And that noise from the clock on the wall means it is time for another installment of highway headlines. Mr. Announcer, if you will…
- I-880 widening through East Bay about to take off. In a few weeks Caltrans will begin building an auxiliary lane on I-680 between Sycamore Valley Road and Crow Canyon Road that will require that existing lines be removed when lanes are shifted toward the median. Caltrans is also adding a carpool lane southbound from Hegenberger Road to Marina Boulevard. This will include rebuilding the Davis and Marina Boulevard overcrossings.
- Rosemead approves participation in pro-tunnel 710 Coalition. On Tuesday the Rosemead City Council voted 4-0, with Mayor Sandra Armenta absent, to approve the city’s participation in the 710 Coalition. The Coalition is advocating for the completion of the 4.5-mile 710 Freeway gap from its current terminus in Alhambra to the Interstate 210 Freeway in Pasadena.
- Caltrans policy stymies a proposed veterans monument. More on the kerfluffle on Route 135: After three years, the privately funded $60,000 monument in Orcutt, which is sponsored by the American Legion and would be placed on a sliver of land owned by the California Department of Transportation, is still unbuilt. The sticking point has been opposition from Caltrans to the monument’s use of the American flag and the agency’s apparent reluctance to allow the display of words — such as “United States” — on the monument’s military emblems. Update: It looks like Caltrans has relented.
- Route 12 project goes to state commission. A long-planned, $12 million Highway 12 project west of Rio Vista is designed to improve safety, but is also raising concerns that it doesn’t go far enough. The state Department of Transportation wants to widen the shoulders of the narrow highway from Azevedo Road to Summerset Road, a distance of a mile. It wants to add left turn lanes at Currie, McCloskey and Azevedo roads. Update: Highway 12 project moves forward.
- LED display puts Bay Bridge (I-80) in new light. The Bay Bridge will never win a beauty contest against the Golden Gate, but for the next two years, it gets to set aside its inferiority complex for several hours each night while it’s lit by the glow of 25,000 twinkling LED lights.
- Bids are opened for the new Arroyo Seco Bridge on the Colorado Freeway in Pasadena. From This day in Transportation History for March 8: Bids for replacement of the original Colorado Street Bridge, built in 1913 by the City of Pasadena and Los Angeles County. Strict limitations of topography and a deep ravine within a few hundred feet of the main business section of a city of 100,000 necessitated placing ramps and curves on the deck of a structure whose size and location would ordinarily dictate the design and planning of the entire project. This is the bridge currently on Route 134.
- Freeway expansion (US 101/Route 23) still on track. Plans for the expansion of the 101/23 freeway interchange in Thousand Oaks, a regional transportation project meant to relieve traffic congestion, have entered the fast lane. On March 1, the Ventura County Transportation Commission, a body representing all 10 cities in the county, approved a critical loan repayment agreement between the City of Thousand Oaks and the state that could get the long-awaited construction effort underway by the end of the year. Update: Planned freeway expansion hinges on money.
- Why Does Route 280 Narrow? [Roadshow question:] Since you understand Caltrans, perhaps you can resolve an enduring road mystery. Going north on Interstate 280 into San Francisco, Highway 1 enters with two lanes, creating a six-lane freeway. It works well. But half a mile further, Caltrans narrows the freeway to five lanes for about a quarter of a mile, where the 19th Avenue three lanes split, after which 280 widens again. Six to five to six. This, as you can imagine, causes unnecessary merging on the right, which is frankly dangerous. Why do they do this six-to-five-to-six gyration? [The answer is some very interesting history on Route 280]
- ‘Onion Field’ police officer honored with Hollywood Freeway signs. Signs honoring LAPD Officer Ian Campbell, whose slaying by kidnappers was chronicled in the book and movie “The Onion Field,” were placed alongside the Hollywood Freeway this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous case.
- Caltrans To Make Final Concrete Pour On Bay Bridge Eastern Span. With less than six months until the opening of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, Caltrans is about to make another construction milestone.
- Commuters, have your say on Caltrans’ $102 million HOV ramp project on I-680. The public will a chance to voice opinions Wednesday on plans for high-occupancy vehicle ramps along the center divider of Interstate 680 in San Ramon. Caltrans and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority are hosting the meeting on the $102 million project. The ramps were originally proposed for the Norris Canyon overpass, but were vigorously opposed by neighbors at public meetings last year. Neighbors said the ramps would negatively affect their quality of life by increasing traffic and noise.
- New obstacle arises to I-80/I-680 interchange project. Changes to the “Buy America” rules in the 2012 federal transportation funding law could jeopardize an Interstates 80 and 680 interchange improvement project, according to the Solano Transportation Authority. The project involves rebuilding the Green Valley interchange and improving the connection from westbound Interstate 80 to westbound Highway 12 in Jameson Canyon. It is the first of several phases designed to ease traffic congestion in the vicinity of the Interstates 80 and 680 interchange.
- Caltrans says Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil’s Slide (Route 1) to open Monday, March 25. A grand opening celebration for the Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil’s Slide is scheduled for Monday morning, March 25, according to Caltrans. The first major tunnels built by the California Department of Transportation in 50 years, the project will bypass the winding road that stretches along the coast south of Pacifica with twin 4,200-foot-long tunnels. More Info: SF Chronicle.
- CalTrans Willits bypass (US 101): The waiting game continues. For most Willits residents the only sign of construction of the Highway 101 bypass has been the sudden appearance of road construction signs on city streets and county roads crossing the pending project…
- ‘No clear path’ on I-80/680 interchange project. A long-awaited project to ease congestion at the Interstates 80/680 interchange could become a road to nowhere under new Buy America regulations, transportation officials said. Solano Transportation Authority Deputy Executive Director Janet Adams said new portions of the federal Buy America regulations threaten the agency’s efforts to put the project out to bid this summer.
- I-80 in spotlight at transportation board retreat. More changes are coming to the local stretch of Interstate 80, among them the day that ramp metering lights are turned on. The Solano Transportation Authority Board of Directors — made up of the mayors from the county’s seven cities and a county supervisor — held an afternoon retreat Wednesday at the Ranch Solano Clubhouse. Interstate 80 was the star.
- Mapping the end of the road on the 405. With the massive 405 Project now two-thirds complete, officials have unveiled a staggered endgame schedule which calls for major portions of the project to wrap up this year while work on one troublesome segment continues into 2014.
