🛣 Changes to the California Highway Pages covering November - December 2025

Now that 2025 is in the rearview mirror, it’s time for the last highway page update for 2025. This cycle, whose changes are detailed on the December 2025 Change Page with proper formatting, or just pasted below, covers November through December 2025. Enjoy, and as always, “ready, set, discuss”.

Next up: Continuing work on the California Highways: Route by Route Season 4 episodes. The background research is done, and next up is writing the last episodes of the season (the last two episodes on Route 12, Route 13, and Route 14). Episode 4.05, on the Santa Monica Freeway, is recorded and awaiting editing. Look for that episode to be posted at the end of next week.

On to the changelog:

This update covers the rest of October, November, and December 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 in mid-October:

• November | CA RxR 4.02: I-8 and US 80 Between El Cajon and the Arizona Border. This is Episode 4.02, which continues our exploration of Route 8, better known as Interstate 8. In this episode, we focus on the portion of I-8 from La Mesa (just outside of San Diego) to the Arizona border. We look at not only current I-8, but the routing of the predecessor route, US 80. We discuss the communities of La Mesa and El Cajon, Alpine and Descanso, Boulevard, the Mountain Springs Grade, Jacumba, Ocatillo (with a digression on the Imperial Highway), El Centro, Holtville and the Algondenes Dunes (with a digression on the Plank Road), Winterhaven and Yuma. We also briefly talk about the interesting routing of US 80 within Arizona, and how it differs from I-8. We talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. In the next episode, we’ll turn our attention to Route 9, which currently runs from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos, but which once ran all the way to Castro Valley. (Spotify for Creators)
• November | CA RxR 4.03: Route 9: Santa Cruz and Saratoga. Episode 4.03 starts a pair of episodes that explore Route 9, which in its post-1964 version runs from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and Los Gatos. Before 1964, Route 9 continued N up to the Mountain View area, and then across to Milpitas, and up to the Castro Valley. This episode (4.03) covers the current Route 9 from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos; the next episode (4.04) covers the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 through Mountain View, Milpitas, and up through Hayward and the Castro Valley. This episode also explores the 9^th State Route between Peanut and Kuntz (now Mad River), and LRN 9. LRN 9 ran all the way from Ventura to San Bernardino, and was Sign Route 118 from Ventura to Pasadena, and US 66 from Pasadena to San Bernardino. As always, we’ll talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. As noted, the next episode explores the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 from Saratoga through Milpitas to the Castro Valley. (Spotify for Creators)
• December | CA RxR 4.04: Route 9: Pre-1964 – Milpitas to Castro Valley. Episode 4.04 is our second episode exploring Route 9, which in its post-1964 version runs from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and Los Gatos. Before 1964, Route 9 continued N up to the Mountain View area, and then across to Milpitas, and up to the Castro Valley. The previous episode covered post-1964 Route 9 (and the first segment of pre-1964 Sign Route 9) from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and then into Los Gatos, as well as all the 9^th State Route and LRN 9. This episode (4.04) covers the pre-1964 Route 9 portions N of Saratoga: Sign Route 9 through Mountain View, Milpitas, and up through Hayward and the Castro Valley. This portion of Sign Route 9 became Route 85, Route 237, Route 17/I-880/I-680 (in portions) and Route 238. The next pair of episodes will be covering I-10, with episode 4.05 covering the Santa Monica Freeway portion, and episode 4.06 covering the San Bernardino Freeway portion. (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 fourth season of the podcast in October, November, and December 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 Graham Bakulin⁽²⁾, DTComposer⁽³⁾, Tom Fearer⁽⁴⁾, Metro I-5 North County Enhancements Project⁽⁵⁾, Adrian Ople (City of Brawley)⁽⁶⁾, Mike Palmer⁽⁷⁾, Will Poundstone⁽⁸⁾]: Route 1^(ℱ), Route 2^(ℱ), Route 4^(ℱ,4), I-5^(ℱ,5), US 6^(ℱ), I-15^(ℱ), Route 16⁽⁴⁾, Route 22^(ℱ), Route 24⁽⁴⁾, Route 26^(ℱ), Route 27^(ℱ), Route 33⁽⁴⁾, Route 37^(ℱ), Route 38^(ℱ), Route 39^(ℱ), Route 41^(ℱ), Route 47^(ℱ,7), Route 49^(ℱ), US 50^(ℱ), LRN 50^(ℱ), Route 51^(ℱ), Route 52^(ℱ), Route 57^(ℱ), Route 59⁽⁴⁾, Route 64^(ℱ), Route 70^(ℱ,4), Route 78^(ℱ), I-80^(ℱ), Route 82^(ℱ), Route 84^(ℱ), US 99^(ℱ), Route 99⁽⁴⁾, US 101^(ℱ), Route 110^(ℱ), Route 116^(ℱ), Route 118^(ℱ), Route 120^(ℱ), Route 121^(ℱ), Route 131^(ℱ), Route 134^(ℱ), Route 135^(ℱ), Route 170^(ℱ), Route 180⁽⁴⁾, LRN 183⁽²⁾, Route 185^(ℱ), Route 187^(ℱ), Route 198^(ℱ), Route 217^(ℱ), Route 240^(ℱ), Route 247^(ℱ), Route 258^(ℱ), Route 260⁽⁴⁾, Route 275⁽⁴⁾, I-280^(ℱ), I-380⁽³⁾, US 395^(ℱ), I-405^(ℱ), I-580^(ℱ), I-605^(ℱ), I-680^(ℱ), I-710^(ℱ,8), I-780^(ℱ), County Sign Route J1⁽⁴⁾, County Sign Route J6⁽⁴⁾, County Sign Route J16⁽⁴⁾, County Sign Route J17⁽⁴⁾, County Sign Route S17⁽⁶⁾.
(Source: private email through 1/1/2026, Highway headline posts through and including the December 2025 Headline post, AARoads through 1/1/2026)

Continued work on Season 4 of the Route by Route podcast. Research for and preparation of the episodes for the back half of the season (covering Route 11 through Route 14) resulted in changes and updates to the following routes: Route 12, Route 13, Route 14, Route 24, Route 29, I-110, Route 116, Route 121, LRN 7, LRN 12, LRN 13, LRN 51, LRN 74, LRN 104.

Added an interesting link to the maps page: Old Insurance Maps. This can provide some interesting comparisons of highway routing to redlining.

Reviewed the Pending Legislation page, based on the California Legislature site, for bills through 2025-12-29. 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. Noted the passage of the following bills / resolutions:

• SB 695 (Cortese) Transportation: climate resiliency: projects of statewide and regional significance.
  Existing law establishes the State Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Program, administered by the Department of Transportation, for purposes of planning, developing, and implementing projects adapting state transportation infrastructure to climate change. Existing law requires the department, in consultation with, among others, the Transportation Agency and the California Transportation Commission, to develop a program of its top priority climate adaptation projects and to submit projects in this program to the commission for adoption. Existing law requires the department, in developing the program of projects, to consider specified criteria, including, but not limited to, the benefits of the project to preserving or enhancing regional or statewide mobility, economy, goods movement, and safety, and other benefits associated with protecting the asset.

  This bill would require the department, in consultation with the commission and the agency, and on or before July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to create a prioritized list of projects of statewide and regional significance, as defined, to better prepare the state for extreme weather-related events, with priority based on specified criteria. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Legislature a report containing the prioritized list of projects.

  10/13/25 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 781, Statutes of 2025.

Reviewed the online agenda of the California Coastal Commission for the November and December meetings. There were no items related to state highways in the reviewed agendas.

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