Another quarterly cycle of updates to the website is complete. Here’s the changelog. Bottom Line: In addition to all the changes from headlines and various posts and emails, significant changes include: the addition of a load of new maps, including survey maps for Placer County; a link to a post with the history of Camp Hess Kramer; the passage of a lot of bills and resolutions at the end of the legislative cycle for the year; and loads of interesting actions from the CTC if you dig and read through them.
This update covers July, August, and September 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 June 27, 2026:
- July | CA RxR 4.13: Route 14: The Antelope Valley Freeway. Episode 4.13 continues our exploration of Route 14, picking up from the end of the first segment at I-5, and continuing to the junction with US 395 near Inyokern. As usual, along the way, we explore the history of the route, the conversion to freeway, major projects on the route, and naming along the route. This includes a detailed exploration of the start of the route in the Newhall Pass and Solemint area. It also includes an exploration of the “Aerospace Highway” name, and all the firsts that occurred at Edwards AFB and the test center next to the highway. Ep. 4.13 marks the end of the main episodes of Season 4, although we do have a couple of bonus episodes planned for the season break to tide you over. The first bonus episode, 4.14, covers New Idria Road and Hites Cove Road, which are mining roads in San Benito and Mariposa counties. (Spotify for Creators)
- July | CA RxR 4.14: Bonus: New Idria Road and Hites Cove Road. Episode 4.14 is the first of two bonus episodes. It tells the story of the corridors of New Idria Road and Hites Cove Road. Both of these historic highway corridors lead to mining in Central California. This episode is based off blogs released on Gribblenation during October 2025 and May 2026. New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County. It branches off of Panoche Road, and winds its way south-ish through the Diablo range to the ghost mining town of Idria, continuing as Clear Creek Road. Hites Cove Road is an approximately seven-mile rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada range of Mariposa County, south of Route 140, and west of El Portal. Hites Cove, and its successor forest and OHV trail roads, leads to the ghost town of Hites Cove on the south fork of the Merced River. Two interesting stories about two interesting ghost towns. Next up: Our second bonus episode to close out Season 4: A roundtable discussion with Adam Prince and Doug Kerr as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the start of Gribblenation. (Spotify for Creators)
- 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)
- September | CA RxR 5.01: I-15 (Part 1): South of Temecula. Welcome to Season 5. We start the season with three episodes covering Route 15. The first (this episode), covers LRN 15, Sign Route 15, and today’s Route 15 between San Diego and Temecula. LRN 15 ran from what is now Route 1 near Fort Bragg to what is today’s I-80 near Emigrant Gap; it is today’s Route 20. Sign Route 15 is what became Route 7 and later I-710, and is today’s Long Beach Freeway. We have some interesting exploration of the ends of Sign Route 15 in Pasadena and Long Beach. We then turn to the main focus of the episode: Route 15, which runs from San Diego to the Nevada border, and has a complicated history. So complicated, in fact, that this episode focuses only on the portion between San Diego and Temecula, exploring both former Route 103 and US 395, as well as the transition from US 395 to today’s I-15 routing. Episode 5.02 will cover Temecula to Devore, and explore the history of I-15, I-15E, I-215, Route 71, US 91, US 395, and Route 194. Lastly, Episode 5.03 will cover Devore to Nevada, including I-15, US 395, US 66, US 91, and US 466 (with a bit of Route 195 and US 95 thrown in). (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 July, August, and September 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 Fred Akbar (FredAkbar)(2), Concrete Bob(3), Nathan Edgars (NE2)(4), Tom Fearer(5), Andy Field (andy3175)(6), Gonelookin(7),Adrian Ople(8), Mike Palmer(9), Plutonic Panda(10), Jim Rogers(11), Howard Schroeter(12), Tom Slater(13)]: Route 1(ℱ), Route 4(ℱ), I-5(ℱ), I-8(ℱ), Route 9(ℱ), I-10(ℱ,4,12), Route 12(ℱ,5), Route 14(ℱ), I-15(ℱ,6), Route 17(ℱ), Route 24(ℱ), Route 25(ℱ,5), Sign Route 26(ℱ), Route 26(ℱ), Route 29(ℱ), Route 34(ℱ), Route 36(11), Route 37(ℱ), Route 39(ℱ), Route 41(ℱ), Route 47(10), Route 49(ℱ), US 50(ℱ,9), Route 57(ℱ), Route 58(2,6,5), Route 64(ℱ), Former US 66(ℱ), Route 71(ℱ), Route 74(ℱ,6,10), Route 77(ℱ), I-80(ℱ), Route 84(ℱ), Route 85(ℱ), Route 86(ℱ), Route 88(5,7), Route 91(ℱ,6), Route 92(ℱ), Route 93(ℱ), Route 99(ℱ), US 101(ℱ,5), I-105(ℱ), Route 107(ℱ), Route 118(ℱ), Route 120(ℱ), Route 121(ℱ), Route 123(ℱ), Route 125(ℱ), Route 133(ℱ), Route 138(ℱ), Route 142(ℱ), Route 145(ℱ), Route 163(ℱ), Route 169(5), LRN 176(ℱ), Route 178(5), Route 180(5), Route 187(ℱ), I-215(4,12), Route 217(ℱ), Route 227(ℱ), Route 246(ℱ), Route 260(ℱ), Route 271(5), Route 299(ℱ), US 395(ℱ,5), I-405(ℱ), I-580(ℱ), I-605(ℱ), I-680(ℱ), I-710(9), I-880(ℱ), County Sign Route 66(ℱ), County Sign Route S26(8), County Sign Route S27(8), County Sign Route S28(8), County Sign Route S30(8), County Sign Route S32(8), De Anza Trail(9). Updated all the business route links, based on a post on AARoads. Added a link to the DeLeuw, Carther, & Company report, “Report on a Plan for Trafficways and Modifications to Railroad Operations and Facilities, Sacramento Metropolitan Area, Volume 1” to the Sacramento History Page(3).
(Source: private email through 10/1/2026, Highway headline posts through and including the September 2026 Headline post, AARoads through 10/1/2026)
Continued 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: I-15, Route 16, Route 17, Route 18, Route 19, Route 30, Route 38, US 66, Route 71, Route 79, Sign Route 83, Route 85, US 91, US 95, Route 103, Route 130, Route 163, Route 164, Route 195, Route 206, I-210, Route 214, I-215, Route 238, Route 259, Route 262, I-280, Route 371, US 395, I-580, I-680, LRN 15, LRN 16, LRN 17, LRN 18, LRN 31, LRN 40, LRN 43, LRN 50, LRN 77, LRN 78, LRN 115, LRN 167, LRN 175, LRN 178, LRN 190, LRN 191, LRN 192, LRN 194, LRN 275, LRN 277, History of California Interstates.
Added some more GIS resources to the maps page. As a reminder: The California Highways Maps Page is often your best starting point for map-based research into California Highways. If readers are aware of any additional map-based resources I should add to that page, please let me know.
- FHWA GIS maps of the National Highway System, with links to more FHWA GIS maps.
- A historical collection of SLO county maps(5)
- A link to the 1972 Thomas Brothers Freeway and Artery Map of Northern California Metropolitan Area(5).
- Caltrans survey maps for all of Placer County, as filed in March 1955(13)
Updated Chargeable and Non-Chargeable Interstates and the Introduction to Interstate Highway Types pages to discuss the current funding formulas, and to clarify that the chargeable/non-chargeable distinction is more historic and less applicable today. Hat tip to Rothman on AARoads in this discussion for making me aware of the need to do another update pass on those pages.
Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission for the July through September meetings. The following items were of interest:
- September (Weds): Agenda Item 12.a. September 2026 Progress Report on the Caltrans Eureka-Arcata Hwy 101 Corridor Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan. Informational update on Caltrans District 1’s progress on preparing a comprehensive adaptation plan for protecting, relocating, or otherwise adapting the Eureka-Arcata US 101 Corridor improvements authorized under CDP № 1-18-1078 to address anticipated sea level rise related flooding hazards.
Note that I also reviewed the CCC archives for information related to Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu. This was combined with other research, and led to a blog entry: “A Pre-History of Camp Hess Kramer“. This blog explores the history of camp property prior to the acquisition of the land by Wilshire Blvd Temple, including the history of Rindge Family ownership. I’m still looking for more information, particularly related to the history of the Yerba Buena School, the construction of Yerba Buena Road, and the construction of Decker Canyon Road (Route 23). The blog post also includes information on the future of Camp Hess Kramer and its sister camp, Gindling Hilltop Camp, as well as some records research. The post is also linked on the page for Route 1.
Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2026-10-01. 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):
