🚘 Headlines About California Highways – October 2026

As I write this, we’re just past the night where masked hooligans go from house to house demanding protection candy, and everyone is decorating their houses to with purportedly scary images. But there are things even more scary on TV, text messages, and email: Ads for Medicare Advantage and political ads. Further, we’re all having to deal with something even more scary: Midterm Elections. But that will pass soon, and hopefully any aftermath will settle down quickly. I will primarily urge you to vote, because voting is what is important. If you want to know what I think on the election, every election I do a ballot deep dive. You’re welcome to peruse it and tell me what I’ve got wrong. It’s a little late for me (as I’ve dropped my ballot off), but you still might convince one of my many readers.

In terms of other thing that are happening this time of year: Christmas ads have already started up; I wonder what happened to the custom of not starting Christmas advertising until after Thanksgiving. Ah, the chase for the almighty dollar in bad economic times. It just reminds us non-Christians that we’re in the minority. The other major thing for me is the IEEE Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, which this year is the week of December 7 at the Hilton Universal City. If you are involved with cybersecurity, come to ACSAC; the program is now available online and registration is open.

Lastly, since the September headlines post, the July–September updates to the California Highways site have been posted.

As always, we start with updates on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast: Season 5 is written through 5.10. Next to be written is 5.11 on Route 22, and next to be researched is Route 23. I’m also going to be turning my post on the pre-history of Camp Hess Kramer in Malibu into the first bonus episode. Tom loves the history of the highways in the Sierras; I love the history of the Malibu Mountains. Episode 5.03 was recorded a few days ago, and I should have it edited and up during the next week. Zencaster is working well for recording the podcast, and I hope we’ve solved the microphone problems. 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:

• October | CA RxR 5.02: I-15 and I-215 (Part 2): Temecula to Devore (including Route 31 and Route 194). Episode 5.02 is the second of three episodes on Route 15. In this episode, we explore I-15 between Temecula and Devore. This exploration covers both the historical route, US 395, which became I-15E and later I-215, as well as the replacement route that became today’s I-15. We cover all the LRNs that made up the route, the pre-freeway routings in the cities along the route, and the transition of the route into today. We also cover major projects along the route, including the Mid-County Parkway, as well a some names along the route (including the Naming Hall of Shame). This is the middle of three episodes on Route 15: 5.01 covered Route 15 between San Diego and Temecula, and 5.03 will cover Route 15 from Devore to the Nevada Border. (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 October 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

• James Dean Memorial Highway (FB/Caltrans District 5). A portion of the new Highway 46 alignment in Cholame is now officially the James Dean Memorial Highway—not just in memory of the iconic actor, but in remembrance of everyone whose lives have been lost along this corridor. Yesterday’s ceremony marked 71 years since Dean’s tragic crash, and local leaders, CHP, and community advocates came together with one message: safer roads save lives.
• ＄ Golden Gate Bridge retrofit prepares for California’s next big quake (SF Chronicle). Motorists who cross the Golden Gate Bridge at night next week will drive past a landscape of work trucks and scaffolding, the most visible sign yet of a $1.8 billion effort to gird the span for a major earthquake. Crews will block off the three southbound lanes to make room for a crane, which will hoist materials through the bridge’s suspender cables and over the side rails. Piece by piece, workers will assemble 230,000 square feet of temporary platforms, decking that will allow them to toil high above the Pacific Ocean as traffic rumbles overhead. Their task is herculean. Over the next 10 years, hundreds of engineers and ironworkers will strengthen floor beams, install new struts, swap out the X-patterned latticework beneath the road bed, affix plates to the base of each tower, and mount giant shock absorbers to dissipate force when the earth gives way. They will skillfully maneuver 5 million pounds of steel through ropes that are placed 50 feet apart, placing everything with millimeter precision into a maze of existing metal. They will perform construction that amounts to fine art in a punishing marine environment, lashed by wind and shrouded in fog and darkness. (Archived)
• $25 Million to LA MTA for Route 71 (US Dept of Transportation |🎩 Plutonic Panda). U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today announced a $426 million investment into critical infrastructure projects in 12 states through the Department’s Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects (INFRA) program. The Department is making investments to address the top congestion bottlenecks in the country, expand capacity for critical bypasses that serve thousands of freight trucks daily, and add multiple lanes to some of America’s busiest highways. The investments will go towards building great, big, beautiful infrastructure projects, including: […] • $25 million for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to deliver direct safety benefits by converting a congested four-lane expressway into an eight-lane standard freeway with median barriers and auxiliary lanes, implementing a safety strategy that targets a corridor collision rate 30 percent above the statewide average. The project also eliminates a critical freight bottleneck on the National Highway System.
• California’s “James Dean Memorial Highway” is now official (KTLA). A stretch of highway where James Dean was killed is now officially the “James Dean Memorial Highway.” The memorial comes 71 years after 24-year-old actor James Dean died on one of the main roads taken to get from the Central Valley to the Central Coast. On Sept. 30, 1955, the iconic actor was driving his 550 Porsche Spyder convertible with his German Porsche mechanic Rolf Wütherich. They were on their way to a race in Salinas.
• Vincent Thomas Bridge to close for 16 months. Here’s what to know (KTLA). In a few weeks, the Vincent Thomas Bridge will begin a major construction project to replace its aging deck. The bridge will fully close for 16 months beginning Nov. 1, according to Caltrans. The deck replacement project costs $752.8 million. The Vincent Thomas Bridge was built in 1963 and has been in service for more than 60 years. Although it’s structurally sound, its deck is rapidly deteriorating. According to Caltrans, the deterioration results from concrete fatigue due to heavy traffic loads, as well as environmental deterioration from age and the marine environment.
• Matthews Road Interchange Project (FB/Caltrans District 10). Caltrans will soon begin construction of the I-5 Mathews Road Interchange Improvement Project to help mitigate traffic impacts associated with the recently-opened Richard A. Pittman VA clinic & living center in French Camp.

• ＄ Speed cameras caught 100,000 violations on Malibu’s PCH in just nine days (Los Angeles Times). Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu is one of Southern California’s most breathtaking drives — but also one of its deadliest. The 21-mile stretch of winding coastal road has claimed more than 60 lives since 2010, and repeated efforts to improve safety have yielded mixed results. Recently, the city turned to a new tactic: installing speed cameras along the highway. The early findings have been dramatic. Even though the cameras aren’t yet issuing official tickets — the program must undergo a 60-day warning period in November — preliminary testing data captured approximately 100,000 speeding violations over the course of nine days last month.
• 66-mile Calif. mountain highway opens only once every few years (SF Gate). Last August, the full length of Angeles Crest Highway reopened for the first time in years, allowing hikers, campers, classic car drivers and others full access to the east-west road that cuts through the center of Angeles National Forest. When not closed for repairs, the famous mountain road takes travelers from just north of Los Angeles all the way out to the Cajon Pass, which connects California’s high desert with the Inland Empire below. It took years for Caltrans to repair damage from the “relentless storms” in the winter of 2022-2023, which collapsed parts of the roadway and caused rockslides, according to Caltrans.
• ＄ Carmel-by-the-Sea got addresses for the first time ever. Voter confusion ensued (Los Angeles Times). The late-September postcard from the Monterey County elections office — with all-caps text saying “ACTION REQUIRED” — rattled the denizens of quaint Carmel-by-the-Sea. The notice said all residents needed to update their voter registration. It was sent days before ballots were mailed for the Nov. 3 election. Carmel-by-the-Sea just got numbered street addresses for the first time in its 110-year history. After decades of debate — and months of nitpicking a draft map released earlier this year — every house, business and government building was assigned its final number in September.
• USDOT Awards $25 Million Grant to Metro for SR-71 Gap Closure Safety Project (LA Metro). The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced it awarded Metro a $25 million federal grant to advance the State Route 71 (SR-71) Gap Closure Phase 2 Project in the City of Pomona. “We are grateful to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for providing this vital federal funding for the State Route 71 Gap Closure Phase 2 Project,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. “We are also deeply appreciative of the strong support from U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff and members of the LA County Congressional Delegation.”
• Caltrans Begins Tobin Preservation Project on State Route 70 with Traffic Delays Expected (Sierra Daily News). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans District 2) and American Pavement Systems, Inc. will begin work on the Tobin Preservation Project on State Route 70 in Plumas County. The $2.9 million project will provide an asphalt rubber chip seal with isolated areas of concrete dig outs on SR 70 near Tobin, from the Butte/Plumas County line to 2 miles east of Chambers Creek Bridge. The project will also include shoulder work and the removal/replacement of thermoplastic markings. Construction activities are currently planned to start on Monday, October 12. Motorists will encounter one-way traffic control with up to 15-minute delays, Monday through Friday during daytime hours. Motorists are urged to slow down and drive carefully in and around construction areas, follow speed limit reductions in place, and allot extra time for delays. The project is anticipated to be completed by mid-November.
• Caltrans Announces $69 Million Pacific Coast Highway Paving Project (MyNewsLA). A $69 million pavement rehabilitation project along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu will begin later this month, bringing weekday construction and potential traffic delays to a stretch of the coastal roadway, Caltrans announced Friday. Construction will begin Oct. 27 along Pacific Coast Highway, also known as state Route 1, between Malibu Lagoon and the Ventura County line, according to the California Department of Transportation. Work is scheduled from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, with at least one traffic lane remaining open in each direction while construction is underway, officials said.
• In 2021, California added torn-up roofing shingles to asphalt on State Route 49; every project mix met the state’s performance-related specifications (The Times of India). Ten million tonnes of outdated asphalt shingles are thought to wind up in landfills in the US each year. That is a wasteful practice because asphalt, the sticky binder that holds a road surface together, makes up 20 to 30% of a typical shingle. Despite the fact that highway engineers had been aware of this for decades, the majority of agencies continued to exercise caution when installing crushed roof tear-offs on crowded public roadways. No one wants to learn that lesson on a state highway, where the wrong mix can lead to broken surfaces, early repairs and paying for the work twice. California finally tried it in November 2021. Crews paved four short test sections on State Route 49 in El Dorado County, in the Sierra Nevada foothills just south of Placerville. At the same time, researchers from the University of California Pavement Research Centre monitored the work for Caltrans. In their report, every mix submitted for approval and quality control, including those with ground-up shingles, passed the state’s two performance-related tests. That is a clear pass in the laboratory. Since then, the road itself has told a more complicated story.
• REMINDER: Southbound 101 Closure Starting Tomorrow at the Eureka Slough Bridge (Redheaded Blackbelt). USE DETOUR AT THESE TIMES FOR SOUTHBOUND 101 AT EUREKA SLOUGH BRIDGE: Southbound U.S. 101 at the Eureka Slough Bridge will be fully closed for construction during the following times:
• Federal STIP (FB/Caltrans HQ). Caltrans prepared California’s 2027 Federal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (FSTIP) with regional partners, prioritizing $72 billion of transportation projects to receive federal funding in 2027-2030. If you would like to provide input on FSTIP, you can submit a public comment through October 30.
• Highway 101 Lane Additions in Montecito to Reach Completion By End of 2026 (KEYT News Channel 3-12). The latest freeway widening segment of Highway 101 in Montecito is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The latest freeway widening segment of Highway 101 in Montecito is scheduled for completion by the end of 2026. There will be new carpool lanes and ramps similar to the other segments that continues to move the widening project forward towards a final connection with the three lanes in each direction in Santa Barbara. The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) has been getting regular updates from the contractor and Caltrans.
• I-605 Katella Offramp (FB/605 Katella Project). Realignment of the southbound I-605 Katella Avenue loop off-ramp is complete. This work is part of ongoing improvements in the area. Stay informed on project updates at octa.net/605Katella.
• Route 71 Freeway Widening (FB/San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership). Southbound commuters rejoice: Federal elected officials have announced that a $25M grant has been secured to complete the second phase of the 71 freeway widening through Pomona. The Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation provides the remaining funding needed to finish the project. The San Gabriel Valley Tribune has the full story.
• ＄ Solano and Yolo counties to reopen historic Stevenson Bridge on Oct. 10 (The Reporter). Solano and Yolo counties will reopen the historic Stevenson Bridge on Saturday, Oct. 10, following completion of the major bridge rehabilitation work. Stevenson Bridge spans Putah Creek and Solano County Department of Resource Management officials said it provides an important connection between Solano and Yolo counties. The more than 100-year-old bridge is a designated historical landmark and is recognized as a rare example of a reinforced concrete through tied-arch bridge. (Archived)
• ＄ A major North Bay highway is set to shut down to prepare for El Nino (SF Chronicle). A major North Bay highway is set to close for three days next weekend as workers scramble to spare it from flooding. Highway 37, the scenic and notoriously dysfunctional commuter route from Interstate 80 in Vallejo to the Highway 101 junction in Novato, is the only Bay Area infrastructure on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s list of 21 El Niño emergency projects. State transportation officials are working to plan and fund an ambitious overhaul of the 21-mile stretch, which gets swamped by storm water each winter and is in danger of sinking into the bay by 2050. (Archived)
• ＄ How California plans to protect Yosemite’s Highway 140 from rockslides (SF Chronicle). Near the end of the drive to Yosemite National Park, Highway 140 comes to an abrupt stop. A pair of traffic lights installed deep in a canyon direct cars one by one across two steel truss bridges that cut over the Merced River. This route bypasses the Ferguson Slide, which buried the road in rocks and debris in 2006. Peer out the windshield and you’ll see a cliff face draped in steel netting, and the frantic efforts of Caltrans workers to stop nature. Over summer the agency began building a 675-foot rock shed over the highway, meant to restore the vulnerable segment so it can open in five years. When finished, the vaulted concrete arch will offer vehicles safe passage through a crumbling mountainside. Its big, sturdy piers will feel at once man-made and strangely organic, a medieval fortress that evokes the granite bulk of El Capitan. (Archived)
• ＄ Vincent Thomas Bridge to close for 16 months, raising fears of traffic and pollution (Los Angeles Times). After years of planning, California transportation officials are preparing to shut down the Vincent Thomas Bridge on Nov. 7 to replace its deck. The bridge will be closed to all traffic for 16 months. Locals aren’t looking forward to increased traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, and disruptions to operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Caltrans said the deck replacement is necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the bridge and improve safety for maintenance workers, truck drivers and the traveling public.
• Caltrans targets Biggs intersection after 8 injuries in 5 years (Action News Now). Caltrans District 3 is proposing a safety improvement project at the State Route 99 and Rio Bonito Road intersection near Biggs in Butte County. The goal is to create a safer and more reliable intersection for all roadway users. According to Caltrans, over a 5-year period from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2024, a total of 15 crashes occurred at this intersection, including 8 injuries. All crashes were broadside and were caused by a failure to yield. The project will study, design and construct an alternative intersection control measure such as a roundabout or traffic signal. State Route 99 serves as an interregional route connecting rural communities with larger metropolitan areas.
• ＄ Yolo County Supervisor Angel Barajas brings Caltrans to discuss State Route 16 project (Daily Democrat). Following concerns raised by Upper Capay Valley residents regarding the proposed State Route 16 Cache Creek Rehabilitation Project, the California Department of Transportation held a community meeting in Guinda earlier this month, at the request of Yolo County District 5 Supervisor Angel Barajas. Residents throughout the Upper Capay Valley have raised questions about the size and potential impacts of the proposed project and have expressed a desire to speak directly with Caltrans representatives before the project moves forward. On Sept. 23, Supervisor Barajas formally requested that Caltrans hold an in-person community town hall in Guinda to give residents an opportunity to better understand the project, ask questions and provide meaningful input. (Archived)
• California Street Offramp, US 101, Ventura (FB/VC Sun). Ever get off the 101 on California Street and feel like saying a prayer? Ventura city has had a plan in place to relocate the off-ramp to Oak Street for years. The $50 million potential CalTrans project could include replacing the California Street bridge and buying the properties of Rip Curl and Tacos El Diablo. Read our deep dive into Ventura’s plan to relocate the California Street off-ramp online and hear what the city manager, deputy mayor and Assemblymember Steve Bennett have to say about it.
• City council seeks traffic signal study for crossing near Malibu Seafood (The Malibu Times). A long-discussed effort to provide safer pedestrian access across Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu Seafood took a new direction Monday, as the City Council asked staff to pursue a study of a street-level crossing with a conventional traffic signal rather than move forward with the proposed under crossing study. At the Oct. 12 meeting, council members raised concerns about the cost, flooding risks and construction challenges of building a pedestrian tunnel near the beach. But they also emphasized that leaving people to navigate the busy highway without a nearby marked crossing remains a safety problem. The council approved a motion without opposition directing staff to return to Los Angeles County Metro to request permission to use project funding for a study of a signalized, street-level pedestrian crossing, potentially including advance signal warnings and a center median barrier.
• Palos Verdes Weighs $6M Expansion Of Landslide Engineering Contract (Palos Verdes, CA Patch). Rancho Palos Verdes officials are considering a $6 million expansion of an engineering contract to advance permanent repairs across the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, where shifting ground has damaged homes, roads and infrastructure. The proposal, scheduled for consideration Tuesday, Oct. 20, would increase the city’s contract with Geosyntec Consultants from $1,100,200 to $7,100,200, allowing the firm to complete engineering designs for two major landslide remediation projects.
• Ħ I-10 Widening, 1970s. (FB/Jay Scott Shannon). Looking south on Citrus Street from Garvey Avenue, West Covina, early 1972, the last year of the original configuration of the San Bernardino Freeway. Later in 1972, work would begin to widen I-10 to 4 lanes in each direction, upgrade undercrossings, and realign ramps and service roads. Project was completed in 1974. Source: Covina Past on Facebook.
• Overnight lane and ramp closures to snarl 405 freeway traffic through the Sepulveda Pass (Santa Monica Mirror). Motorists traveling through the Sepulveda Pass should prepare for significant late-night delays next week as state transportation crews begin widespread pavement rehabilitation along Interstate 405. Caltrans announced that workers will implement overnight lane reductions, ramp shutdowns, and major connector closures along the 405 freeway from Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 23. Work is scheduled each night from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to accommodate paving work and K-rail barrier installation. To enhance safety around work zones, officials are lowering the speed limit to 55 mph across selected northbound and southbound stretches.
• ＄ Petaluma River Bridge work to affect Highway 37 traffic (Petaluma Argus-Courier). Crews began working on a rehabilitation project at the Marin-Sonoma county line along Highway 37 on Monday, Oct. 19, Caltrans announced, with construction causing partial road closures throughout the week. Roadwork was set to begin Monday and continue through the morning of Saturday, Oct. 24 as crews re-stripe and place temporary concrete barriers on the Petaluma River Bridge, according to a Caltrans traffic advisory. The work will cause two of the bridge’s four lanes to be closed for each of those days — one eastbound from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and one westbound from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m., the agency said. (Archived)
• Freeport Bridge to close for much of November. What Sacramento drivers need to know (h/t M3100) (MSN/Sacramento Bee | 🎩 M3100). The Freeport Bridge, which connects South River Road near Clarksburg in Yolo County to Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento County, will be closed during daytime hours throughout November for repairs, according to a Yolo County news release. “We understand that this significant closure period will especially impact Yolo County’s Clarksburg area residents and business owners,” County Supervisor Oscar Villegas said in a news release. “Though it is a long construction period, the effort spent by Sacramento County and Yolo County to complete these necessary structural weld repairs will provide many years of safe, future use of this important Sacramento River crossing in the region.”
• ＄FLAGS Rancho Cordova approves $2.2M increase for Hwy. 50 bridge (Sacramento Bee). The Rancho Cordova City Council unanimously approved a $2.2 million increase to a contract with the engineering firm working on the city’s new pedestrian bridge over Highway 50. The Zinfandel Drive Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing Project will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross Highway 50 near Zinfandel Drive, between Folsom Boulevard and White Rock Road, connecting parts of Rancho Cordova separated by the highway. The route will also pass beneath Gold Center Drive, the Highway 50 eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp, with a tied-arch bridge spanning the highway. (Archived)
• ＄ Huge crack along PCH will take at least $4 million to fix, officials say (Los Angeles Times). Caltrans has secured millions in emergency funding to fix a large crack that has developed in the slope below Pacific Coast Highway near Laguna Beach. The crack near the Moro Beach section of Crystal Cove is estimated to be 360 feet long and 2 feet wide. It was first spotted earlier this month after high tides and waves smashed into the slope. As of Tuesday, Caltrans had secured $4 million in emergency funding to fix the crack and was expecting approval from California State Parks and the California Coastal Commission to close both southbound lanes of PCH and convert one of the northbound lanes into a southbound lane, according to Caltrans spokesperson Christianne Smith.
• Ħ Old US 66 (FB/David Bernbaum). This abandoned stretch of U.S. Route 66 on the California side of the Colorado River, near Topock, once carried travelers to and from the Old Trails Bridge, visible in the distance on the left. In 1947, the roadway was bypassed when the Red Rock Bridge opened to traffic. Today, it serves as a PG&E access road, with much of its original guardrail still intact.
• Route 20 Bridge Over I-80 (FB/Caltrans District 3). Reminder, concrete pour is scheduled tonight for the new I-80 bridge span that crosses State Route 20. For safety eastbound SR 20 will be closed 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 20 through 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 21. Use SR 49 and SR 174 (passenger vehicles only) as a detour. Check #QuickMap for any updates and real-time roadway conditions.
• ＄ Feds grant Kern COG $1.37M to study designating Highway 58 part of Interstate 40 (Bakersfield.Com | 🎩 FightingIrish). A federal grant announced Tuesday will fund an in-depth look at the cost and benefits of reclassifying Highway 58 as the western extension of Interstate 40, which could bring upgrades to the thoroughfare and support economic development in Kern County. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the $1.37 million grant to the region’s transportation planning agency, the Kern Council of Governments, after hearing from local congressmen and municipalities supportive of the change. (Archived)
• I-10 Between Calimesa and Beaumont (FB/Caltrans District 8). Reminder! I-10 between Calimesa and Beaumont. ⛔️Mon-Thus 9pm to 6am / Friday 11pm to 7am.🚦A temporary traffic signal remains in place for approximately 3 months at Brookside and Desert Lawn.🚦 Temporary drainage system installs will take place in center median from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. K-rail in place.. Be aware‼️Temporary striping shifts traffic to outside lanes. 🚧⛔️Alternating lane closures throughout the zone. 🚧 Bridge demo locations – alternate ped access available.
• Placer Parkway Construction. (FB/Placer County Government). Placer Parkway construction continues to move forward! Crews are making progress on the new interchange as bridge construction approaches. Here’s what’s next:
• ＄ Caltrans begins work to stabilize Crystal Cove slope (Los Angeles Times). Traffic has been restricted to one lane in each direction on a scenic stretch of Pacific Coast Highway near Crystal Cove as crews work to address the issue of a fissure discovered last week along a coastal slope beneath the road. California Department of Transportation has said a drone survey model of the Newport Coast-based crack, along an ocean-facing coastal bluff near the Moro Beach section of Crystal Cove State Park, has estimated it to be up to 360 feet in length, reaching a width of up to 2 feet. Workers first discovered the crack on Oct. 10, according to Caltrans, which initially moved to shut down the southbound right lane between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive as a precaution.
• ＄ Napa transportation want $85 million Highway 29 flyover (Napa Valley Register). Transportation leaders have made it official — a flyover is their preferred way to untie the traffic knot at the Highway 29/Highway 12/Airport Boulevard intersection south of Napa. The Napa Valley Transportation Authority staff previously recommended what they call the “elevated direct connector ramp” out of three possibilities. The agency’s board of directors agreed on Oct. 21. “I do think it will dramatically reduce the congestion at that intersection,” said Mark Joseph, an American Canyon City Council member and NVTA board member. (Archived)
• Vincent Thomas Bridge Detours (FB/Pier Trucker LA-LB). Vincent Thomas Bridge Closing Nov. 7 for 16 Months — Attention Drivers! The Vincent Thomas Bridge (State Route 47) in San Pedro will close for 16 months beginning Saturday, Nov. 7 at 12:01 a.m. to allow Caltrans to replace the bridge deck. (picture shows detour route between San Pedro and Long Beach)
• News Release: California Expands Statewide Road Safety Efforts with Three New Designated Safety Corridors in Fresno and Los Angeles Counties (Caltrans). California is expanding its efforts to prevent fatal and serious injury crashes with the designation of two new State Priority Safety Corridors (SPSC) in Fresno and Los Angeles counties, advancing a statewide initiative that combines infrastructure improvements, public education and targeted enforcement to make roads safer for all. California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin joined Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and local leaders today to announce new corridors along Millerton Road in Fresno County and West Manchester Avenue in Los Angeles County. The designations build on California’s statewide road safety policy introduced in October 2025 to establish an interim goal of reducing fatal and serious injury crashes by 30% by 2035, with a long-term vision of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.
• Ħ Why Isn’t There a Freeway to Beverly Hills? (PBS SoCal). It’s the missing link of L.A.’s freeway network: the 2, a direct connection between the Westside’s 405 and Hollywood’s 101. Known to planners as the Beverly Hills Freeway, this 9.3-mile cross-town superhighway would have relieved pressure on the 10 and provided local freeway access to West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Century City. It also would have torn through some of L.A.’s wealthiest residential districts – a fact that ultimately relegated plans for the freeway to the trash bin. When traffic planners first envisioned the freeway in the early 1940s, they sketched it with a broad stroke on the city’s map, labeling it the “Santa Monica Parkway” because it roughly followed the path of Santa Monica Boulevard. (Today’s Santa Monica Freeway, completed in 1965, was born on the same map as the “Olympic Parkway.”) By the time planners plotted the planned highway’s precise course in 1965, it had earned a new name – the Beverly Hills Freeway – as well as the wrath of local communities.
• I-5 Glendale Off Ramp (FB/City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering). Construction is underway on the I-5 Glendale Boulevard on-ramp realignment as part of the Glendale-Hyperion Complex of Bridges Project! 🏗️🛣️ This work will accommodate the future widening of the southbound Glendale Boulevard Bridge.
• Highway 1 Task Force (State of California). Executive Order
• ＄ California county abandons repair plans for crumbling coastal road ahead of El Niño-fueled winter (Los Angeles Times). Humboldt County officials have long debated what to do about Centerville Road, a narrow, twisting byway that leads to an eroding rural beach and a handful of homes. The rising, warming sea and ferocious winter storms have battered the road. Often, it is completely covered by sand and saltwater. Nearly two years ago, the Humboldt County Department of Public Works pitched a solution to the California Coastal Commission: Local officials wanted to elevate a 0.17-mile segment of Centerville Road by 10 feet and build a revetment, a sloping layer of rocks on the sand meant to protect it from the pounding surf, at least for a few years.
• ＄ Why you should drive Highway 120 this fall (Los Angeles Times). If you’ve ever found yourself driving along Highway 395, chances are good you’ve been craning your head west toward the Range of Light, staring at the formidable granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada. I wouldn’t blame you. The escarpment rises precipitously from the sagebrush-covered valley floor, climbing through pinyon and juniper woodlands into thick pine forests. Deep, twisted canyons cut into the mountainsides, their channels lined with aspen, before the forests give way to the exposed granite slopes and summits rising above 14,000 feet.
• Payomkawish Highway (FB/Caltrans District 11). Caltrans District 11 Deputy Director of Planning and Local Assistance, Jose Marquez joined the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, Assemblymember Laurie Davies and former Assemblymember Marie Waldron to unveil a dedication sign and rename a section of SR-76. This designation formally recognizes the Luiseño people’s enduring connection to the San Diego region as the Payomkawish (People of the West).
• Long Beach’s $73 Million Plan Would Replace Busy Roadway With Parkland (Long Beach, CA Patch). A busy stretch of roadway that cuts through one of Long Beach’s downtown parks is set to make way for acres of green space under a $73 million transformation that would reconnect neighborhoods, expand recreational facilities and make the waterfront easier to reach on foot or by bicycle. The project would move the northbound lanes of Shoreline Drive west, alongside the southbound lanes near the Los Angeles River, eliminating the road that currently divides César Chávez Park and forces visitors to cross traffic traveling toward the 710 Freeway.
• ＄ Emperor Norton’s name on Bay Bridge? Is 2027 finally the year? (SF Chronicle). As long as we’ve envisioned bridges crossing the San Francisco Bay, there have been people wanting to name them after Emperor Joshua Norton. The 1800s Barbary Coast legend, who may have been insane and continues to be beloved, in 1872 ordered a bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco, using Yerba Buena Island as a midpoint. A decade after the Bay Bridge opened, Chronicle columnist Herb Caen took up the Norton cause in 1947, lobbying for the emperor’s name on a new, never-built second span from Army Street to Alameda. “Shouldn’t that second Bay Bridge, if any, be named after Emperor Norton — who first thought of spanning our puddle about 75 years ago?” Caen wrote. (Archived)
• Building Plan Bay Area 2060 (The Bay Link Blog). Earlier today, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) kicked off Plan Bay Area 2060 — the next major update to the region’s long-range plan — during a joint workshop of the Commission and the ABAG Executive Board. Plan Bay Area charts a course for the next 30 years of public investments and policy decisions, focusing on the interrelated planning for transportation, housing, land use and the environment across the nine-county region. Each new iteration of Plan Bay Area does a lot; it updates growth forecasts and prioritizes areas to accommodate future population and job growth; it identifies viable paths to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change; it strategizes how to fund the operations, maintenance and improvements of our transportation network; and it thinks through how to update and make progress across the region on a shared vision for the future.
• US 101 Speed Limit: Eureka to Arcata (FB/Caltrans District 1). 60 MPH RETURNING TO U.S. 101 BETWEEN EUREKA AND ARCATA: Years of safety improvements have created the conditions for Caltrans to restore the corridor’s posted speed limit from 50 to 60 mph, with the change expected early next week.
• Public Open House for State Route 68 Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan Set for Wednesday, Nov 4 (Caltrans). Caltrans and the Transportation Agency for Monterey County would like to invite all interested stakeholders to attend a public open house to learn and provide input for an upcoming State Route 68 Comprehensive Multimodal Corridor Plan (CMCP). This plan supports eligibility for future improvements funded through Senate Bill 1’s Solutions for Congested Corridors Program. A CMCP identifies transportation needs and strategies to enhance safety, mobility, and connectivity for all users along the corridor. It prioritizes improvements through coordination with Caltrans, local agencies, and communities while helping advance projects toward future funding opportunities.
• State expands data-driven road safety efforts to I-880 corridor (The Bay Link Blog). California is expanding its efforts to prevent fatal and serious injury crashes by designating a roughly 10-mile stretch of Interstate 880, between Union City and San Leandro in Alameda County, as the Bay Area’s first State Priority Safety Corridor. The heavily traveled I-880 corridor serves commuters, freight operators and surrounding communities, connecting residential neighborhoods, and major transportation routes throughout the East Bay. Between 2020 and 2024, the corridor experienced 87 fatal and serious injury crashes, resulting in 14 fatalities and 136 serious injuries. The safety initiative seeks out safety measures using crash data from public roadways, including state highways, city streets and county roads, to identify locations with elevated concentrations of fatal and serious injury crashes.
• Newsom orders a storm plan for Highway 1, including the Mendocino coast (The Mendocino Voice). Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday ordered state agencies to find the stretches of Highway 1 most at risk from El Niño storms this winter. The order puts preventive work ahead of the storms. On the Mendocino coast, Caltrans closed Highway 1 twice last winter for flooding near the Garcia River, north of Point Arena. The road closed Dec. 21, 2025, and again Feb. 24, 2026, Caltrans spokesperson Manny Machado said in an email Oct. 21. Newsom signed the order at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach. It creates a Highway 1 Task Force led by the California State Transportation Agency and the California Natural Resources Agency.
• I-80 Yolo Corridor Improvements Earns Caltrans Gold Partnering Award (California Builder & Engineer). Northern California’s I-80 Yolo Corridor Improvements earned the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) Partnering Success in Motion Gold Award in the Projects Greater Than $50 Million category, recognizing the collaboration that supported its successful delivery. Now complete and open to traffic, the project adds approximately 10 miles of tolled express lanes between Sacramento and Davis to reduce congestion and travel times, improve transit reliability, and support more efficient travel. Additional improvements include new pavement, structural upgrades to existing bicycle and pedestrian paths, and intelligent transportation systems. Fiber-optic infrastructure, vehicle-detection technology, and changeable message signs will help manage traffic and support incident response.
• Caltrans Briefing Will Detail Detours for 16-Month Vincent Thomas Bridge Closure (MyNewsLA). With the Vincent Thomas Bridge set to close Nov. 7 for 16 months, Caltrans officials are expected Thursday to explain how they plan to reroute traffic around the $750 million project. The briefing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at the Caltrans Vincent Thomas Bridge Crew Yard. Project experts are expected to discuss the work and efforts to limit traffic impacts. “We’ve been working closely with Caltrans, our supply chain partners and local stakeholders to prepare for the Vincent Thomas Bridge closure,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said last week. “Our focus is on keeping cargo moving throughout the Port complex while helping workers and commuters navigate the closure and minimizing impacts on surrounding communities.”
• Drivers Could Pay To Bypass 405 Traffic: See The 3 Proposals For New Toll, Carpool Lanes (Los Angeles, CA Patch). Drivers on the notoriously congested stretch of the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass could eventually have the option of paying to bypass traffic under several proposals being considered by transportation officials. Metro is studying four options for improving traffic along a 10-mile stretch of the freeway between the 10 and 101 freeways. Two would introduce toll lanes — similar to the ExpressLanes in operation on the 110 and 10 freeways — while another would expand the existing carpool lanes. Metro said this week that it is preparing to release an environmental report comparing the proposals, with public hearings and opportunities for residents to weigh in expected later this year.

Gribblenation Blog (Tom Fearer)

• Rams Horn Grade Road. Rams Horn Grade Road is an approximately 3-mile mountain corridor near the Amador County town of Volcano. The Rams Horn Grade was developed shortly after the founding of Volcano as one of many Amador County roads connecting eastward towards Carson Pass. The northern end of the Rams Horn Grade atop Shake Ridge would be where the Amador-Carson Valley Wagon Road tollhouse was once located.
• Sutter Creek-Volcano Road. Sutter Creek-Volcano Road is an approximately 12-mile rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Amador County. As the name suggests, this corridor connects the city of Sutter Creek east via creek of the same name eastward to the town of Volcano. This roadway is known for being very winding and prone to flooding during winter months.
• The alignment history of US Route 50 in Dayton, Nevada. Dayton is located in Lyon County and is the second oldest community in Nevada having been founded near mining claims in Gold Canyon circa 1850. The community of Dayton historically has been part of the California Trail, Pony Express and Pioneer Route of the Lincoln Highway. Since November 1926 the community has been served by US Route 50.
• Indian Gulch Extension and the Indian Gulch ghost town site. Indian Gulch Extension is an approximately 6-mile-long rural highway corridor in the Sierra Nevada foothills of western Mariposa County.  Indian Gulch Extension begins at Indian Gulch Road near the namesake ghost town of Indian Gulch.  From the ghost town site Indian Gulch Extension extends southwesterly to the Merced County line where it becomes Waltz Road.
• Cameron Road. Cameron Road is an approximately 5.5-mile rural highway located in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County. This corridor originates at California State Route 58 in Tehachapi Pass near Cameron siding and ascends Cameron Canyon westward to Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road. The segment of Cameron Road between California State Route 58 Exit 159 west to the Union Pacific Railroad is a repurposed portion of US Route 466 which was relocated in 1957. Modern Cameron Road often appears in driving tests in Motortrend magazine and is maintained as Kern County Mountain Road 523.
• The Arrowhead Trail and early US Route 91 in Goodsprings (Nevada State Route 161). Nevada State Route 161 is rural highway located in southern Clark County. This highway begins at Interstate 15 in Jean and follows Goodsprings Road and Spring Street westward 7.277 miles to Esmeralda Street in Goodsprings. Goodsprings Road was part of the Silver Lake Cutoff which was adopted as the then new alignment of the Arrowhead Trail in 1920. When the Silver Lake Cutoff was commissioned, it saved approximately 90 miles of travel through the Mojave Desert between Las Vegas and Barstow.
• Mount Gaines Road. Mount Gaines Road is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Hornitos in Mariposa County. The origin of Mount Gaines Road is at Bear Valley Road (County Route J16) and the corridor extends southward 4.3 miles to Hornitos Road. The entirety of Mount Gaines Road is comprised of a dirt surface and crosses El Dorado Creek via a normally dry ford.
• Legacy of US Route 466 Part 6: Cameron siding and Tehachapi Pass. When US Route 466 was created during October 1933 it was aligned through Tehachapi Pass at Cameron siding. The then new US Route would inherit the alignment of the Tehachapi Pass Highway which was constructed concurrent with the Southern Pacific Railroad 1876. US Route 466 at Tehachapi Pass would be realigned onto an expressway grade during 1957 which bypassed a bottleneck prone jog by Cameron Road. Modern Cameron Road from California State Route 58 at Exit 159 west to the crossing the railroad crossing at the former siding carries the original alignment US Route 466.
• Former California State Route 132 in the Don Pedro Reservoir. In 1971 New Don Pedro Dam was completed which raised the level of the Don Pedro Reservoir. Near Bonds Flat within southern Tuolumne County the expanding reservoir required California State Route 132 to be relocated uphill. During periods of low water in the reservoir the original alignment of California State Route 132 can be seen at Postmile TUO R5.265. This blog will explore the history of California State Route 132 in the Bonds Flat area and the ruins that can be found in the Don Pedro Reservoir.