May 2020 Part III:
Added historical information and naming pictures to the following routes, my research(1) and information from Corco(2), Denis Wolcott/Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project(1): I-710(1), I-880(2).
Joel Windmiller has been posting historical information about route adoptions to the California’s Historic Highways group on Facebook. With his permission, I’ve started grabbing that information and incorporating on the corresponding pages for the current highways. This resulted in changes to the following routes: I-5, US 40, US 50, Route 65, Route 70, Route 89, Route 99, Route 113, Route 244, I-680, I-780.
Worked my way through the 2020 SHOPP adopted at the May 2020 CTC Meeting. The State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) is the State Highway System’s “fix-it-first” program that funds the repair and preservation, emergency repairs, safety improvements, and some highway operational improvements on the State Highway System (SHS). By continuously repairing and rehabilitating the SHS, the SHOPP protects the enormous investment that has been made over many decades to create and manage the approximately 50,000 lane-mile SHS. Much of what is in the SHOPP is significant work, but not at the level of interest that impacts these pages. For example, SHOPP funding that simply rehabilitates existing roadways, improves drainage, fixes landscaping, repairs storm damage, adds ADA cutouts, and such does not make a long-term historical impact on a route, or make changes that sometime in future years might be curious about. Some other SHOPP changes, however, are of interest: new roundabouts, potentially rumble strips, realigning a roadway for safety, replacing a bridge — all can impact the pages. All projects funded by the SHOPP are limited to capital improvements that do not add capacity (no new highway lanes) to the SHS, though some new auxiliary lanes are eligible for SHOPP funding. The SHOPP portfolio of projects is updated every two years, carrying forward projects programmed in the last two years of the preceding SHOPP and making those last two years of projects the first two years of projects in the new SHOPP. There are also “long lead” SHOPP projects, which require more than four years to develop due to complex environmental and preliminary engineering work. The 2020 SHOPP contains 40 Long Lead projects, valued at $2.93 billion. These projects are authorized to start work on the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase. Separate authorization addresses the construction phase. Projects are generally divided into nine broad categories: Major Damage Restoration, Collision Reduction, Mandates (such as reserves for relinquishment), Bridge Preservation, Roadway Preservation, Mobility, Roadside Preservation, Facilities, and Multiple Objective.
Contrast the SHOPP with the STIP, which was incorporated in the main May updates. The STIP is a multi-year capital improvement program of transportation projects on and off the State Highway System, funded with revenues from the Transportation Investment Fund and other funding sources. STIP programming generally occurs every two years. With respect to highways, the STIP has two types of projects. Capacity Increasing Highway Operational Improvements, which are improvements that expand the design capacity of the system, and thus are not eligible for SHOPP funding. If regional, they are nominated by the regional agency; if statewide, Caltrans nominates them. Examples of such projects would be HOV lanes and interchanges, interchange design modifications and upgrades to accommodate traffic volumes that are significantly larger than the original design capability of the existing facility, or truck or slow vehicle lanes on freeways with six or more lanes. There are also non-capacity improvements that could be funded through the SHOPP, but which can be implemented faster through the STIP.
My review of the adopted SHOPP resulted in updates to the following routes: Route 1, Route 3, Route 4, I-5, Route 9, I-10, Route 12, Route 13, I-15, Route 17, Route 20, Route 22, Route 25, Route 26, Route 29, Route 33, Route 35, Route 36, Route 37, Route 39, I-40, Route 41, Route 43, Route 49, US 50, Route 51, Route 52, Route 59, Route 68, Route 70, Route 74, Route 79, I-80, Route 82, Route 84, Route 88, Route 96, Route 99, US 101, I-105, Route 110, Route 120, Route 121, Route 128, Route 133, Route 138, Route 140, Route 145, Route 154, Route 162, Route 165, Route 175, Route 180, Route 184, Route 190, I-215, Route 217, Route 223, Route 237, Route 245, Route 299, US 395, I-405, I-580, I-710. The Route 39 item is particularly amazing: a Long-Lead item “Near Falling Springs, from 1.8 miles north of Crystal Lake Road to Route 2. Rehabilitate and reopen a 4.4 mile segment of Route 39.” Who woulda thunk, right? Even more amazing is the schedule: it is programmed in FY26-27, with construction scheduled to start May 2027.
May 2020 Part II:
Completed the update for format and memorial names. Next up: The SHOPP that was approved at the May 2020 CTC Meeting.
