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It’s been a year, hasn’t it. What? We’re only a month into 2025? Seems like so much longer. We’ve had the disastrous fires that have essentially destroyed Pacific Palisades and Altadena, and we’ve had the inauguration that has essentially destroyed any semblance of normal government operations. It’s been a tiring month.
Show-wise and live-performance-wise, it has been quiet. We had one Latin Jazz concert that was… mediocre; our one show was cancelled due to the fires. On the plus side, that allowed me to go to SoCal Games Day 90. I’m not worried. Theatre picks up again in February; and March is going to be so crazy busy I have no idea when I’m going to do highway updates or record.
January has left me stressed out about the situation in Washington, and looking forward to putting in retirement papers. I’ve done a number of blog posts on the subject, which I’m not detaiing here. However: an important note: If you are a Federal employee and received the “buyout” offer — and especially if you are a career employee and have built up years towards retirement, or depend upon your benefits — DO NOT TAKE THE OFFER. As presented, it provides no protection for your retirement or your benefits, and may be illegal or unfunded. Read this. We all understand your desire to just get out, but the Executive Branch cannot just ignore laws, the direction of Congress, and union contracts. I would also love to remind the Executive Branch that we have a Constitution, and it defines THREE branches of government. This isn’t an executive monarchy (and Elon Musk wasn’t on the ballot), and it is Congress that controls the purse and makes the laws the President must execute (whether he likes them or not — Congress represents the people), and it is the Courts that ensure people follow the laws.
Have I said I’m looking forward to retirement? Summer can’t come fast enough.
One thing I’ll do in retirement is work on the highway pages and the podcast. 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.
The podcast continues apace. I’ve finished writing Season 3, and we’re recording episodes as I find time. We’re back on a regular schedule, and two episodes were posted during January (see below), and the episode on the Westside Freeway has been recorded, edited, and is scheduled to post. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. For those that hear the early episode, the sound quality of the episodes does get better — we were learning. If you know sound editing, feel free to give me advice (I use Audacity to edit). 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:
- CA RxR 3.06p1: I-5: Whatever Became of the Ridge Route? (Part 1). Our I-5 exploration continues, with a focus on the segment of I-5 from the US 101 split in Downtown Los Angeles to the Route 99 split in Wheeler Ridge. This episode, Part 1 of 3.06, after a recap on LRN 5 and Sign Route 5, focuses on the history of I-5 from Downtown LA (DTLA) to and through the Newhall Pass. We explore the history of LRN 4 and LRN 161, the timeline of freeway construction to and through Burbank, the history of Route 5S (Colorado Blvd), and a dive into the history of routings through the Newhall Pass and in Saugus. We also talk about the Interstate number submissions for I-5, and have some updates on the projects we discussed in Episode 3.05p2. Our special guest this episode is Sydney Croasmun of the Ridge Route Preservation Organization. Sydney brings her expertise to our discussion in Part 2, when we’re going in detail over the Ridge Route. Part 2 also discusses projects and naming in this section, especially the history of the “Grapevine” name. Subsequent episodes will be looking at (3.07) the Westerly Routing; (3.08) the planned I-5W; (3.09) the former US 99W portion from Sacramento to Redding; and (3.09) the portion from Redding to the Oregon Border. (Spotify for Creators)
- CA RxR 3.06p2: I-5: Whatever Became of the Ridge Route? (Part 2). Our I-5 exploration continues, with a focus on the segment of I-5 from the US 101 split in Downtown Los Angeles to the Route 99 split in Wheeler Ridge. This episode, Part 2 of 3.06, completes the history from Part 1 with a detailed dive into the history of the Ridge Route. After that, we discuss major projects in this segment of I-5, as well as historical and memorial names. This includes our second deep dive into the history of the “Grapevine” name. Our special guest this episode is Sydney Croasmun of the Ridge Route Preservation Organization. Sydney brings her expertise our Ridge Route discussion, and also discusses the goals and activities of the RRPO. Subsequent episodes will be looking at (3.07) the Westerly Routing; (3.08) the planned I-5W; (3.09) the former US 99W portion from Sacramento to Redding; and (3.09) the portion from Redding to the Oregon Border. (Spotify for Creators)
Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for January.
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
- Wellsona Road Undercrossing (FB/District 5). #sanluisobispocounty Construction of an undercrossing and frontage road near the intersection of US 101 and Wellsona Road will begin on Tuesday, January 14. This project is intended to reduce the number and severity of collisions at the intersection of US 101 and Wellsona Road. The undercrossing will be constructed beneath US 101, south of the existing intersection, eliminating the need for motorists to make left turns across traffic on US 101.
- Watsonville ‘road diet’ entering environmental studies phase; city wants Caltrans construction date to move up (Lookout Santa Cruz). Watsonville officials say they are in talks with Caltrans to move up the start date for an ambitious plan to transform the four-lane highway that runs through the city’s downtown into a pedestrian-friendly corridor, part of a broader effort to revitalize a city center that never fully recovered from a devastating earthquake more than three decades ago. Last year, the Watsonville City Council voted unanimously to approve a 30-year vision, formally known as the Downtown Specific Plan, to revitalize the 196-acre city center which has struggled to recover its spark since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged much of its historic core.
- Caltrans Adds Major Marsh Protections to Planned Hwy 37 Project (Sonoma Sun). In response to public comments and receipt of a letter from the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior that identified 22 species of plants and animals needing protection, Caltrans has modified its plans for the reconstruction of Hwy. 37. Among the concerns offered were:
- Manteca accepts right-of- way from Caltrans for widening of Austin Road (Manteca Bulletin). Right-of-way connected with widening of Austin Road as part of the 120 Bypass/Highway 99 connector project has been accepted by the Manteca City Council. Austin Road is being widened from a point south of the new Singh Street being constructed and a point just north of the Frontage Road on the east side of Highway 99. Singh Street is a new connector street to Atherton Drive south of Woodward Avenue from Austin Road.
- Northbound Traffic to Switch to New Lanes on U.S. 395 Near Olancha (Caltrans). Northbound U.S. 395 traffic will switch onto the new northbound lanes of the Olancha Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project on Tuesday, November 19. Drivers are advised that the temporary detour that switched southbound traffic onto the new northbound lanes north of Cartago will now be used to switch northbound traffic onto the existing lanes of U.S. 395.
- Ħ Bishop Area Access & Circulation Feasibility Study (2007) (Inyo County). In 2003 the Inyo County Local Transportation Commission, with the support of the City of Bishop and Inyo County, requested that Caltrans District 9 conduct the Bishop Area Access and Circulation Study. The study was developed in a collaborative fashion with the project proponents mentioned above, the Bishop Paiute Tribe, local Chamber of Commerce and businesses, local public service entities, local schools, the general public, and others. Five Study Objectives were defined at the beginning to guide the process: …
There are so many articles I want to discuss, and I don’t want to inundate FB with multiple posts, and BSky has a character limit, so a blog post it is: