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CA 146 East

Started by Max Rockatansky, June 02, 2017, 07:54:54 PM

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Max Rockatansky

Finally had an opportunity to get out to CA 146 East this morning.  That being the case I did take some photos of the modern CA 25 alignment on my way up from CA 198:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/151828809@N08/UT85DH

Interestingly the slide area that led to a minor realignment north of G13 still has a traffic light even though the project appears complete.  The light previously had a full green, yellow, and red cycle but now is just a flashing red.  Kind of begs the question why not just remove it completely and call it a day?

Anyways something that I did notice awhile back was that CA 146 in East Pinnacles still retains the same length that it had when it was a National Monument.  Previously the National Monument boundary looked like this before being elevated to a National Park:



When Pinnacles National Park was created it expanded the previous boundaries of the National Monument to this:



Essentially that left CA 146 East actually running and maintained by Caltrans within the new National Park Boundary.  From the west on CA 146 the highway segment is only 2.45 miles.  The route is actually signed with a junction from CA 25:

IMG_9706 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Unlike most state highways out in the boons CA 146 East is signed a solid 35 MPH and doesn't appear to resemble something Caltrans Maintains aside from mileage markers:

IMG_9709 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_9710 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Despite no reassurance markers westbound there is a CA 146 END sign at the former boundary for Pinnacles National Monument:

IMG_9712 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Interestingly the Eastern Segment of CA 146 has mileage markers ranging from 12.70 to 15.15.  Essentially it is a straight line from the terminus of the western segment across the Pinnacles which ends at 10.19:

IMG_9712A by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

To me that would seem to imply that if any continuation between both segments of CA 146 was ever thought out that it would have likely utilize the proximity of Bear Creek instead the Old Pinnacles Trail as I previously thought.  Granted the terrain is actually pretty steep, I wouldn't say it is impossible at such a short distance....   The 1934 map seems to reflect this theory as the Bear Gulch Road is shown as being state maintained as part of LRN 120 west past the current CA 146 END sign:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247336~5515379:San-Benito-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=56&trs=160

Interestingly LRN 120 had the same terminus at Pinnacles National Monument in Monterey County that CA 146 does even back in 1934.  The main difference in the western CA 146 is that LRN 120 took Stonewall Canyon Road:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247320~5515371:Monterey-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=48&trs=160

Heading back to CA 25 eastbound there is one reassurance CA 146 shield past the old Pinnacles National Monument Gate but no end sign at CA 25.  The last mileage mark is 15.00:

IMG_9712B by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

So basically what I find interesting is that with Bear Gulch as part of LRN 120 there would have been less than two miles between the two segments.  It really makes me think that there truly was a plan to have a connected route at one point considering the evidence the 1934 map tends to suggest.  Minor route of course...still cool to finally be able to scope it out in depth.  If you want to see the terrain around Bear Gulch, I did actually do some hiking....granted I'm slightly north on Condor Gulch:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1N4ACw


oscar

Updates, from my own October 2018 visit to Pinnacles NP (both sides):

Almost all CA 146 signage, including junction markers and postmiles, is gone from the eastern CA 146 segment and its junction with CA 25. All that remains is a callbox at the CA 25 junction, with a sign indicating that it was on CA 146. The old east entrance station, shown in the fourth and fifth photos, has disappeared along with the End CA 146 sign; there's only a wide spot in the road where the station was located.

The National Park Service is considering a replacement east entrance station. Its preferred alternative would be to put the new station immediately west of the CA 25 junction. That would put it closer to the expanded park boundary, and also give the park a chance to hit up visitors for the entrance fee before they reach the visitor center, or any campgrounds or other park facilities.

My hunch is that Caltrans and the Park Service are getting ready to decommission the eastern CA 146 segment, especially if the new entrance station is built as proposed, with road maintenance handled by the Park Service. However, Caltrans' Postmile Query Tool still shows the eastern CA 146 as a state highway within the national park, so the decommission hasn't happened yet -- maybe when the new entrance station is built?
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: oscar on January 05, 2019, 12:52:22 PM
Updates, from my own October 2018 visit to Pinnacles NP (both sides):

Almost all CA 146 signage, including junction markers and postmiles, is gone from the eastern CA 146 segment and its junction with CA 25. All that remains is a callbox at the CA 25 junction, with a sign indicating that it was on CA 146. The old east entrance station, shown in the fourth and fifth photos, has disappeared along with the End CA 146 sign; there's only a wide spot in the road where the station was located.

The National Park Service is considering a replacement east entrance station. Its preferred alternative would be to put the new station immediately west of the CA 25 junction. That would put it closer to the expanded park boundary, and also give the park a chance to hit up visitors for the entrance fee before they reach the visitor center, or any campgrounds or other park facilities.

My hunch is that Caltrans and the Park Service are getting ready to decommission the eastern CA 146 segment, especially if the new entrance station is built as proposed, with road maintenance handled by the Park Service. However, Caltrans' Postmile Query Tool still shows the eastern CA 146 as a state highway within the national park, so the decommission hasn't happened yet -- maybe when the new entrance station is built?

Deleting CA 146 East would make sense considering it sits on land completely owned by the NPS after Pinnacles was elevated to a National Park:

https://www.nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Doesn't look like anything regarding 146 aside from the section in Soledad has popped up on the legislative minutes recently:

https://www.cahighways.org/145-152.html#146

Max Rockatansky

I can confirm CA 146 East is no longer signed, I put some comparison pictures from yesterday versus 2017 on the Gribblenation Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/72868503020/posts/10156790760968021/?d=n



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