Headlines About California Highways – June 2024

[cahwyguy]

We’re halfway through 2024. Whew. I’m tired, aren’t you. And we aren’t into the real craziness of the election yet. But there is good news. We’re past the Westhost site transition from cpanel to stackCP.  You’re reading this blog, so the main site and the main blog are working. The podcast blog, CARoutebyRoute, is also working. The only thing still broken is the RSS feed on the podcast site. It feeds the blog posts, but doesn’t seem to highlight the media files for podcatchers. I think this is a problem with WordPress, not the site transition, and I have a reddit post asking about it. The one comment received so far indicating it is possible the RSS feed is being cached, but I’m not sure how to fix that (other than time).

However, the poor technical support from the time of the transition still sticks in my craw, and I will be exploring transitioning the site to a new provider. It isn’t a rush, as things are already paid for a while, and things are working. Still, suggestions are welcome.

In any case, it is the start of a new month, and that means headlines. For those unfamiliar, this post generally contains 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. Speaking of updates to the California Highways site: updates to the California Highways site were posted a few weeks ago.

So what has happened in June? In terms of shows, we had three: Jelly’s Last Jam at the Pasadena Playhouse (just closed);  A Strange Loop at the Ahmanson (just closed), Mrs. Doubtfire at the Pantages (just closed), Come Blow Your Horn at Canyon Theatre Guild (just closed), and Radium Girls at Stage Left Arizona (you guessed it… just closed).

I’m also still looking for opinions on Medicare Advantage plus Medicare Supplement Plans: specifically, the Anthem Medicare Plus PPO with Senior Rx Plus Medicare Advantage Plan (as Implemented for Aerospace Retireees: See (1) Get to Know Your Group Plan; (2) Plan Summary; (3) last year’s Open Enrollment Guide) vs. a Medicare Supplement Plan.

The podcast continues apace. I’m still writing the Season 3 episodes, but we’ve also got some bonus episodes. The first is a two-part interview with Joe Rouse of Caltrans on ExpressLanes, Tolling, and Fastrak. Part 1 is up; Part 2 goes up later in the week. Later in July, we’ll be recording the second bonus episode on auto trails.  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 (once it comes back) , the show’s page on Spotify for Podcasters, 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 2.13: Bonus – Fastrak and Tolling (Part 1). In this episode, we have the first half of an interview with Joe Rouse of Caltrans, talking about HOV Lanes, Express/Toll Lanes and Bridges, and Fastrak. There are two more bonus episodes in the pipeline. Episode 2.14 will be the second part of this interview. (Spotify for Podcasters)

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

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. indicates a primarily video article. ]

Highway Headlines

• ＄ Caltrans’ lapses contributed to 10 Freeway fire, Inspector General finds (Los Angeles Times). Infrequent and haphazard inspections by Caltrans allowed for the conditions that caused the massive fire that shut down the 10 Freeway downtown last year, costing $33 million, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general. In the damning assessment, Bryan Beyer and his chief deputy, Diana Antony, laid out how the California Department of Transportation brushed off two major “warning signs” of the potential fire danger at property it leased under and adjacent to freeways. The report also found the agency kept shoddy lease records, failed to complete annual inspections or collect rent and never took meaningful action after finding hazardous conditions at the site.
• Northern California environmental groups suing Caltrans over Interstate 80 project (Fox 40 Sacramento). Two environmental groups based out of Northern California recently announced they filed a lawsuit against Caltrans to stop the agency from widening a portion of Interstate 80 from six to eight lanes. On Wednesday, the Sierra Club, which is considered the oldest and largest environmental organization in the country, and the Environmental Council of Sacramento said their lawsuit accuses Caltrans of conducting an “inadequate environmental analysis” of the I-80 widening project that would expand the freeway between Davis and Sacramento through the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.
• 2 wildlife crossings proposed for I-15 north of San Diego County (NBC Los Angeles). More than half of California is mountain lion territory and that’s led to several mountain lion sightings in San Diego County in recent months, as well as the deaths of two of them on local freeways. Last week, a mountain lion was hit and killed on Interstate 8 in La Mesa. In March, a mountain lion was fatally hit by a car in Oceanside, just days after one was seen peering through the windows of a nearby movie theater. As a result, there have been renewed calls for a wildlife crossing in the San Diego region, similar the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing that is being built near Agoura Hills on Highway 101 in Los Angeles County.
• Caltrans shares when Highway 1 through Big Sur may fully reopen (MSN/SF Gate). A portion of Highway 1 prone to landslides is slated to reopen next month, freeing some Big Sur residents from relying on convoys to cross over the closure. But the Central Coast highway that connects Carmel to Cambria won’t fully reopen until later. Caltrans has worked since January 2023 to remove an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of material that spilled onto the highway at Paul’s Slide during a major storm. Road crews created a turnaround at Limekiln State Park for traffic approaching from the south, which meant residents of Lucia and the Christian monastery New Camaldoli Hermitage had to use convoys led by a Caltrans vehicle each day to bypass the slide.
• Topanga Canyon Boulevard Stretch Reopens After Storm Damage (REAL 92.3). A critical stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard that has been closed since early March due to storm-triggered mud and debris flows is open Monday, about 90 days ahead of schedule. “Crews reopened the roadway this weekend after Topanga Canyon Blvd had been closed due to a major slide btwn Grand View Dr and PCH,” Caltrans posted Sunday morning on social media. “Expect one-way traffic control during non-peak hours as crews will continue with some items of work. Drive safely!” Approximately 15,000 cubic yards of material were removed and repurposed for Ventura County farmers, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and an art installation in downtown Los Angeles near the State Historic Park, officials said. Caltrans revised its original estimate of 50,000 to 90,000 cubic yards of material needing to be removed once a geotechnical report determined that the slide was shallower than first thought. Crews did not encounter any anomalies in the soil during removal, which benefited the expedited opening.
• California Is Testing A Road Tax Based On Miles Driven. We Answered Some Of Your More Pressing Questions (MSN/LAist). California is considering replacing the gas tax with a more sustainable source of transportation funding, and LAist’s readers and listeners had a lot of questions about the pilot program. We have answers to some of your most common concerns, but remember, the road charge is an idea that’s still being explored and developed. The pilot program is a way for your opinion to shape if, and how, it’s implemented, so these responses will likely change to reflect the results. Lauren Prehoda, the Caltrans program manager, told LAist that if you hate the idea of a road charge or are worried about how it’ll work, you should still sign up to participate in the program. “We want to hear from everyone,” she said. So let’s get into answering your questions…
• Pacific Coast Freeway (Huntington Beach) (FB/Andrew Oshrin). Old right of way map showing SR-1 and SR-39 as freeways.
• What’s With All the Construction on the I-5 Freeway Across South OC? (Voice of OC). South Orange County residents will spend most of this year continuing to confront occasional construction-related congestion and late-night freeway segment closures along the I-5 in areas like Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills and Lake Forest. But the end is in sight for the series of freeway construction efforts that have been ongoing since the summer of 2019. About 6.5 miles of the I-5 Freeway – between State Route 73 and El Toro Road – will be under construction until early 2025, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority. Approximately 360,000 motorists travel daily on this section of the freeway.
• Paul’s Slide on Highway 1 on Big Sur coast to open earlier than anticipated (East Bay Times). The long-awaited reopening of the largest of the three landslides on Highway 1 is coming earlier than anticipated, bringing the flow of unimpeded traffic between Carmel and Cambria one section closer to reality. Since Jan. 14, 2023, when an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of material slid down the mountain side and engulfed Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide, Caltrans has been planning on how, and working to repair and reopen, the roadway that is now expected to be ready by early- to mid-July. Once Paul’s Slide – post mile 22 – is open, traffic coming from the south will be able to come as far north as repair work on the Regent’s Slide – post mile 27.8 – will comfortably allow.

• ＄ Mojave Desert ghost town Amboy fights to survive on Route 66 (Los Angeles Times). It’s a Friday afternoon in mid-May and a Czech biker is eating an ice cream cone at the counter of a gas station along a desolate stretch of the Mojave Desert. Outside, his entourage crowds around a towering Atomic Age sign for a group photo before speeding away along Route 66. A British couple sip hot tea, though the mercury is pushing 100 degrees. A young woman in a crop top sits cross-legged in the middle of the street while a man films her, seemingly oblivious to the traffic whizzing by. On some days, small planes land on the dirt airstrip so their occupants can grab a root beer float or chili dog. “It’s in the middle of nowhere in the desert, but you see a multitude of different types of people in Amboy,” said Kyle Okura, 31, who owns Roy’s gas station, along with the rest of the ghost town, after inheriting it from his father last year. “That’s what’s so amazing. You hear stories from all different parts of the world.”
• Tarzana’s ‘Snoopy Bridge’ (LAist). Why it matters: Reseda resident Kirk Donovan started the campaign five-and-a-half months ago after realizing the so-called “Snoopy Bridge” on his regular neighborhood walks near Tarzana Elementary School was the real deal, with the affixed drawings of the iconic characters donated by Charles M. Schulz himself. Why now: After spending countless hours pushing to protect the original artwork, Donovan will be on hand Monday to witness the unveiling of the first round of restored pieces. Good grief: Gina Huntsinger, the director of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, told LAist that they wish there were more Donovans in the world, and they wanted to thank him with a free membership to the Santa Rosa museum for spearheading the restoration.
• Caltrans faces legal battle over I-80 Freeway Improvement Project in Yolo County (MSN/Woodland Daily Democrat). The Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento have filed a lawsuit against Caltrans alleging legally inadequate environmental analysis of the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements Project that would add two new lanes through Yolo County. The project, which would widen 17 miles of the freeway from six to eight lanes between Davis and Sacramento through the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, was created by Caltrans to ease congestion, improve freeway operation, support reliable transport of goods and services throughout the region, improve modality and travel time reliability and provide expedited traveler information and monitoring systems.
• Caltrans announces State Route 36 improvements and closures in Tehama County (MSN/KRCR Chico-Redding). Caltrans continues construction on the Dibble Creek Capital Preventive Maintenance project which will completely restore the roadway and improve ride quality on State Route 36 in Tehama County. Caltrans said in a press release the project also includes new guard railing, new delineation and signage, and culvert repair and replacement. Starting Sunday, June 23, there will be two closures within the project limits, at two active construction sites, accelerating project completion said Caltrans. The project is located on state Route 36 near Red Bluff, from just east of Salt Creek Bridge to Baker Road.
• $123M Caltrans project to improve Interstate 5 between Stockton, Sacramento County line (MSN/CBS Sacramento). If you use Interstate 5 in Stockton on your daily commute, Caltrans said a new project will greatly improve your drive. A repavement project that recently began is expected to take two years to complete and cost $123 million. About $12 million is coming from Senate Bill 1, otherwise known as the Gas Tax. The other $111 million is coming from federal funding. Some people in Stockton said this effort to rehabilitate I-5 is long overdue. Isa Kalifa commutes from Stockton to the Bay Area and uses I-5 almost every day. She said the so-called Interstate 5 Pavement Anchor Project is much needed.
• ＄ Caltrans to add bike lanes, sidewalk upgrades along Western Avenue from San Pedro to Torrance (Daily Breeze). Changes are coming to the stretch of Western Avenue (State Route 213) that extends from San Pedro to Torrance, including bike lanes, upgraded crosswalks, bicycle-oriented signboards, curb ramps and sidewalks. A virtual public meeting will be held from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, via Webex: bit.ly/westernwebex – password: westernavenue. Plans are to upgrade the 10-mile stretch to a “multimodal” project that includes bike and pedestrian-friendly elements from 25th Street in San Pedro on the south to Interstate 405 (I-405) in Torrance. Caltrans personnel will conduct the hourlong online session with participation sought among residents, community members and neighborhood organizations. Comments can be submitted online, in English or Spanish, at http://bit.ly/western_ave
• ＄ Copper wire theft leaves 6th Street Bridge completely in the dark (Los Angeles Times). The 6th Street Viaduct, dubbed the “Ribbon of Light” for its illuminated tilted arches, is now completely in the dark. Billy Avellan, who walks the bridge daily from his home in downtown Los Angeles to the city’s historic Eastside, said he’s watched as thieves have gradually stripped miles of copper wiring from lights on the structure for months. He first noticed people stealing the wires in October, and while he’s reported it to the city and Police Department, the theft has continued, even in broad daylight, he said. First, they targeted the lights along the bridge’s walkway, then the light poles and, most recently, the wiring that helps power the LEDs that brightened the 10 sets of arches.
• THE TUNNEL IT IS! Caltrans Chooses Mile-Long Underground Option For Last Chance Grade Bypass (Lost Coast Outpost). In a significant step toward securing a long-term solution at Last Chance Grade, Caltrans has selected a preferred alternative that could pave the way for constructing a tunnel along U.S. 101 in Del Norte County. This coastal stretch of highway south of Crescent City has long been marred by landslide activity and indefinite maintenance costs. As a vital artery connecting Del Norte County with its neighbors, any closure of U.S. 101 at Last Chance Grade has far-reaching economic and service consequences. Caltrans has selected Alternative F, a 6,000-foot tunnel that bypasses area landslides and realigns the highway, in a move that is essential to advancing the Last Chance Grade Project efficiently. The proposed tunnel would be the longest constructed in Caltrans history.
• Caltrans Selects Tunnel Alternative for Last Chance Grade Project: A Major Step Toward Possible Permanent Solution (Caltrans). In a significant step toward securing a long-term solution at Last Chance Grade, Caltrans has selected a preferred alternative that could pave the way for constructing a tunnel along U.S. 101 in Del Norte County. This coastal stretch of highway south of Crescent City has long been marred by landslide activity and indefinite maintenance costs. As a vital artery connecting Del Norte County with its neighbors, any closure of U.S. 101 at Last Chance Grade has far-reaching economic and service consequences. Caltrans has selected Alternative F, a 6,000-foot tunnel that bypasses area landslides and realigns the highway, in a move that is essential to advancing the Last Chance Grade Project efficiently. The proposed tunnel would be the longest constructed in Caltrans history.
• Tunnel vision: Caltrans announces preferred alternative to Last Chance Grade (MSN/Times Standard). After years of searching for a solution at Last Chance Grade, a three-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 between Klamath and Crescent City that has struggled with landslides for decades, Caltrans selected their preferred alternative on Thursday, to build the longest tunnel in California. “After many generations of Del Norte County citizens traversing this fabled, continuously failing section of our state highway system, we have reached the conclusion to construct a tunnel with broad agreement among regional stakeholders,” Del Norte County Supervisor Chris Howard said. “Del Norte County is grateful to our community, tribal, environmental, and agency partners that have dedicated many years to finding a path forward.” The proposed 6,000-foot tunnel, or as referred to by Caltrans, Alternative F, would provide a safe route in a location that hasn’t had one in a long time.
• Caltrans purchased L.A.-area homes to make way for a now-defunct freeway project. Decades later, some are for sale (KTLA). In attempt to clear space for a planned expansion of the 710 Freeway, the California Department of Transportation took control of homes along a five-mile stretch in the 1960s, displacing hundreds of families along the way. Now, six decades later, after the project never materialized, several of those homes could hit the public market for the first time. As reported by KTLA’s Omar Lewis, Caltrans purchased 400 homes with the intention of demolishing them to make room for a 710 Freeway extension. That project never got off the ground and was formally canceled in 2018. The homes, located in El Sereno, Pasadena and South Pasadena, remain standing today. Many of the purchased houses were in Black and low-income neighborhoods.
• ＄ Caltrans ‘multimodal’ transition on Western Avenue draws heat from San Pedro  (Daily News). Proposed changes to Western Avenue — from San Pedro to Torrance — drew mostly complaints Wednesday night, June 12, as some 50 residents and Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker took Caltrans officials to task for inadequate notice and scheduling the work at a time when several other projects will also be underway around the Port of LA. The proposed $55 million project is set to start construction in winter 2026 and will take two years to complete, California Department of Transportation has said. But the project itself has come as a surprise to those who will be impacted. McOsker, for example, said he was not notified of the environmental review process — now at the stage of a final draft document, which is about to be released — and said he had “grave concerns” about the project. The design phase, Caltrans officials said, is scheduled to begin next month and be completed in April 2026.
• Pauls Slide Update (FB/Caltrans Central Coast (District 5)). #Update on Paul’s Slide:
• Paul’s Slide closure to open by end of June (KSBW 8). Caltrans announced on Friday that Paul’s Slide will now open by the end of June. That portion of Highway 1 has been closed since Jan. 14, 2023. At the end of May, Caltrans estimated the area would be opened to the public by early to mid-July.
• Jones Creek Bridge Rebuild Route 116 near Forestville (Caltrans). As part of an emergency project to strengthen the Jones Creek Bridge on State Route 116 (SR-116) in Forestville, Sonoma County, Caltrans will close the highway between Packing House Lane and Kay Lane for 72 hours from 7:00 PM Friday, June 28, until 7:00 PM Monday, July 1, 2024. During a recent bridge inspection, Caltrans engineers found that the 22-foot, two-lane Jones Creek Bridge needs to be shorn of excess weight to comply with current standards and regulations. Years of asphalt paving have produced excess asphalt overlay that should be removed to lighten the bridge’s static load. During the closure, Caltrans will detour traffic onto Mirabel Road, River Road, Laguna Road, and Guerneville Road. (See detour map.)
• Opinion | Demolish the Central Freeway. Build homes, parks and transit (SF Standard). The one-mile-long Central Freeway is arguably the ugliest piece of infrastructure in San Francisco. “The Stub,” as I like to call it, has loomed over the heart of the city for six decades, sitting at the nexus of the Mission District, SoMa, Lower Haight, Hayes Valley and several other neighborhoods. The Stub acts as a physical and psychological barrier to neighborhood connectivity, blighting the corridor and discouraging foot traffic to nearby small businesses. Four of the 10 most dangerous intersections in San Francisco are either underneath or part of The Stub. Like any other freeway slicing through urban areas, significant pollution encompasses The Stub, creating dangerous AQI levels for thousands of residents and workers.
• ＄ Caltrans Begins Selling Homes Seized for Never-Built Project (The Real Deal). Caltrans, which seized hundreds of homes to make room for a never-built 710 Freeway extension through El Sereno, Pasadena and South Pasadena, is selling them. The California Department of Transportation has sold four single-family homes and a multifamily lot with a bungalow at undisclosed addresses in South Pasadena, KTLA5 reported. The five properties, now in escrow, are expected to close this summer to undisclosed buyers.
• Wheatland begins $10.3 million roadway improvement project (Fox 40). The rural community of Wheatland is getting a big upgrade on one of its main roadways as Caltrans began a $10.3 million project along SR-65 on Wednesday. Celebrations were held with community members, city and county leaders, Caltrans officials and law enforcement to kick off the seven-month construction project that aims to address several issues along the busy roadway. While Lincoln and Roseville have built bypasses for the increasingly used SR-65, Wheatland has been subject to logging trucks, heavy traffic and local traffic traveling through the heart of their downtown.
• Explore Outdoors: Take a walk down California’s shortest highway, Sacramento’s Tower Bridge (KCRA Sacramento). You have likely driven, biked or walked the entire length of California’s shortest highway and didn’t even know it. Highway 275 connects Sacramento and West Sacramento across the Sacramento River, but most people know it as the Tower Bridge. On the west side of the bridge is the Tower Bridge Gateway and on the east side is Sacramento’s Capitol Mall. Right in the middle is the 737-foot-long Highway 275.
• ＄ In test case of climate goals and freeway expansions, new lanes win (Los Angeles Times). Underneath the Yolo Causeway near Sacramento, where a nearly half-billion-dollar effort is underway to add toll lanes to Interstate 80 and ease congestion, swollen rivers fill wetlands in the winter season and bat colonies roost in the bridge’s grooves in warm months. More than a century old, the road that connects the Bay Area to the state capital has become a symbol and a test of both the future of highway expansion in California and the climate change policies that seek to restrict it. “It’s a bellwether project,” said Carter Rubin, director of state transportation advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups suing Caltrans to stop the expansion. “But it’s also the tip of the iceberg.”
• Caltrans To Improve Downtown Sonora HWY 49 Safety (myMotherLode.com). Caltrans will begin a traffic safety project on Highway 49 in downtown Sonora this weekend, which will last through the summer and bring traffic delays. Caltrans has hired Sterndahl Enterprises, Inc. out of Sun Valley, to complete the $333,770 Highway 49 Sonora Thermoplastic Striping project. Crews will work overnight to replace roadway striping and markings with materials that improve visibility at night and when the pavement is wet. The retroreflective pavement markers will be installed on 2.5 miles of the highway through downtown Sonora from Steffen Lane to Stockton Road and end at the Highway 108/S-49 connector. The project is slated to begin on Sunday, June 23; completion is not anticipated until sometime in August of this year. The work will run Sundays through Thursdays from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Caltrans noted that schedules are subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, equipment and/or materials availability, and construction-related issues.
• ＄＄ Palm and Pine on Highway 99 to be removed during widening (Fresno Bee). You could speed past it at 80 mph dozens of times and not know it. “It’s lost in the midst of the Oleander in the median,” said Michael Ballard, president of the Historic Highway 99 Association of California. “It is something that, unfortunately, I see goes more unnoticed.” The Palm and the Pine, a geographic marker made up of a Canary Island date palm tree to the south and what is actually a Deodor cedar tree to the north, symbolizes the split between California’s northern and southern halves. The landmark’s exact origins are uncertain, but it is generally agreed upon that it has stood in the center divider of Highway 99 in Madera, about halfway between Avenues 9 and 12, since the 1920s. “There’s this fascination that we’re in the center of it all here in the Central Valley,” author and Merced-based columnist Steve Newvine told The Fresno Bee.
• Months of ‘serious delays’ as construction starts on California’s I-5 (SF Gate). Repair work begins today on a section of California’s Interstate 5 that passes through the Sacramento corridor and will likely be completed by October, state officials said. Caltrans called the construction “major” in a message to the public and said to expect “serious delays” as multiple lanes of the highway and on- and off-ramps will be closed intermittently. The agency is starting the work on the first day of summer, the start of road-trip season when many people are passing through the Sacramento corridor. The project will require partial closures to I-5 “from 0.2 miles south of the American River Bridge to Arena Boulevard in Natomas” on 6 separate weekends. Connector ramps to Interstate 80 will also be shut down to traffic at times.
• Link Union Station (Link US) Draft EIR (Metro). An open house and public hearing will be held on July 9, 2024 for the Link Union Station (Link US) Project during the 45-day public review and comment period (June 21, 2024 through August 9, 2024) in support of the NEPA and CEQA environmental review processes. The open house and public hearing will discuss Metro’s plans to transform LA Union Station into a modern transit and mobility hub, offering an improved passenger experience to meet the region’s long-term transportation needs.
• ＄ Why would California rob from clean transportation to fund highways? (Los Angeles Times). California has ambitious climate goals: By 2045, the state wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85%, drop gas consumption 94% and cut air pollution 71%. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California is the transportation sector, with passenger vehicles making up the largest portion of that. Curbing pollution from passenger vehicles won’t be easy. And if the state invests in the wrong infrastructure, those goals could become impossible. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget  proposal would be a big swerve in the wrong direction.
• Everyone has an opinion on this dangerous California highway shortcut (SF Gate). Whether to take state Route 154 instead of staying on Highway 101 to cut through the Santa Ynez Valley’s wine country and enjoy a peek of Los Padres National Forest just north of Santa Barbara is a constant source of debate — not to mention an active cautionary tale — for locals and visitors alike. Opinions vary, and questions that arise over the roadway’s history are seemingly endless. Is Route 154 faster, but only on weekdays? Is U.S. 101 and the many construction projects through this corridor a lost cause? Are the views and stopping points on Route 154 — which include the tiny foodie town of Los Olivos, Neverland Ranch, the Chumash Casino Resort, Cachuma Lake, and Rancho del Cielo, all in or near Los Padres National Forest — worth the risk a steep and windy two-lane country highway brings?
• Caltrans Discovers Tension Cracks on Highway 154; Starts Traffic Control Near Santa Barbara (Noozhawk). Caltrans has established traffic control on Highway 154 near San Antonio Creek Road as part of an ongoing emergency project to repair a slip out along the southbound shoulder of the highway. Caltrans field staff working on these repairs observed tension cracks propagating up through the pavement which appears to be extending in length over the last several hours and includes an elevation differential between the cracks and the adjacent pavement. Travelers may encounter traffic control into the overnight hours, the agency said Thursday. Caltrans may implement a closure of the southbound lane to traffic as Geotech engineers continue to assess this location.
• 4.3 mile section of Highway 1 reopens after 2023 landslide (CBS San Francisco). A 4.3-mile stretch of state Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide near Lucia in Monterey County will reopen to drivers on Sunday, according to Caltrans. The section of the highway has been closed since Jan. 14, 2023, when 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and debris collapsed onto the roadway. Caltrans director Tony Tavares said clearing the landslide was challenging because of ongoing movement of the material, but recent favorable conditions allowed the slide to be cleared faster than expected. “The completion of repairs and the reopening of a 4.3-mile section of this scenic byway will begin to restore some normalcy for business owners and residents in the area,” Tavares said. He thanked the local community for its patience and support.
• Highway 1 to reopen at Paul’s Slide Sunday (KSBY). A reminder for travelers: A portion of Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide is expected to reopen Sunday. This area was closed in January 2023, after an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of material fell across the highway. The reopening will allow direct access to the community of Lucia, The Camaldoli Hermitage, and people living within the newly-reopened section of the highway. With that being said, the Regent’s Slide closure is still in effect. Once that work is complete, Highway 1 will then be open between Cambria and Carmel.
• After being closed for more than a year, Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide is now open (KSBY). After being closed for more than a year, Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide is back open. The partial reopening of Highway 1 will open direct access to the community of Lucia, the Camaldoli Hermitage, and all who live within the newly reopened 4.3 miles of the highway. “I’m happy. I’ve been up a bunch of times since it’s been closed but you can only go eight miles past Gorda then it’s blocked off, so I’m excited to see how they’ve maneuvered the road  to deal with the Paul Slide,” Michael Belmonte, a Cambria resident said. Belmonte drove up Highway 1 on Sunday after hearing about the partial reopening.
• ‘The Million-Dollar Highway’  (The Malibu Times). Kanan-Dume Road was completed in 1974, but not before rumblings in the U.S. Congress. In the early 1960s, Art Whizin and other Agoura locals pushed for a Valley-to-the-Sea highway from the Ventura Freeway for faster access to the beaches and to ease expected freeway congestion, but were rebuffed. In 1973, Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr. said that a master plan for the Santa Monica Mountains was needed desperately, as he feared the completion of Kanan-Dume Road would be “the single biggest boon to indiscriminate use of the mountains for years” and that it would “open up mass areas for development.” He and others pushed for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which prevented the extensive development he feared.
• The Malibu Post: By Any Other Name (Malibu Post). Here at The Malibu Post we’re not convinced that the bard is right about that whole rose-by-any-other-name idea. Suppose, for example, that 19th century Malibu Rancho owner Frederick Hastings Rindge discarded the Chumash-derived name and rechristened the old Topanga Malibu Sequit Spanish Land Grant “Zumaland,” “Billowbay,” “Midocean,” “Happyland,” “Archangel,””Ozone,” “Puritan,” or Hopehaven,” hypothetical names he proposed for the Malibu City of Tomorrow in his book Happy Days in Southern California. What would that have meant for Malibu?
• Highway 154 Remains Closed to Through Traffic Between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley for Foreseeable Future (The Santa Barbara Independent). The San Marcos Pass remains closed to through traffic for the foreseeable future while Caltrans adds supports under the road to shore it up. Cracks developed across all traffic lanes on June 21, while repairs were underway to fix the edge of State Route 154, which had fallen away during the winter storms. The hard closure is between San Antonio Creek Road and Painted Cave Road, which only residents may travel. The 154 can otherwise be accessed outside those two roads. The alternate north-south route is Highway 101. The 154 connects Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley and is used by roughly 17,000 vehicles a day on average, according to Caltrans spokesperson Genelle Padilla. The crews were working on the slip-out, or the landslide under the shoulder of the 154, when they noticed cracks in the pavement that were more than one foot deep and that the shoulder had dipped by several inches. The danger this posed of another slide caused the closure of the 154 by the next day. A drilling rig is in place currently, working 24 hours a day to pound 30-foot “vertical shear dowels” into the earth under the road that are an inch-and-a-quarter in diameter. “Sub-horizontal anchors” 40 feet long will be drilled horizontally into the rock. These are placed in several rows more than 100 feet long to act as “walls” to slow any movement while the embankment is rebuilt.
• Union Station revamp plans call for bridge over 101 Freeway (KTLA). Plans to revamp and revitalize Los Angeles’ historic transit hub include the construction of a large bridge over one of the region’s busiest freeways. Confirmed by environmental documents released by LA Metro last week, a 700-foot-long bridge would be constructed over Highway 101 for incoming and outgoing trains into Los Angeles Union Station. It’s part of a greater plan to reimagine and modernize Union Station for eventual increased capacity and new service — a project known as Link Union Station.
• Over 200 eucalyptus trees to be removed from Ca. highway stretch (KSBW). Caltrans has turned its attention to a large eucalyptus grove on Highway 101 just north of Prunedale, with plans to cut down approximately 230 large trees deemed either weak or unhealthy. Not all trees are being removed, but the large grove has proven deadly. In December 2022, a eucalyptus tree fell on the highway, causing a multi-car pile-up that resulted in two deaths, including Monterey County resident Ezequiel Sanchez. “That’s tough. Something very difficult to go through. And we have a few family members that got hurt pretty bad and are just trying to survive,” Miguel Valdez, Sanchez’s father, said shortly after his son’s death.
• California High-speed rail connection between Palmdale, Burbank gets environmental approval (ABC7 Los Angeles). The long-planned but oft-delayed effort to build a high-speed rail system between San Francisco and Los Angeles has reached a major milestone with the approval of the final  environmental impact report on the line’s stretch between Palmdale and Burbank and reports are pending Friday on other sections of the project. The 38-mile segment was the final one between the two major cities awaiting final environmental approval. “Today’s approval is more than a historic milestone — it closes the gap between Los Angeles and San Francisco,” Tom Richards, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors, said in a statement following the board’s vote. “We value our Authority team and its tireless support and collaboration with local and regional agencies and stakeholders as we work together to improve transportation in California for future generations.”
• California’s Highway 99 is deadliest route in the state, study finds (CBS Sacramento). A new study found that Highway 99 is the deadliest route in California. Barber Law Firm in Dallas found that over a span of five years, nearly 90 people died annually in nearly 400 total crashes. Some who drive on it almost every day say they see crashes and tragedies almost all the time, and for some, it hits all too close to home. “It’s like one or two times a month but sometimes, it gets crazy like two times a week,” said Cuauhtémoc Rivera, the owner of Don Luis Mexican Restaurant, which sits near the Hammer Lane exit from northbound Highway 99.

Gribblenation Blog (Tom Fearer)

• Mount Madonna Road. Mount Madonna Road is a 6.6-mile rural highway which originates at Casserly Road in Santa Cruz County and terminates at Redwood Retreat Road in Santa Clara County. As the name suggests the road climbs over Mount Madonna in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Mount Madonna Road for a short roadway features numerous varying conditions. The road is mostly single lane with a crest which lies an elevation of 1,714 feet above sea level. Much of the gradient is steep and has inclines as high as 12.9%. There is also a dirt portion north of Summit Road which descends through a Coastal Redwood grove.
• Guadalupe Canyon Parkway. Guadalupe Canyon Parkway is a four-mile mountainous expressway located in the San Mateo County, California. Guadalupe Canyon Parkway connects Market Street in Daly City east to Bayshore Boulevard (former US Route 101) via San Bruno Mountain. The corridor was completed as a partially limited access road in 1968 and is mostly known for being part of the famous chase scene in the movie Bullitt.
• The Central Freeway of San Francisco (US Route 101). The Central Freeway is a 1.2-mile elevated limited access corridor in the city of San Francisco. As presently configured the Central Freeway connects from the end of the Bayshore Freeway to Market Street. The Central Freeway carries the mainline of northbound US Route 101 from the Bayshore Freeway to Mission Street.
• The history of US Route 80 and Interstate 8 in California. The historic corridor of US Route 80 and Interstate 8 through the borderlands of southern California share a largely mutual history. Both highways originated in the city of San Diego and departed the state at the Colorado River into Yuma, Arizona. Both highways share numerous famous geographical components such as the Mountain Springs Grade and Algodones Sand Dunes. This article serves as a comprehensive history of the combined US Route 80/Interstate 8 corridor in California from the tolled stage route era of the nineteenth century to the development of the modern freeway.

 

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