Headlines About California Highways – November 2024

Ah, December. The last month of the year. Elections are past us, and whether you like the results or not, at least you can like the fact that you’re getting less texts and emails begging for political donations. Medicare benefits open enrollment, well that’s a different story.

For me, the end of November means it is only about a week until the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference. I’ve been crazy dealing with conference logistics and registrations for the last month, but all boxes are shipped, all printing is submitted, and the event orders are all but signed. We now have a quiet week before the conference: time to work on highway pages (and hopefully record one more episode of the podcast (on the former US 101 portion of I-5)). Last month, I was worried about the attendance; I can now report that this looks to be the best attended conference since I started working on this conference back in 1989: Over 300 attendees, combining the workshops and technical portion. It should be an interesting week in Waikiki.

On the theatre front, there were a few interesting shows in November: the Deaf-West/CTG American Idiot; Back to the Future – The Musical; Groundhog Day – The Musical; and La Cage Aux Folles. Of these, I think I liked the revised La Cage the best. I love the music of the show, and the interpretation of Jean-Michel as differently-abled, and as the nightclub as much more low-rent, worked well. American Idiot was also strong, and had extra meaning given the election results. BTTF and Groundhog Day were really unnecessary: not bad, but not particularly memorable or likely to be long-lasting in the musical theatre canon.

I have been working on the highway pages: As I write up these headlines, I have just finished incorporating the results of the October CTC minutes. As the December meeting is next week, I’m going to wait until after that meeting to finish up those pages. I’ll incorporate those results, this headline post, and legislative updates, and be done for 2024. I’ll include the December headlines in the first set of 2025 updates. As for this post: It is about California’s Highways, and the headlines thereabout. As a reminder, this post focuses on headlines about California Highways that I’ve seen over the last month. It also serves as fodder for the updates to my California Highways site, 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.

The podcast continues apace. I’m finishing writing Season 3; all that is left are the episodes on US 6 and Route 7. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. Yes, 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 Podcasters) . The following episodes have been posted this month:

• CA RxR 3.03: Route 4: Stockton. In this episode, we continue our a 3-part exploration of Route 4. This episode focused on the Stockton Crosstown Freeway: A short freeway segment of Route 4 that bisects the city of Stockton, essentially running from I-5 to Route 99. We talk about the LRNs that made up this segment: LRN 75, and LRN 24. We spend much of the episode talking about the impact the construction of the route had on Stockton, including an interview with Dr. Paul Ong of UCLA, lead author of a paper (“Stockton’s Crosstown Freeway, Urban Renewal, and Asian Americans: Systemic Causes and Impacts“) that explored the impact of the construction of the Stockton Crosstown Freeway on the Asian-American community. We also talk about the project to complete this freeway, and the names given to the freeway. Our last episode on Route 4 will focus on the segment of Route 4 from Stockton to near Markleeville, including the segment through Ebbetts Pass. (Spotify for Creators)
• CA RxR 3.04: Route 4: The Sierras. In this episode, we complete our exploration of Route 4, covering the segments from Stockton and Route 99 through Angels Camp, and then on over the Sierras to Route 89 near Markleville. This includes segments that go through Gold Country, as well as the Ebbetts Pass segment that includes some very steep grades. Along the way, we look at the history of the route in these areas, projects along the way, and naming of the route. As always, we conclude with a discussion of this segment of the route after the credits. Next up: The first of six episodes (some with two parts, making it really eight episodes) covering Interstate 5. Episode 3.05 looks at the former US 101 portion from the Mexico border to downtown Los Angeles. (Spotify for Creators)

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for November.

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. See this article for more tips on bypassing paywalls. ☊ indicates an primarily audio article. ↈ indicates a primarily video article. ]

Highway Headlines

• ＄Harbor residents fear a 16-month bridge closure will clog port communities (Los Angeles Times). Caltrans is slated to fully close the cracked and spalling 61-year-old Vincent Thomas Bridge connecting San Pedro to Terminal Island as soon as next year — stirring fear of traffic nightmares for nearby neighborhoods that breathe some of the region’s most polluted air. Once a tollway, the iconic mile-long suspension bridge — a crucial artery in the nation’s busiest port complex — has been deteriorating for years. Tests show that the concrete deck is failing, and engineers warned it needs to be fixed before it falls into further disrepair and forces the state to close it altogether.
• Caltrans closing part of state Route 52 this weekend to ‘work on the dips’ (NBC 7 San Diego). Up until 2020, people driving state Route 52 between SR-163 and Interstate 805 had the unnerving sensation of riding a roller coaster. That year, workers tried to flatten SR-52 with holes, and lots of them. “Nearly 30 highway workers are working this area each night, most on foot, to drill more than 4,000 holes into the pavement, then filling the holes with a slurry mix to flatten the pavement,” Caltrans reported at the time.
• Caltrans begins Red Bluff bridges seismic retrofit project (Red Bluff Daily News via MSN). Caltrans has begun work on the seismic retrofit of three bridges on State Route 36 between Interstate 5 and Damon Avenue in Red Bluff. The bridges include East Sand Slough, Samson Slough, and Paynes Creek Slough. Caltrans said the project’s purpose is to preserve the structural integrity of the bridges and ensure public safety in the event of a significant earthquake. It includes installing hinge seat extenders between abutting sections of the bridge deck. These extenders will support the bridge deck in the event of a failure. Work will be performed both above and below the bridge deck simultaneously.
• ＄San Franciscans Are ‘Fighting for Their Lives’ Over One Great Highway (The New York Times). Forget the mayor’s race. Forget ballot measures about crime and schools. For many San Franciscans, short of the presidency, the most important contest on Tuesday will determine the future of one short road. It is not just any road. It is a quintessential California stretch — so magnificent, it is named the Great Highway — that hugs the city’s westernmost edge, offering sweeping views of pelicans swooping over the Pacific Ocean and of surfers tackling its mighty waves. Proposition K on the San Francisco ballot would permanently close the flat, two-mile stretch of pavement to cars. The measure would turn it over to cyclists, pedestrians, roller skaters and dogs, charting a path, backers promise, to create the city’s next great park. Think the High Line or Hudson River Park in New York City, they say.
• Caltrans schedules meetings on improving AV Freeway safety (Antelope Valley Press). Antelope Valley residents who drive the Antelope Valley Freeway through Santa Clarita are being urged to provide comments to Caltrans about how to improve traffic safety on the freeway. Comments on the SR-14 North Los Angeles County Safety and Mobility Improvement Project can be submitted to: sr14@metro.net. Comments must be submitted by Dec. 4. Motorists are urged to emphasize the risk of crashes and the unreliability for timely transportation because of the traffic jams that occur where lanes end and the freeway narrows. More information is available at https://www.metro.net/projects/14safety/.
• Traffic Shift for Lone Star Road Connection to State Route 49 (Caltrans). Caltrans is alerting motorists about a traffic shift along the west side of Lone Star Road, connecting to State Route 49 (SR-49) as work continues on a $38 million roundabout and safety barrier project. Motorists turning onto or from the west side of Lone Star Road will now use the temporary access point just south of the original intersection. This work is necessary to maintain access to the neighborhood while crews construct the new roundabout. Additional work is anticipated for roadway excavation and drainage.

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