🛣 Headlines About California Highways – March 2023

It’s been a wet winter, hasn’t it. Really really wet. Wet enough that road closures due to flooding have become the norm, and hillsides are slipping and sliding. The rain has also delayed construction work; and that has gotten me into arguments on Nextdoor about the pace of completion for the Reseda exit off of Route 118 (read the comments). It appears that loads of people don’t understand road projects and how road construction works, and just want to blame … someone. Welcome to Nextdoor.

But on the plus side: I completed the first round of updates to the California Highways site for 2023, and that included loads of planning maps uncovered by Joel Windmiller. As always, if you have interesting history on a route you think might work for the pages, send it to me. I also changed my synchronization method between browsers, and that led to a lot more articles being saved. So there are loads of headlines this month. Note that, with respect to storm damage: I’m less interested in flooding and hillside slips unless they create damage that takes a long time to heal (such as Route 1). I’m more interested in major sinkholes, as that will require big-time SHOPP funding to fix.

The podcast continues. As of the last episode, we’ve decided that the fight for interviews is slowing things down. If we can get them, we’ll generally release them as a bonus episode. I’d say that should shorten our episodes, but the last one was a long one anyway. What amazed me more was the discussion it engendered: Never has a podcast episode announcement started such discussion. It appears some people really hate the Interstates for taking away their US highways, or the hate some of AASHTO’s numbering choices. I try to stay neutral on those subjects: I try to report what is, and why it is that way. I can’t change what has been done, and I’m not in the position to change these things in the future.

OK. You should be caught up now. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for March:

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

• CARxR 1.09: Highway Numbering: Interstate Highways. In this episode, we continue our exploration of numbering of state highways by turning our attention to the Interstate Highway system. This system, started in 1956, uses the red, white, and blue shields. It is the third episode in a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. In this episode we talk about the history of the Interstate Highway system, how the Interstate Highways are numbered, the history of California’s chargable interstates (i.e., highways that counted towards the federal 42,500 mile limit), the history of California’s non-chargeable interstates, some interstate submissions that were never approved, and we opine about some of the most common questions about California interstates. (57:38)

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

• ＄Stretch of 5 Freeway named after Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles Times). The stretch of the 5 Freeway where Tommy Lasorda started his trips to Dodger Stadium and exited after games now bears his name. Twenty-seven miles southeast of what Lasorda called “Blue Heaven on Earth” is the “Tommy Lasorda Dodger Legend Memorial Highway.” The pair of green highway signs are already up on the 5 Freeway in Fullerton, near the former Dodgers manager’s longtime home. The signs are on the northbound and southbound lanes between Lincoln Avenue and Ball Road.
• Bait and Switch: Caltrans and Metro Quietly Scale Back 71 Freeway Widening in Pomona (Streetsblog Los Angeles). This week, Metro revealed new details about the under-construction widening of the 71 Freeway in the city of Pomona. Metro and Caltrans had promoted the project as a nearly 2-mile-long freeway widening, with an upgraded pedestrian overcrossing – but it has been quietly scaled back to a ~1.5-mile widening with no pedestrian component. For decades, Metro and Caltrans planned to convert State Route 71 from an Expressway to a Freeway – meaning expanding the current four-lane configuration to eight lanes. Caltrans terms the result “a cleaner and more sustainable travel network for the future” because two of the four new lanes will be HOV lanes. SR-71 expansion didn’t get off the ground until Metro came up with funding. Specifically, Metro’s Measure M sales tax expenditure plan programmed $248.5 million for the project. Metro also sought and received a $43 million grant from the state’s Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) which is funded via S.B. 1 gas tax revenues.
• I-15 widening project has an unclear completion date, Caltrans says (KLAS 8 News Now). From F1 to the Super Bowl, millions are expected to hit the I-15 towards Las Vegas to get there. But, some Clark County officials are concerned those driving from California cannot do it safely and efficiently. They blame it on the prolonged widening of I-15 from Barstow to the Nevada state line, a project that was anticipated to complete nearly one year ago. In December 2021, former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and current California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the project, identifying the 113-mile stretch of road as “an economic lifeline corridor due to its role in the supply chain.” They added that 11 million Las Vegas visitors use it to get into town annually. “It should be done by the summer,” Sisolak said to reporters at the 2021 press conference. That expectation was never met, and drivers continue to pay the cost with their time.
• Caltrans to begin Highway 1 street improvement project (Paso Robles Daily News). Caltrans is set to commence a $13 million construction project on Highway 1 in San Luis Obispo County. The major improvement project will span nearly seven miles, from the US 101 Interchange at State Route 1/Mattie Road in north Pismo Beach, through Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, and Oceano, and end just south of Valley Road near Gracia Way. Funding for the project includes $11.4 million in federal funds and $1.6 million from the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, also known as Senate Bill (SB) 1. CalPortland Construction of Santa Maria will serve as the contractor for the project.
• Committee could reunite California neighborhoods (CalMatters). A new select committee in the California Legislature will explore ways the state can reconnect neighborhoods that decades ago were torn apart by interstates and highways. During the nation’s interstate highway construction boom in the 1950s and ’60s, numerous urban neighborhoods were sliced through, often isolating residential areas largely populated by minorities and low-income residents from surrounding communities — and from economic opportunity. More than 1 million people lost their homes, researchers have estimated. Federal transportation officials noted that in the first 20 years after the 1957 Federal Highway Aid Act launched nationwide highway construction, more than 475,000 households were displaced.
• State to consider if dismantling Interstate 980 would repair damage to Black neighborhoods (East Bay Times). The arrival of $680,000 in federal funding could revive proposals to eliminate Interstate 980, the relatively little-used highway that separated West Oakland neighborhoods from the rest of the city when it opened almost a half-century ago. Map of I-980 in OaklandWith the grant funding in tow, state transportation department Caltrans will begin studying how those communities could be reconnected and if the highway could be replaced by a city street that’s less invasive to the mostly Black neighborhoods it divided. “For too long, I-980 has been a scourge on the East Bay: instead of bringing communities together, it has been a barrier to economic opportunity for the primarily Black neighborhood of West Oakland,” Congresswoman Barbara Lee said in a statement celebrating the new funding.

• Pulling the Plug on the Bay Bridge’s Light Installation (The San Francisco Standard). The massive light installation that has twinkled along the western span of the Bay Bridge for the past 10 years is powering down this weekend. But the group behind the project is planning for an even brighter future. Illuminate, the San Francisco nonprofit that launched The Bay Lights in March 2013, has recently had trouble maintaining the installation and plans to pull the plug on Sunday, March 5—a decade to the day of the project’s opening ceremony, KRON 4 reported.
• Deadly San Jose road to get makeover (San José Spotlight). San Jose is gearing up to address safety concerns along one of the region’s deadliest roads. Congressmembers Zoe Lofgren, Anna Eshoo and Jimmy Panetta announced last week San Jose will receive a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help convert Monterey Road from a highway into a boulevard in an effort to make it safer. The grant is part of the federal agency’s $185 million investment to help cities improve roadway infrastructure. San Jose is among 45 cities that received funding. City officials said the money will fund a design study that would reconstruct Monterey Road, increase pedestrian accessibility, and build out dedicated transit lanes and protected bike lanes, among other safety measures. Monterey Road, an important transit corridor running through San Jose, has a deadly history in the South Bay. Once part of the El Camino Real in 1700s, the 9.6-mile stretch from Keyes Street to Metcalf Road has become increasingly dangerous in the past few decades, officials said.
• Express lane tolling from Redwood City to South San Francisco begins (San Mateo Daily Journal). The San Mateo County Highway 101 express lanes from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco will open to all FasTrak users Friday. The lane had a soft opening in October, when fees were not charged during the testing period, but the lanes are open for testing for 3+ HOV users and commuter buses. Friday is the first day of charges for all with a FasTrak transponder. There will be dynamic pricing throughout the 22-mile corridor in both directions, with the rules the same as the southern section of the 101 express lanes. Dynamic pricing means the price to use the lane goes up or down depending on how crowded it is. A system monitors the toll and raises or lowers it to keep traffic flowing. The highest pricing depends on how far people are traveling and how much traffic there is, according to SamTrans spokesperson Mahmoud Abunie. He also noted an average toll is not always an accurate way to predict pricing, but the average toll posted in the southbound direction in November was $3.
• Highway 101 Toll-Based Express Lanes Begin Charging on the Peninsula (NBC Bay Area). New toll-based express lanes on Highway 101 from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco officially started charging tolls Friday. The express lanes operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. Express lanes are available for drivers enrolled in the FasTrak system. All customers must have a FasTrak Flex to qualify for free or reduced tolls in the express lanes, as it allows them to disclose how many passengers they are carrying, officials said. Those without valid FasTrak accounts will be in violation and are subject to fines and penalties.
• ＄Bay Bridge lights going dark Sunday, display’s fate uncertain (Los Angeles Times). The iconic lights that have run alongside the Bay Bridge for 10 years will go dark and come down Sunday, but the fate of the public art display that has illuminated the San Francisco Bay is still uncertain. “It’s going to leave a hole in the sky and punch a hole in the heart of San Francisco,” said Ben Davis, founder of Illuminate, a nonprofit that helped launch the art project with New York-based artist Leo Villareal in 2013. At 8 p.m. Sunday, the 1.8-mile stretch of the western side of the bridge will be shut down and the LED lights that were first illuminated exactly 10 years earlier will be taken down, John Goodwin, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission confirmed.
• Highways Gutted Many California Communities. Lawmakers Could Reconnect Them (KQED). A new select committee in the California Legislature will explore ways the state can reconnect neighborhoods that decades ago were torn apart by interstates and highways. During the nation’s interstate highway construction boom in the 1950s and ’60s, numerous urban neighborhoods were sliced through, often isolating residential areas largely populated by people of color and those with lower incomes from surrounding communities — and from economic opportunity.  More than 1 million people lost their homes (PDF), researchers have estimated. Federal transportation officials noted that in the first 20 years after the 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act launched nationwide highway construction, more than 475,000 households were displaced.
• Ħ 2002: The Opening of an Overpass for Pedestrians and Bicyclists in the Golden State –  (Transportation History). A dedication ceremony was held for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge spanning Interstate 80 (I-80) in the city of Berkeley, California. “Jubilation as New Bridge Opens Car-Free Access,” announced a headline in the next day’s edition of the Oakland Tribune. This tied-arch concrete bridge, which is known as the I-80 Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing, is 279 feet (85 meters) in length and 15 feet (4.6 meters) in width. Angela Hill, a staff writer for the Oakland Tribune, reported on the festive opening-day atmosphere for the I-80 Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing. “About 300 people nearly kissed the brand-new, pale-green arches of triumph for bicyclists, pedestrians, strollers, bladers, and wheelchair-users everywhere,” she noted.
• Ħ＄Questions and Answers About Your Commute : Road Access? As Soon as We Can Afford It (Los Angeles Times). Could you explain why there is no on- or off-ramp from the 118 freeway at White Oak Avenue even though there seems to be room for both?
• Caltrans to begin $13 million improvement project on Highway 1 (KSBY). Caltrans is set to begin construction on a major improvement project on Highway 1 in San Luis Obispo County thanks to $13 million of Federal and Senate Bill 1 Funding, officials said Wednesday. Nearly seven miles from the US 101 Interchange at State Route 1/Mattie Road in north Pismo Beach continuing south through Pismo Beach, Grover Beach and Oceano to just south of Valley Road near Gracia Way will be resurfaced. In addition, new concrete retaining walls, bridge rehabilitation, and safety improvements, new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant curb ramps, and new traffic and lighting systems will be installed, including the intersection of State Route 1 and Pier Avenue. “This project will enhance safety and provide a better experience for all travelers, including pedestrians and bicyclists along this stretch of road,” said Caltrans District 5 Director, Scott Eades.
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces First-Ever Awards from Program to Reconnect Communities (US Department of Transportation). Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a historic $185 million in grant awards for 45 projects through the new Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, a first-of-its-kind initiative to reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunity and burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions. Established by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Reconnecting Communities Program provides technical assistance and funding for communities’ planning and construction projects that aim to connect neighborhoods back together by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating transportation barriers such as highways and railroad tracks. The Department is funding transformative community-led solutions, including capping interstates with parks, filling in sunken highways to reclaim the land for housing, converting inhospitable transportation facilities to tree-lined Complete Streets, and creating new crossings through public transportation, bridges, tunnels and trails.
• Federal Reconnecting Communities Program Announces First Grants, Four In California (Streetsblog California). The US DOT announced its first round of grants under the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. California communities were awarded one of the six capital grants and four of the 39 planning grants. The city of Long Beach will receive $30 million to help it redesign West Shoreline Drive, much of which is basically an extended 710 Freeway off-ramp and currently a major barrier and a safety hazard for local residents. That project will reconfigure West Shoreline Drive, converting it to a landscaped local roadway. Lanes will be consolidated, local Cesar Chavez Park will be doubled in size, and traffic will be moved further away from two nearby elementary schools. The changes will help create better, safer access between nearby neighborhoods and community park space, Downtown Long Beach, and other destinations.
• Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program Delivers Over $35 Million to California (Senator Alex Padilla). U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that California will receive nearly $36 million through the first round of funding from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. This program—which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—was modeled off the Reconnecting Communities Act that Padilla co-led in 2021. The program will fund the planning, design, demolition, and reconstruction of street grids, parks, or other infrastructure to reconnect communities divided by transportation infrastructure. “This funding will help repair the injustices in communities of color, as we engage in a historic rebuilding of American infrastructure over the next decade. For far too long, the construction of certain highways and other transportation infrastructure also created barriers to mobility and economic opportunity for communities,” Senator Padilla said. “That’s why I supported the Reconnecting Communities Act and pushed for its inclusion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—now we are seeing its first investments in California. Reconnecting our communities will decrease pollution, increase jobs, and help everyone thrive.”
• Long Beach Briefs: Queen Mary Closer to Reopening and GreenSpace Coming to Downtown (Random Lengths News). Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded a $30,000,000 Reconnecting Communities Pilot or RCP grant to the City of Long Beach to support the Shoreline Drive Gateway project. The Shoreline Drive Gateway project will reconfigure West Shoreline Drive to remove a roadway barrier and improve access and connectivity between downtown Long Beach and public open space; create a new bicycle path and pedestrian amenities; and divert highway traffic from residential streets to major arterials.
• U.S. Marine Highway Program to receive more than $12M in USDOT funding (Transportation Today). On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that its Maritime Administration (MARAD) would make more than $12 million in funding available for the U.S. Marine Highway Program (USMHP). The program, previously named America’s Marine Highway Program, would seek to increase the use of the country’s navigable waterways, especially in areas where travel by water is efficient, effective, and sustainable. The USMHP helps to create maritime jobs, strengthen the nation’s supply chains, reduce emissions, and lower maintenance costs.
• New pedestrian bridge could be coming to Fresno (ABC30 Fresno). Getting around Fresno may soon get a little easier. US senator Alex Padilla announced on Tuesday that California will receive nearly $36 million for a pilot program to reconnect communities. Roughly $600,000 is designated for the city of Fresno. Mayor Jerry Dyer says he hopes to use the funds for a pedestrian bridge connecting West Central and Central Fresno neighborhoods. He says the space between West Olive and Belmont Avenues would be a great location for this bridge, giving people on the west side of Highway 99 direct access to Roeding Park.
• ＄First members of Pasadena’s 710 freeway stub working group appointed (Pasadena Star News). The Pasadena City Council this week made its first appointments to the community working group that will help shape the future of the roughly 50-acre site of the former 710 freeway stub relinquished to the city last year. Thousands of residents were displaced when in 1964 the state purchased hundreds of homes though eminent domain in mostly minority neighborhoods of Alhambra, El Sereno, Pasadena and South Pasadena with plans to demolish them to extend the 710 freeway north. For decades, cities like Pasadena and South Pasadena opposed the extension and worked to remove the project from state transportation plans. Decisions by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 2017 and Caltrans the following year to move away from funding plans for the extension — which included what would have been the longest tunnel in the country— culminated in Pasadena regaining control of the corridor in its city limits last June.
• Judge lifts block on road project along CA’s last undammed river (Missoula Current). In a second go-around in a case affecting California’s last major undammed river, a federal judge on Friday lifted an injunction which prevented Caltrans from completing road improvements on two highways which, at many points, run directly alongside the wild Smith River. U.S. District Judge James Donato lifted the nearly decadelong injunction after finding Caltrans’ revised plans for improvements on U.S. Route 199 and State Route 197 did not violate the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Plaintiffs Friends of Del Norte, an environmental group based in the state northwesternmost county, sued Caltrans claiming plans for improving the highways posed a threat to the salmon which inhabit the 25-mile river.
• Placer approves fund transfer agreement for Highway 49 Bridge Debris Removal project (Gold Country Media/Auburn Journal). In order to receive funding allocated for the removal of Highway 49 Bridge debris in the North Fork of the American River, the Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a fund transfer agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The $8 million in funding was made available to Placer through Assembly Bill 178 within the California 2022-23 budget to “remove the steel and concrete wreckage of the former State Route 49 Bridge that lies in the American River.” The bridge broke into three pieces and was washed away in December 1964, when the partially constructed Hell Hole Dam failed during an atmospheric weather event. The debris was never removed, as construction of the Auburn Dam three miles downstream was authorized, and it still lies in a stretch of the river within the Confluence area of the Auburn State Recreation Area 58 years later.
• North County CMCP |  (Social Pinpoint). The North County Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan (CMCP) is the result of a two-year collaboration between SANDAG, Caltrans, North County Transit District (NCTD), the cities of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido, the County of San Diego, key stakeholders, and the public to comprehensively improve mobility within North County. The robust involvement demonstrated North County’s important role in contributing to the competitiveness of the San Diego and binational mega region. [Note: This website is basically large graphics, but with links to the actual North County CMCP]
• What you’ll pay if you accidentally use the new Bay Area express lane (SF Gate). The long-planned express lane on a 22-mile stretch of Highway 101 on the San Francisco Peninsula is now open for business. Tasked with reducing traffic on one of the gnarliest commute stretches in the Bay Area, the lane rewards carpoolers — but comes at a cost to others. Here’s a breakdown of how the new 101 express lanes work: They’re now open between I-380 in South San Francisco and Whipple Avenue in Redwood City. Use of the lane is free for vehicles with three or more people, two-seat cars with two people, buses and motorcycles. For the rest, the pricing gets a little more complicated.
• Improvement project underway on Hwy 1 near Lompoc (KSBY). Drivers heading in and out of Lompoc near Vandenberg Space Force Base will notice some changes to a small portion of the highway. Last week, Caltrans crews installed channelizers at the intersection of Santa Lucia Canyon Road and Highway 1. The white poles highlight the lanes to turn off the highway onto Santa Lucia Canyon Road and also the lane that merges from the road to the northbound lanes of the highway.
• To Curve or Not to Curve: Caltrans and EPIC Continue the Fight Over Richardson Grove (Redheaded Blackbelt). The struggle over a proposal to loosen up the curves on a mile of Highway 101 through a beloved grove of old-growth redwoods continues. The California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, wants to change the curvature of the road in Richardson Grove to allow legal access for industry standard-sized trucks coming from the south. The first public meeting about the subject took place in 2007. EPIC, the Environmental Protection Information Center, objected at the time, and continues to oppose the project out of concern that redwoods could be damaged by road construction activities, including severing roots and paving over them. The project was halted again in 2010, 2013, and 2017, due to environmental concerns. Caltrans approved the project again last month, though the agency will have to ask the Humboldt County Superior Court to lift an injunction in order to proceed. The estimated cost for the project in 2017 was $20.7 million.
• Update: Hwy 1 to reopen at Mill Creek at end of March (KSBY). Repairs to damage from winter storms continue on Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast. Caltrans officials released updates Tuesday on two major slides that occurred this winter. The Mill Creek slide took place Jan. 14 at PM 18 in Monterey County. The repairs at Mill Creek are in their final stages according to Caltrans. The slope above the roadway has maintained its integrity during all recent rain events. Temporary concrete barriers still need to be installed along the southbound travel lane while permanent guardrail is being manufactured.
• Granite Construction Awarded Contract for Ave J Interchange Improvements in Lancaster, California (Business Wire). Granite (NYSE:GVA) has been selected by the City of Lancaster to lead an approximately $30 million contract for various improvements to the Avenue J (Ave J) Interchange at California State Route 14 (SR 14). The project will be funded by Caltrans, the City of Lancaster, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) and be included in Granite’s first quarter CAP 2023. The project scope consists of widening the existing northside on- and off-ramps, constructing new on- and off-ramps on the south side of Ave J, and building four new retaining walls. Additionally, the project will involve landscape beautification. Upon completion, the new northbound off-ramp and the southbound on-ramp to SR 14 will provide an additional access point to the highway, improving safety by relieving congestion on SR 14 and providing increased usability for Ave J. To complete the project, Granite will supply approximately 17,000 tons of asphalt materials from its Big Rock Facility in nearby Llano, CA.
• Officials unveil Ramona Historic Colonnade signs to recognize historic trees (Ramona Sentinel). Signs that honor the community’s towering rows of eucalyptus trees as part of the Ramona Historic Colonnade were unveiled during a ceremony Tuesday on state Route 67. Caltrans has already installed two Ramona Historic Colonnade signs on SR-67 — one on the northbound side of the highway at Kalbaugh Street and the other one heading southbound at 11th Street. Diane Conklin, president of the Ramona Tree Trust organization that has planted some of Ramona’s eucalyptus trees, said the signs highlight the placement of the living monuments on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Highway 1 realignment at Gleason Beach could open to traffic Wednesday night (Press Democrat). Caltrans says work crews are on track to have a newly constructed stretch of Highway one on the Sonoma Coast open to motorists for the very first time by 8 p.m.  Wednesday. Workers put a rush on final touches for the $60.5 million job so they could get it open in advance of a storm arriving Thursday and several more days of rain forecast after that, Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss said. It will be a low-key debut for the controversial project, which includes a 3/4-mile segment of road part of which is an 850-foot-long bridge spanning Scotty Creek near Gleason Beach. It’s now the largest human-made structure on the Sonoma Coast The road’s completion comes after nearly a decade and a half of debate, planning and temporary fixes to account for erosion along the coastal bluff that carries the popular, scenic roadway. The project costs included $22 million in federal funds, Caltrans said.
• Caltrans District 5 reaches $1B in active construction projects (KSBY). Caltrans District 5 has reached an historic milestone with 83 total projects worth more than $1 billion dollars in active construction to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout five counties including Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Some current projects include: …
• A proposed bridge is haunting the Bay Area (Transportation For America). The Southern Crossing over the San Francisco Bay, proposed repeatedly over the past 77 years, has been rejected over and over again. Even as Reconnecting Communities funds will help Oakland study repairing the damage resulting from the interstate spur rammed through the heart of Oakland to serve as the eastern approach for this never-built bridge, the Southern Crossing shows how past choices continue to haunt the present—and future.
• Pasadena Receives $2 Million Grant to Re-Envision the 710 Stub (ColoradoBoulevard.net). Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it was awarding a $2 million grant to the City of Pasadena to re-envision the land use and transportation of the State Route (SR) 710 Northern Stub (the “710 stub”), a State freeway facility that has been unfinished since the late 1960s—when construction displaced thousands of low-income residents and residents of color and separated a residential community from a vibrant business district.
• Caltrans Awards $225 Million for Local Roadway Safety Projects (Caltrans). Caltrans announced today that it is awarding more than $225 million for local projects designed to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries on city and county roads. Funding is provided through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). “Safety is always Caltrans’ top priority,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “These projects will enhance systemwide safety features, including enhancing safety for people who walk and bike, and move us closer to our vision of reaching zero fatalities and serious injuries on roadways throughout the state by 2050.” Projects approved today in District 10 include: …
• Caltrans awards $225 million for roadway safety projects around North Coast; three Lake County projects to be funded (Lake County News). Caltrans announced on Thursday that it is awarding more than $225 million for local projects designed to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries on city and county roads, with several Lake County projects to be funded. The funding is provided through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program, or HSIP. “Safety is always Caltrans’ top priority,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “These projects will enhance systemwide safety features, including enhancing safety for people who walk and bike, and move us closer to our vision of reaching zero fatalities and serious injuries on roadways throughout the state by 2050.” In Lake County, three projects will be funded: …
• America’s Highway System Is a Monument to Environmental Racism and a History of Inequity (KQED). Tremé is widely considered the oldest Black neighborhood in America. In the 18th and 19th centuries, according to historians, free Black people were steered to Tremé, a neighborhood in New Orleans that abuts the French Quarter, because they could purchase property on land that was once a plantation. A thriving, racially diverse community steeped in Creole culture emerged. Often, Tremé is referred to as the oldest-surviving Black neighborhood in America, a distinction that drives home the ruinous legacy of racism in this country. Claiborne Avenue in Tremé was once the economic and cultural center of Black New Orleans, a bustling road lined by oak trees, theaters, bars, restaurants, other businesses and homes. Back when the city’s annual parade and carnival before the Christian fasting of Lent was segregated, Black Mardi Gras was celebrated on the Claiborne Avenue corridor. The revelry crashed to a halt in the mid-1960s when the oak trees were felled to make room for an elevated portion of Interstate 10.
• Caltrans awards $225 million for roadway safety projects across the Bay Area (The Bay Link Blog). Caltrans is awarding more than $225 million for local projects designed to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries on city and county roads. Funding is provided through the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). “Safety is always Caltrans’ top priority,” Caltrans Director Tony Tavares said last week when announcing the awards. “These projects will enhance systemwide safety features, including enhancing safety for people who walk and bike, and move us closer to our vision of reaching zero fatalities and serious injuries on roadways throughout the state by 2050.” A total of 282 projects from 155 local agencies will receive HSIP funds for safety enhancements that include pedestrian crossings, bike safety improvements and new traffic signals, roundabouts, turn lanes, rumble strips and guardrails. Caltrans awards these grants every other year to cities, counties, and tribal governments. Projects approved in District 4, Bay Area include:
• Granite wins $30M interchange project north of LA (Construction Dive). Watsonville, California-based Granite Construction won a $30 million interchange project in the city of Lancaster, California, according to a press release. The project will make improvements at California State Route 14 and Avenue J in Lancaster, about an hour north of Los Angeles, where the highway passes over surfaces streets but currently only has two ramps to enter or exit the thoroughfare. Commuters must use surface streets to get to another partial interchange farther south to access the highway in the other directions, resulting in congestion in the area.
• Section of Highway 101 in Northern California sinks after storm (SF Gate). Nearly a mile of Highway 101 in Northern California is damaged by the the winter storms, including a section of the highway that became so waterlogged it caved in on itself, compromising both lanes. In response, Caltrans is directing one-way traffic over the eastern shoulder of the crucial roadway near the border of Mendocino and Humboldt counties. Caltrans announced the “slipout,” near Cooks Valley along a bend in the South Fork Eel River, on its social media, and reassured motorists that the agency is closely monitoring the single-lane highway.
• McGuire Announces $20 Million Allocated to Hwy 101 Solution Near County Line (Redheaded Blackbelt). California Senator, Mike McGuire has announced that $20 million in state funding has been allocated to implementing a permanent solution for the ongoing issues with Highway 101 just north of the Humboldt/Mendocino County line. The area is prone to sliding historically. It is currently down to one-way controlled traffic in the narrow two-lane section of the highway before entering Cooks Valley and Richardson Grove. The northbound lane is slipping, with large cracks expanding as the section drops towards the Eel River. Concerns mount as the cracks widen, worrying residents who use the highway to access schools and services. No viable alternate route is available if the highway becomes impassable.
• Reseda Off Ramp Update (Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council). Over 120 Porter Ranch Stakeholders joined the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council Meeting on September 14, 2022 in pursuit of answers to the question of what is going on with the closed Reseda off ramp from the westbound 118. Caltrans was on hand to explain why the off ramp was closed and what the plan was to reopen it. Present from Caltrans were Eric Menjivar the Caltrans PIO, Maria Raptis of Government Legislative Affairs, Ivan Chu Project Manager, Efraim Chavez Resident Engineer of the Project, Godson Ochavechi, Deputy District Dirctor of Maintenance Division. Caltrans explained that the source of the closure was the collapse of lanes two and three of the offramp caused by a broken connection at the storm drain manhole on Rinaldi. The broken connection is 25′ underground. The drainpipe that is underneath the off ramp has also collapsed.
• KCAL 9 just showed a news segment about the Reseda Exit off the 118 which has now been closed since April of 2022.(Nextdoor). KCAL 9 just showed a news segment about the Reseda Exit off the 118 which has now been closed since April of 2022. Just told my husband the other day that the since Cal. Dept. Of Transportation has worked at a snail’s pace with no sense of urgency, accomplishing almost nothing, with no workers on the site most days for almost a year on the project, that the rains would probably cause the entire hillside to collapse. Well, guess what? Now there is a HUGE sinkhole at the construction sight, with the entire hillside collapsed. At this rate we will be lucky if our Reseda off ramp is opened for 5 years. I wish there was a city, county or state Government official who lived in our neighborhood who has been as inconvenienced by this ramp closure as much as all of us have. Maybe the problem would’ve been repaired before it turned into what is now a huge problem. There is now only one lane open Eastbound at Rinaldi approaching Resesa. It took me 20 minutes to travel through two traffic lights there yesterday afternoon.
• ＄＄CA Hwy 41 closed between Atascadero and Morro Bay due to slide (San Luis Obispo Tribune). Drivers may have to wait a while before they can travel on Highway 41 from Atascadero to Morro Bay after this week’s storm forced the closure of the road, Caltrans said in a news release Wednesday. The complete closure of nearly three miles of the twisting, scenic state highway on the west side of Atascadero — caused by a landslide, downed trees and wires on March 14 — won’t be resolved quickly, and Caltrans spokesperson Alexa Bertola said Thursday morning that the agency doesn’t yet know what that time frame will be. “This is expected to be a long-term closure,” Caltrans said in its release. The closure is near Atascadero and spans from San Gabriel Road, about 1.6 miles from Highway 101, to the intersection with Los Altos Road, more than 11 miles from Highway 1.
• Albion Bridge Stewards lose appeal on Caltrans Navarro Point Hwy 1 project (The Mendocino Beacon). On February 10, 2023, the California Coastal Commission, in a 7-1 vote, denied the Albion Bridge Stewards’ appeal regarding a Caltrans project set for Highway 1 safety improvements adjacent to the Navarro Point Preserve. Prior to the vote, Donne Brownsey, the chairperson of the California Coastal Commission and a resident of Fort Bragg, described the project area as a “scary stretch of highway.” Without the Commission’s approval of a de novo review of the project, the Albion Bridge Stewards, a grass-roots environmental watchdog on the Mendocino coast, has no more citizen appeal options to state agencies on behalf of the land affected other than litigation. Caltrans met with the local citizenry to talk about the scope of the proposed Navarro Safety Project in September 2019. Prior to that time, the project had cleared multiple required hurdles and had been earlier granted the needed exemption required by the California Environmental Quality Agency (CEQA) in March of 2019.
• Highway 1 remains closed between Ragged Point and Deetjen’s Inn (KSBY). According to Caltrans, Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast remains closed between Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County and Deetjen’s Inn in Monterey County, due to slides and washouts from the recent winter storms. Crews say by the afternoon of Sunday March 19, a lane might be opened for residents and visitors who are currently trapped south of the closure to evacuate. Caltrans will announce the timing of this opening on social media.
• Highway 1 to Big Sur Will Be Closed for Months as Caltrans Assesses New Slides, Damage (Noozhawk). Drivers looking to experience the Big Sur coast in its entirety will have to wait for months while Caltrans repairs a series of landslides along the scenic road. On Wednesday, Caltrans crews finished assessing the latest storm-related damage to the closed stretch of Highway 1 from Ragged Point north of San Simeon to just south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn, Caltrans District 5 spokesman Kevin Drabinski wrote in a Thursday news release. The biggest problem remains the massive collapse of the hillside at the troublesome Paul’s Slide location. Drabinksi said the landslide there, which spreads across 0.4 miles of the highway, is “set for a long-term closure.”
• Here is when Highway 198 is set to reopen (YourCentralValley.com). Officials with Caltrans say they continue working with Granite Construction on the re-opening of State Route 198 east of the Fresno/Monterrey County Line. A complete closure has been set up at State Route 198 and Warthan Creek Bridge while multiple locations on a stretch of 198 between west of the city of Coalinga and the Fresno/Monterey County line are being worked on simultaneously in efforts to reopen the roadway. Granite Construction spokespeople say their crews have cleared multiple slides, removed debris from the area, and installed two of the four needed drainage systems. Through continuous storms, construction crews continue to perform several tasks including rebuilding a small section of State Route 198, repairing guardrails, reinforcing slopes, cleaning existing drainage pipes, and hydroseeding.
• ＄California’s ‘phantom lake’ returns with a vengeance, unearthing an ugly history of water (Los Angeles Times). A winter of epic snow and rain had brought California’s “phantom lake” back to life — and threatened towns and farms in the process. Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, Tulare Lake was largely drained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the rivers that fed it were dammed and diverted for agriculture. This month, after powerful storms, rivers that dwindled during the drought are swollen with runoff from heavy rains and snow, and are flowing full from the Sierra Nevada into the valley, spilling from canals and broken levees into fields.
• California’s looming snowmelt to resurrect lost Tulare Lake (Axios). California’s blockbuster wet season, with another powerful bomb cyclone currently swirling off the coast, has built up a near-record-large Sierra Nevada mountain snowpack. Why it matters: While this snow has many benefits, including replenishing depleted reservoirs, it is creating damaging floods that are sure to worsen. An area of significant concern for the melt season is associated with the southern Sierra snowpack, which drains into the San Joaquin Valley. It is there that county officials and landowners are already being forced to make agonizing decisions about which lands to flood and which to keep dry — and disputes are breaking out between landowners.
• Marin County delays demolition of San Anselmo bridge (Marin I-J). Marin County officials have delayed plans to demolish a deteriorating bridge in San Anselmo until 2024. The decision has raised hopes on the San Anselmo Town Council that the bridge could be reopened as a plaza in the meantime. “I requested and received our council’s support for the town of San Anselmo’s staff to explore the costs and necessary steps for us to reopen the plaza,” Councilmember Brian Colbert said Wednesday. The county closed the bridge in September, saying it is structurally unsound and poses a danger to the public. Members of the San Anselmo council believe the bridge could be repaired at a reasonable cost and used safely, at least temporarily.
• ＄New push to rename I-580 in Richmond after Jimmy Carter. Yes, the former president. (h/t Joe Rouse) (San Jose Mercury News). (🎩 Tip: Joe Rouse) More than three decades have passed since the John T. Knox Freeway replaced a treacherous four-lane highway stretching from Interstate 80 near Golden Gate Fields west to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The 6-mile section of Interstate 580 was named in 1980 after then-California Assemblyman Knox, who secured the final pot of money needed to begin construction. But Nat Bates, who served on the Richmond City Council at the time, says the person who really deserves credit for the highway has never gotten his rightful due. Now, at 91, Bates has kicked off a community effort to recognize the man who first got the project off the ground nearly half a century ago: former President Jimmy Carter. “Out of respect, especially in view of the fact that (98-year-old Carter) is in the hospice, we ought to generate some support and get that freeway named before we have to say goodbye to the guy,” Bates said in an interview. “There’s an old Biblical spiritual, especially when you go to funerals in the Black community, that says, ‘Give me my roses while can smell them. Don’t come bringing these roses to me when I’m dead and gone.’”
• ＄Bridge planned for Rice Avenue, site of deadly 2015 train crash (VC Star). Eight years after a deadly train crash in Oxnard, the city and Caltrans have the funding lined up for a $117 million bridge over the tracks that would prevent any future collisions of trains and vehicles. The Rice Avenue railroad crossing has long been known as one of Ventura County’s most dangerous, even before a 2015 crash between a truck and a Metrolink commuter train. The bridge is set to be finished in 2028, but the city and Caltrans recently ran into a snag in acquiring some of the property they need. Last month, the California Department of Transportation filed a lawsuit against the United Water Conservation District, a public agency that manages the Santa Clara River watershed, to take a small United Water property along Rice Avenue through eminent domain.
• ＄Freeway, highway, interstate: What’s the difference? (The Sacramento Bee). Freeways and highways each have unique qualities. Characteristics for either type of road can vary from design, speed limits and funding. It’s not hard to deny that the technicality in the road names can sometimes get confusing. What do the variation in names really mean? The Sacramento Bee spoke with transportation journalist Rob Sanders, better known as Road Guy Rob on YouTube, to discuss the differences on California’s critical ribbons of concrete and asphalt.
• Orange County traffic: Route 55 construction on track for 2026 completion date despite SoCal’s recent storms (ABC7 Los Angeles). Drivers traveling on State Route 55 Freeway between the 405 and 5 freeways are seeing the initial stages of a new improvement project take shape despite Southern California’s recent storms. The 55 freeway connects the coast to inland parts of the county. “This is a very vital stretch of freeway for Orange County,” said Eric Carpenter, spokesman for Orange County Transportation Authority. The four-mile, $475 million project broke ground last summer and is being led by the OCTA in partnership with Caltrans.
• Signage a priority for Highway 49 (Georgetown Gazette). Regarding oversized trucks in the canyon, the El Dorado County Transportation Commission adopted the State Route 49 Confluence Study at its meeting March 2. The first priority in the plan is to collaborate with Caltrans to upgrade signage to prevent oversized trucks in the canyon. Second priorities include having a California Highway Patrol advocate to increase enforcement and patrols on the corridor and change the federal designation of Highway 49 to not allow oversized trucks on Highway 49 in the Confluence.
• The State of the Roads in Northwestern California With a Look Into the Slide at the Humboldt/Mendocino County Line (Redheaded Blackbelt). All major highways are open in northwestern California. The weather is mainly cloudy with showers this afternoon and evening. This evening, snow showers could drop to 4000 feet which is above all major roadways in our area. Hwy 101 near the Humboldt/Mendocino County line has been giving Caltrans trouble since January and the series of storms that have slapped the area since then have caused even more issues. Local drone photographer Shane Traweek captured these images of the area yesterday which shows a newly paved roadway to the west of 101. According to Manny Machado, spokesperson for Caltrans, “Presently, the Milky Way slip out situation is stable as we determine the best long term repairs. We hope to expedite construction in the coming weeks. We don’t expect to need this- but in the event the section of roadway has to be fully closed, there is a detour in place, ready to be used for the traveling public.”
• Excelsior Expressway II Project (FB/Caltrans District 6). Notice of availability of a project-level air quality conformity analysis and announcement of a public open house for the Excelsior Expressway II Project on Route 41.
• Route 222/Talmage Road Open House (FB/Caltrans District 1). ROUTE 222 PUBLIC MEETING TONIGHT: We’re hosting an open house to get public input on Route 222/Talmage Road Corridor Planning in Mendocino County. We want to better understand how community members use Route 222 with a focus on bicycle and pedestrian users. Your input will inform a Corridor Management Plan that will identify short and long-term improvements for future projects.
• SR-78 closure extended by Caltrans, reopen date unknown (Fox 5 San Diego). The closure for emergency repairs of State Route 78 has been extended again by Caltrans after crews found additional damage to the the highway from recent flooding. Westbound lanes on SR-78 from College Boulevard to El Camino Real are expected to remain closed for at least another week, the agency said in a press release Sunday. It is unclear when the lanes will be reopened. Crews have been working on area for the past week to repair a metal culvert, which is a pipe used to drain water, underneath the westbound lanes that collapsed due to heavy flooding.
• Caltrans reevaluating landslides, Highway 70 remains closed (Oroville Mercury-Register). Caltrans District 2 announced that, in light of recent storms, its contractor Geotech has been revisiting the various slides that have indefinitely closed Highway 70. Since October 2022, landslides and even an avalanche have blocked large portions of the highway between the Greenville Wye to Jarbo Gap, an area that is already prone to such events in any given year. The storm systems have created even more hazards than usual. There are still four separate slides blocking the roadway with three in Plumas County and one on the Butte County side. According to the announcement press release by Caltrans, the contractor is waiting for a consistent stretch of dry days to make headway into the slides, adding that the storms have made it extremely dangerous to move the material.
• Route 41 K-Rail Expansion (FB/Caltrans District 6). Caltrans will be holding a Public Open House to discuss the Excelsior Expressway II Project. Please join us on Thursday, March 23 from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the Riverdale High School Cafeteria – 3086 W. Mount Whitney, Riverdale CA Share this post with your community members who may be interested in gaining more information on the project.
• Over $20 million worth of road repairs coming to Butte County routes (KRCR). Roads across Butte County will be receiving millions of dollars in repairs and maintenance following a recently announced allocation from the California Transportation Commission. The allocation, announced by Caltrans District 3 on Friday, guarantees over $1.1 billion for transportation repair projects across the entirety of California. Of those approved funds, over $20 million will be going towards projects in Butte County. The funds will be divided as follows:
• San Diego governments to receive millions from California for transportation fixes (Fox 5 San Diego). Millions of dollars in state funds are headed to local San Diego governments to repair transportation infrastructure, the California Transportation Commission announced Friday. The money is part of a $1.1 billion investment by the agency to fix infrastructure across the state, coming from funding through the congressional Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and a 2017 state senate bill known as the “Road Repair and Accountability Act.” The bulk of the funds headed to the region, about $37.3 million, will be allocated to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) for the region’s rail improvement program for the fifth phase of the region’s Rail Improvement Program to stabilize Del Mar Bluffs from erosion.
• Some room for improvement: Caltrans moves forward with ‘safety’ changes to SR-99 and Oswald intersection (Yuba/Colusa Appeal Democrat). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced late last week that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) approved $1.1 billion in funding that includes the planning and development of a “safety improvement project” at the intersection of State Route 99 and Oswald Road in Yuba City. According to Caltrans, $2.8 million was allocated for the plan, which has been developed in coordination with Sutter County. As previously identified by county officials, the SR-99 and Oswald intersection has been a continued cause of concern for area residents.
• Flatiron lands 4 California projects worth $617M (Construction Dive). As an example of public funding resiliency in the face of broader construction financing concerns, Flatiron has won four California agency-led projects worth a combined $704  million. I-80 and U.S. 50 corridor – $204.8 million Caltrans, the state’s DOT, tapped a Flatiron-led joint venture with Teichert to deliver a $204.8 million project along the I-80 and U.S. 50 corridor in Yolo County to enhance safety and reduce traffic. A weekend escape route for Bay Area residents looking for recreation in Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it’s the only freeway connection between San Francisco and Sacramento, and links to the I-505 connector for travelers headed north on I-5.
• CalTrans Dist. 9 Truck Climbing Lane Proposed Project on Highway 58 (Mojave Desert News). Caltrans District 9 is seeking public comment on a proposed state Route 58 truck climbing lane project according to a posting from the CalTrans District 9 Facebook page dated March 22nd. The project would be to construct a 12-foot-wide eastbound truck climbing lane on State Route 58 in Eastern Kern County from 0.8 miles east of the junction with State Route 223 to 0.4 miles west of Hart Flat Rd. near the city of Tehachapi. The project features could include; re-striping the intersection with Bealville Road to provide an eastbound acceleration lane, removal of the Bena Road at-grade intersection to eliminate conflicts with traffic entering or exiting State Route 58, increasing inside and outside shoulder width, drainage improvements, culvert enhancement to improve wildlife connectivity, guardrail and signage upgrades, relocation of lighting at the Bealville Road intersection, and additions of rumble strips.
• More than $7 million in state, federal road funds coming to Solano (Solano Daily Republic). Solano County is getting $7.5 million in state and federal transportation infrastructure dollars. The California Transportation Commission announced the distribution of $1.1 billion “for projects to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state.” The total includes $533 million from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 2021, and $190 million from the state SB 1 funds — the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. Solano’s share includes $3.8 million to rehabilitate Highway 12 and upgrade guardrails near Suisun City; and $1.7 million to install concrete barriers between Interstate 80 and Lyon Road. Also included in the county’s share is $2.4 million to upgrade bridge rails and complete the bridge deck overlay on Highway 128 near Winters.
• Transportation data at your fingertips (The Bay Link Blog). With reports on crossings for all seven of the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges, as well as weekday BART trips and newly-added Clipper® card data, MTC website visitors can see and analyze mobility trends across different transportation modes. For example, one-way crossings for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge have been generally on the rise since the COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders in March 2020. While there have been a few small dips in the number of crossings, the figures largely have held at upwards of 3.5 million crossings per day (around 92% of pre-pandemic traffic) since March 2021.
• ＄Stop Building New Highways to Nowhere (Bloomberg). One of the many devious designs of Robert Moses, Baltimore’s “Highway to Nowhere” has stood as a 1.4-mile gash through the western part of the city for decades. A trench of traffic, these six lanes symbolize so much of what our nation got wrong with its urban highways. More than 1,000 homes and businesses were razed and a vibrant community was broken apart by the highway’s construction in the 1970s. It was a miserable failure — even by the ostensible goal of connecting white suburbanites to their downtown offices.
• Digging a Little Deeper Into Metro’s FY23-24 Proposed Highway Budget (Streetsblog Los Angeles). Tonight at 6 p.m. Metro will host a Telephone Town Hall meeting about the agency’s upcoming budget. Metro is currently developing its FY2023-24 budget, expected to be around $8  billion. The final budget typically goes to the board for approval in late May, when it’s a high stakes up/down vote, with very little room for modifications or even clarifications. Streetsblog attended a 2022 Metro budget Town Hall meeting [tweet thread], and found it a singularly poor venue for participants to actually express their views on the Metro budget. Metro leaders made presentations about the agency and its budget, touting work on equity and climate, and failing to mention things like freeway widening. Metro took various questions, mostly unrelated to the budget, mostly focused on transit operations and security. During the meeting, Metro polled attendees, also about things unrelated to the budget, including “how did you hear about this meeting?” and “did you find this meeting informative?”
• Southbound I-5 lane closures could be in place for a while (SCV Signal). Drivers heading back and forth through the Grapevine will now have to deal with another potential delay after what a Caltrans official Thursday described as a “historic amount of rainfall” created a landslide that collapsed the shoulder on the southbound lanes of Interstate 5. A stretch of the two right-most lanes on I-5, north of Templin Highway, will remain closed while the repairs are underway, according to Mike Comeaux, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
• High-speed rail collaborates with Kings County leaders to open crucial access road (YourCentralValley.com). A major roadway in and out of the city of Corcoran is now open for everyone. Levee breaches and the return of the old Tulare Lake, flooded many of the roads there, and leaders have requested the California High-Speed Rail Authority open East Whitley Avenue to the general public. Highway 137 or East Whitley Avenue was set to be closed for construction for the better part of this year while work on the high-speed rail project continued, but through a request from city and county leaders, the road is now open.  “A lot of our access routes right now are not usable just due to the flooding,” said Greg Gatzka, city manager with the city of Corcoran. A map of the city shows lots of roads in red that are flooded and closed as of Monday morning, including Highway 43.

Gribblenation Blog (Tom Fearer)

• California State Route 6 and the second California State Route 26. The original California State Route 6 was one of the original Sign State Routes announced during August 1934. As originally configured California State Route 6 was aligned from California State Route 3 in Santa Monica east to California State Route 39 near Fullerton. California State Route 6 was swapped to the second designation of California State Route 26 during 1937 to make way for US Route 6 to be extended into California. Beginning during the early 1940s the second California State Route 26 became a gapped route when it was bisected by US Route 101 Bypass. The second California State Route 26 is heavily tied to the development of Olympic Boulevard which wasn’t complete until 1948. The gap in California State Route 26 was resolved during 1951 with the truncation of Legislative Route Number 171. California State Route 26 and Olympic Boulevard would gradually be replaced as Interstate 10 and the Santa Monica Freeway were constructed from 1957-1965.
• 1968 Federal Highway Act – State Interstate Highway Additions Requests (GN/Adam). The 1968 Federal-Aid Highway Act expanded the Interstate Highway system an additional 1,500 miles – increasing the overall network to 42,500 miles. During a series of public hearings and correspondences, the House Subcommittee on Roads, chaired by Illinois Congressman John Kluczynski, would help craft the legislation that authorized funding and the designation of the new corridors. On May 15, 1968, Chairman Kluczynski sent a telegram to every state highway/transportation department. His request asked each state to return on their state’s additional Interstate Highway needs as soon as possible with the approximate mileage and location. He also asked if they intended to attend sub-committee hearings that were scheduled to begin on May 23.
• California State Route 54. California State Route 54 is an 11-mile discontinuous State Highway located in the San Diego area. The western segment of California State Route 54 between Interstate 5 and California State Route 125 is aligned over the Filipino American Highway (formerly the South Bay Freeway). The eastern portion of California State Route 54 exists as a surface highway between California State Route 94 and the southern city limit of El Cajon. Prior to 1999 California State Route 54 passed through El Cajon via Jamacha Road and 2nd Street where it terminated at Interstate 8. Much of the unconstructed 5-mile segment of California State Route 54 between California State Route 125 and California State Route 94 follows the general corridor of San Diego County Route S17 on Jamacha Boulevard.
• The original California State Route 243 on the San Gabriel River Freeway. The original California State Route 243 was a designation of the San Gabriel River Freeway north of Interstate 10 to Interstate 210. The original California State Route 243 was designated during the 1964 State Highway Renumbering over what had been a 1959 extension of Legislative Route Number 170. The original California State Route 243 was re-designed as part of Interstate 605 when the chargeable Interstate corridors in Southern California were amended during 1968. The San Gabriel River Freeway between Interstate 10 and Interstate 210 would open to traffic during 1971.
• Former California State Route 49-108 on Main Street in Jamestown. Jamestown is a community located in Tuolumne County in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Jamestown was founded during 1848 and is one of the many traditional Gold Rush towns located along California State Route 49. The original alignment of California State Route 49 in Jamestown was located along Main Street. California State Route 49 along Main Street in Jamestown was joined by a multiplex of California State Route 108 likely during the late 1940s. California State Route 49 and California State Route 108 were moved to a bypass alignment west of Main Street in Jamestown during the 1970s. California State Route 49 can be seen passing through Jamestown along Main Street on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Tuolumne County.
• US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway. The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County. The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s. US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935. US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68. As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934. US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County.