Changes to the California Highway Website covering January – March 2025

Whew! It’s been busy, as I’ve been getting ready for retirement come July 1. But I’ve been able to squeeze in some time to finally finish the highway page updates. Consider it your Easter present, if you so observe. I promise there aren’t any rotten eggs here.

This update covers January, February, and March 2025. Before we dive into the updates to the California Highways site, an update on the California Highways: Route by Route podcast. 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 Podcasters, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcaster or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Podcasters) . The following episodes have been posted since the last update just before the end of December:

• December | CA RxR 3.05p2: I-5: San Diego to Los Angeles (Part 2). In this episode, we continue our exploration of I-5, the central spine of California. We’re splitting the discussion over 6 episodes, some of which are two-parters. This first episode (a two-parter) looks at the former US 101 segment, from the Mexico Border to Downtown Los Angeles. Part 2, this part, looks at the projects along this segment of I-5, as well as some of the more significant names. Go back to part 1 for a discussion of all things 5: Maritime Highway M-5, the 5^th state highway, Legislative Route 5, Sign Route 5, and then I-5. For I-5, we look at the history of the route, and the pieces that led to first the US 101 Bypass and then I-5 in this area. Subsequent episodes will be looking at (3.06) from Downtown LA to Wheeler Ridge, where Route 99 splits, including the Ridge Route; (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)
• January | 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)
• January | 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)
• February | CA RxR 3.07: I-5: The Central Valley: Next up in our exploration of I-5: the segment between the I-5 / Route 99 split and where I-5 meets former US 99W (now Route 113) in Woodland. Generally known as the “Westside Highway”, this was mostly a completely new routing for I-5 along LRN 238, although some portions paralleled former US 50 between Stockton and Sacramento, and Sign Route 16 between Sacramento and near Route 113 in Woodland/Yolo.  As usual, we cover the history of the route, naming, and projects. Subsequent episodes will be looking at (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)
• March | CA RxR 3.08: I-5: Whatever Happened to I-5W. Episode 3.08 continues our exploration of I-5 with a slight digression: A discussion about I-5W. In the late 1950s, I-5W was proposed as a spur route from I-5 running along what is today Route 132, I-580 (both the Tracy Diagonal and the former US 50 portion between the I-205/I-580 junction and Oakland/Berkeley), I-80 between Berkeley and near Vacaville, and I-505 between Vacaville and I-5. This short episode explores these pieces and their history. In Episode 3.09, we return to I-5 proper when we explore the former US 99W section of I-5 between Woodland and Red Bluff. (Spotify for Creators)
• April | CA RxR 3.09: I-5: Former US 99W. Episode 3.09 continues our exploration of I-5 with the segment from Sacramento to Red Bluff, which primarily incorporates the former LRN 7 / US 99W routing between Woodland and Red Bluff, and a new routing that roughly followed LRN 238, then LRN 50 and LRN 232 between Sacramento and Woodland (near former Sign Route 16 and Sign Route 24). We talk about this history of this segment, as well as some discussion of historical routings in Natomas, Woodland, Williams, Willows, Corning, and Red Bluff. Our exploration of I-5 finishes in Episode 3.10, where we explore the former LRN 3/US 99 segment between Red Bluff and the Oregon Border. (Spotify for Creators)

Turning to the updates to the California Highways pages: Updates were made to the following highways, based on my reading of the (virtual) papers and my research for the podcast in January and February 2025 (which are posted to the roadgeeking category at the “Observations Along The Road” and to the California Highways Facebook group) as well as any backed up email changes. I also reviewed the the AAroads forum (Ꜳ). This resulted in changes on the following routes, with credit as indicated [my research^(ℱ), contributions of information or leads (via direct mail or ꜲRoads) from Bickendan⁽²⁾, DTComposer⁽³⁾, Tom Fearer⁽⁴⁾, Mark Furqueron⁽⁵⁾, Mike Palmer⁽⁶⁾, Plutonic Panda⁽⁷⁾, Huntington W. Sharp⁽⁸⁾, Voyager⁽⁹⁾]: Route 1⁽⁴⁾, I-5^(ℱ), US 6⁽⁵⁾, Sign Route 7^(ℱ), Route 37^(ℱ), US 50^(ℱ,4),  Route 51/Business Route 80^(ℱ), Route 54^(ℱ), Route 55^(ℱ), Route 57^(ℱ), Route 67^(ℱ), Route 68⁽⁴⁾, Route 70^(ℱ), Route 71^(ℱ), Route 72^(ℱ,6), Route 74^(ℱ),  Route 90⁽²⁾, Route 91^(ℱ), Route 92⁽⁶⁾, Route 99^(ℱ,4), US 101^(ℱ,5,3,6), I-105⁽⁷⁾, Route 108⁽⁹⁾, Route 118^(ℱ), Route 120^(ℱ), LRN 126⁽⁴⁾, Route 138^(ℱ), Route 145⁽⁴⁾, Route 152^(ℱ), Route 156^(ℱ),  LRN 158^(ℱ), LRN 159⁽⁵⁾, Route 170⁽⁵⁾, Route 180^(ℱ,4), Route 198^(ℱ), I-210^(ℱ), Route 216^(ℱ), Route 217^(ℱ), Route 275⁽⁸⁾, I-280^(ℱ),  US 395^(ℱ,4), I-580^(ℱ), I-680^(ℱ), I-710^(ℱ). Added the 1925 Highway Advisory Committee Report⁽⁴⁾ to the Chronology pages. Added a lot of information from “The Implications of Freeway Siting in California: Four Case Studies on the Effects of Freeways on Neighborhoods of Color“, UCLA Inst. for Transportation Studies, 2023 to a number of pages (I-210, Route 118, I-5, US 50, Route 99, Route 51, I-280, I-680). I mention the report in particular because it contains a lot of useful historic information on the freeway planning and construction. The report is also at risk from the current political administration, as due to their hatred of anything DEI, it is subject to removal. Whether or not you agree with the administration, historical information such as this (as well as related articles and sites) should be preserved.
(Source: private email through 4/26/2025, Highway headline posts through the March 2025 Headline post, AARoads through 4/22/2025)

Made more updates to pages based on podcast research, and the various rabbit-holes that research takes me down: LRN 4, US 6, LRN 6, Sign Route 7, LRN 7, LRN 8, Route 14, Route 21, LRN 23, LRN 26, Route 29, Route 37, US 40, LRN 74, LRN 79, US 99, US 101, Route 103, Route 121, Route 126, Route 134, Route 141, LRN 161, Route 163, Route 170, Route 190, Route 221, LRN 240, LRN 265, US 395, I-680, I-710, I-780.

Added back links to Mark Furqueron’s pages, which are still out on the Internet Archive. Did some additional updates to the map page links, as I discovered some sources have gone away or changed URLs.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2025-04-05. As usual, I recommend to every Californian that they visit the legislative website regularly and see what their legis-critters are doing. As many people are unfamiliar with how the legislature operates (and why there are so many “non-substantive changes” and “gut and amend” bills), I’ve added the legislative calendar (updated for 2025) to the end of the Pending Legislation page.We’re early in the legislative session, when legislators justify their pay by introducing lots of legislation, most of which goes nowhere. They also introduce lots of “non-substantive changes” legislation, which allows them to amend the legislation later in the session, after the deadline to introduce new bills have passed. By the way, this is what makes monitoring legislation hard: by the end of a session, a bill may have changed into something completely unrelated to the original bill introduced. More significantly, a non-transportation or non-substantive transportation bill may have morphed into something of interest. So far, in this session, it is just deciding what to monitor.

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission. There was no meeting in January. In the February and March meetings, the only item of interest related to Route 1 in Big Sur.

I checked California Transportation Commission page for the results of the January 2025 meeting of the California Transportation Commission. As always, note that I tend not to track items that do not impact these pages — i.e., pavement rehabilitation or replacement, landscaping, drainage, culverts, roadside facilities, charging stations, or other things that do not impact the routing or history, unless they are really significant. As such, the following items were of interest:

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