossing that will span Highway 101 near Liberty Canyon Road. Plans call for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing to look like a slice of the Santa Monica Mountains. Billed as the world’s largest urban wildlife crossing, the 210-foot-long, vegetated bridge is expected to reconnect the Santa Monicas to other areas. Experts say it could help save an isolated mountain lion population from extinction.
- California Transportation Plan Updates (Caltrans). The California Transportation Plan (CTP) provides a common framework that guides transportation decisions and investments by all levels of government and the private sector. Statutorily mandated federal and state law requires that Caltrans facilitate, develop, and prepare the CTP. It is Caltrans responsibility to work with stakeholders and the public to update the CTP every five years. The latest iteration of the draft CTP is now available for public comment on Caltrans Engagement Portal: …
- California’s Highway 101 faces daytime closures this week amid construction of the world’s largest wildlife crossing (Secret Los Angeles). SoCal is in the middle of a wave of infrastructure projects, from major transit upgrades to public space improvements. While many are focused on easing congestion and making it safer for people to get around, some are also designed to protect the region’s wildlife. One of the most ambitious examples is the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a landmark project that will reconnect habitats divided by the 101 while helping reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. This week, drivers traveling through Agoura Hills should plan ahead, as construction at the crossing will temporarily affect access to the freeway.
- RCTC Breaks Ground On Ramona Expressway Improvement Project (Construction Equipment Guide | 🎩 Plutonic Panda). The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) broke ground on June 24, 2026, on a series of safety and road improvements along a major 8.6-mi. segment in Riverside County. Skanska USA Civil is the general contractor for the $107.4 million project. Major roadway improvements will be made along the Ramona Expressway from Warren Road to about 1 mi. east of Rider Street in the county. This segment is within the Mid County Parkway, also known as the MCP, a planned 16-mi. corridor between Route 79 in the Hemet Valley and Interstate 215 in Perris. Construction is set to take place through 2028.
