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California

Started by andy3175, July 20, 2016, 12:17:21 AM

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TheStranger

Quote from: sparker on July 07, 2017, 04:20:03 PM

In the case of the original (pre-Interstate) Los Angeles freeway layout, the names of the freeways indicated its ultimate (or penultimate) destination: Pasadena, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, (the) Harbor, Hollywood, Ventura -- which made sense.  Even the original Bay Area freeways followed suit in a way:  Bayshore, Eastshore, Southern (across the southern tier of S.F. proper).  When other considerations: honorific, memorialization, etc. came into use, that lessened the impact of names:  OK, Nimitz was applied to the southern Eastshore because it (more or less) provided access to Oakland/Alameda naval facilities -- and MacArthur was applied because it basically traced old MacArthur Blvd., the original US 50 alignment in east Oakland.  But those names didn't assist in delineating [/i]where[/i] the freeway was heading.  OK, the Ronald Reagan Freeway (CA 118) goes somewhere near the Reagan museum, but that's somewhat of an oddity.  The nail in the coffin, at least out here in CA, came when the newscasters, both radio and TV, starter using numbers exclusively to report on traffic conditions and incidents in the early '80's.  And now that they're signing short freeway segments as memorials to fallen LEO's and other local figures, the whole naming concept has been dissipated to the point where it's functionally meaningless.  Route numbers will likely remain the default for the foreseeable future.     

Post-1970s, the only two new route names I can think of that got emphasized were rather intentionally so:

Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway (for Route 94 in San Diego, starting in the early 1990s)
Capital City Freeway (Business 80 in Sacramento, ca. 1996)

What is interesting though is in driving around LA the past week, I saw a surprising amount of new retroreflective signage that has retained freeway name mention in LA County at least.  Not a massive amount, but enough where "replace in kind" continues unabated (to my delight at least). (Most common named routes that have received new signage that I recall - Harbor Freeway, Long Beach Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway in at least one example, and Ventura Freeway to a degree.  Hollywood Freeway still has plenty of scattered signage but not sure if any of it is newer.)

For the Bay Area named freeways, several got theirs based on parallel street/highway (Bayshore, Junipero Serra, Eastshore, MacArthur, Embarcadero, Warren).  the Central Freeway is the only one of the cardinal-direction names that stuck in SF, while the Nimitz is the one freeway-only honorary name that has remained to this day.

Chris Sampang


andy3175

Article on the infamous caution signs in San Diego...

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/la-me-immigrants-running-road-sign-20170614-htmlstory.html



Quote
With only one left, iconic yellow road sign showing running immigrants now borders on the extinct
By Cindy Carcamo

So many immigrants crossing illegally into the United States through California were killed by cars and trucks along the 5 Freeway that John Hood was given an assignment.

In the early 1990s, the Caltrans worker was tasked with creating a road sign to alert drivers to the possible danger.
Silhouetted against a yellow background and the word "CAUTION,"  the sign featured a father, waist bent, head down, running hard. Behind him, a mother in a knee-length dress pulls on the slight wrist of a girl – her pigtails flying, her feet barely touching the ground.

Ten signs once dotted the shoulders of the 5 Freeway, just north of the Mexican border. They became iconic markers of the perils of the immigrant journey north. But they began to disappear – victims of crashes, storms, vandalism and the fame conferred on them by popular culture.

Today, one sign remains. And when it's gone, it won't be replaced – the result of California's diminished role as a crossing point for immigrants striving to make it to America. ...

A generation after they were installed, the last of the "running immigrants"  signs stands on two wooden posts in a concrete median of northbound Interstate 5, just before a "Welcome to California"  sign. ...

In the 1980s, more than 100 people were killed as they tried to cross freeway lanes in the San Ysidro area and between San Clemente and Oceanside. Caltrans wanted to do something about the problem and asked Hood, a California Department of Transportation employee and Vietnam War veteran who grew up on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, to come up with a sign that would alert drivers and could reduce the number of deaths.

He eventually settled on using the image of a family in an effort to tug at the heart in a way a typical road sign might not. A little girl with pigtails, he thought, would convey the idea of motion, of running.

The sign was inspired by photographs of people crossing at the time, including those taken by former Los Angeles Times staff photographer Don Bartletti.

Caltrans first installed the signs in late 1990 and early 1991. After workers erected a median fence along the freeway's trouble spots in 1994, officials decided not to replace any future signs that were lost. Around that time, federal officials launched Operation Gatekeeper, which fenced off the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego – pushing illegal immigration east, toward Arizona and Texas. That helped reduce the number of freeway-crossing deaths, Caltrans officials said.

"You create your work, and that's the extent of it. You never envision something like that to happen,"  Hood said about the sign's evolution. "It's become an iconic element. It lives on."
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

Max Rockatansky

I thought those were all gone, I'm amazed the last one hasn't been stolen yet.  I always thought it looked like the kid was going to end up biting it or having a dislocated shoulder from the way the sign depicts the family.

andy3175

Recent article regarding Historic US 101 signing efforts in San Diego...

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-101-history-20170818-story.html

QuoteNearly a century ago when automobiles were a relatively new invention, roadsters and open-air sedans made their way from the Mexican border to Orange County along a patchwork of paved and unpaved surface streets.

They included Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla Boulevard, Turquoise Street, Cass Street, Garnet Avenue, Morena Boulevard, San Diego Avenue, India Street, Harbor Drive, Broadway in Chula Vista and Beyer Boulevard in Otay Mesa.

To help tourists and even locals avoid getting lost, the federal government in 1926 began formally designating a series of signed roadways that included U.S. Highway 101 – the first official north-south route through San Diego.

And those well-known surface streets and several others in San Diego County were part of the route, which had developed erratically since just after 1900 based on where roads were paved and a wide variety of other factors.

The original Highway 101 was replaced relatively quickly in 1933 by the more modern and direct Pacific Highway featuring bridges and ramps, which kept the name Highway 101 despite following a significantly different route than the original version.

And Pacific Highway gave way in 1964 to Interstate 5, an even more modern road following a similar path that is the third, and possibly final, official north-south highway route along San Diego's coast.

QuoteBefore the original Highway 101 and the already existing roads it included, there was a stagecoach route from Old Town to Los Angeles in the late 1800s that followed mostly the same semi-coastal route as the famous El Camino Real charted by Father Juniperro Serra.

When people began driving cars in San Diego around 1900, there was a dearth of paved roads and a trip to Los Angeles could take nearly 10 hours.

City officials debated for several years whether to build a north-south route along the coast through Pacific Beach and La Jolla, or to build a more direct route through the rugged and hilly terrain of Rose Canyon to the east.

They eventually chose the coastal route based on its flatness and scenic beauty, and paving was completed in 1920 of La Jolla Boulevard, Turquoise Street, Cass Street and Garnet Avenue.

But the shorter Rose Canyon route, which some travelers had used before the Pacific Beach route had been paved, was flattened a bit and rerouted in 1930 with a big plan on mind.

City officials decided to create a new Highway 101 by grading and extending Atlantic Street from Barnett Avenue to the Rose Canyon highway at Balboa Avenue, and re-naming it Pacific Highway.

The road was designated as the new Highway 101 in San Diego when it opened in late 1933, and it was connected to the state's portion of Highway 101 that had been completed all the way to just south of Del Mar.

In 1935 the city officially changed the names of Atlantic Street, West Atlantic Street, Rose Canyon Highway, Torrey Pines Mesa Road and Torrey Pines Road to Pacific Highway.

The road was eventually connected to the South Bay and the border in the 1950s with construction of the Montgomery Freeway.

Thirty years later, Interstate 5 was built on essentially the same path as Pacific Highway and the Montgomery Freeway, except where it veers toward Sorrento Valley on its way into North County.

But a few sections of the old Pacific Highway still exist, including a long stretch from downtown up to Mission Bay Park where you can see the road's old-fashioned highway interchanges.

The road also still exists from where it began near present-day Seaport Village through the northern edge of downtown.

And a few other sections have survived, such as North Torrey Pines Road between UC-San Diego and Del Mar, Gilman Drive between Interstate 5 and the university, and Mission Bay Drive in Pacific Beach.

In contrast, nearly all of the original Highway 101 has survived, of course, because it was essentially surface streets.

Missing portions, however, include a chunk that became part of the UCSD campus and a stretch eliminated to create the National City Mile of Cars. In addition, part of the original 101 isn't open to the public because it's within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

There is evidence the original Highway 101 split into two separate routes for a few years because of congestion concerns, but details of that are disputed. The western route may have included Ingraham Street and Foothill Boulevard.

And the later version of 101 was divided into two routes in North County, between Palomar Airport Road and State Route 76, for the same reason in the 1950s.

Highway 101 still exists north of San Diego as a major freeway running from Los Angeles all the way to Washington State.
But other than the historic markers, the 101 name has essentially been wiped out in San Diego County, except in a few North County cities where the road remains mostly unchanged from decades ago.

And more info on our page at https://www.aaroads.com/california/us-101ha_ca.html.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

andy3175

Caltrans Marking, Removing Dead Trees Along State Highways

http://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/08/22/caltrans-marking,-removing-dead-trees-along-state-highways/

QuotePotential road hazards posed by dead trees along some California highways, especially in the sierra, have prompted Caltrans to get rid of them. That includes trees on private land - at no cost. 

Caltrans has already removed 107,000 trees near California highways, trees that were killed by drought and bark beetle infestation.

"We're now addressing those that may be off of state property," says Patrick Olsen with Caltrans.

He says hazardous trees are being marked with orange paint by certified Caltrans arborists. Then Permission to Enter forms will be sent to affected property owners one to six months after trees are marked.

"We are sending out notices via mail," says Olsen. "We're also having a door-hanging campaign. If you have a tree on your property that may be suspect, you'll be receiving a notice there."

The agency expects to take out another 54,000 trees by next summer. Removal work will begin after the Labor Day Holiday.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

Max Rockatansky

Had a US 99 and blue guide sign sighting leaving Fresno-Yosemite International Airport tonight:

IMG_6613 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Interesting that 180 isn't listed but not surprising considering it was far from being a freeway when this guide sign was new.  168 would have been on Shaw and Clovis.

Henry

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 30, 2017, 12:56:28 AM
Had a US 99 and blue guide sign sighting leaving Fresno-Yosemite International Airport tonight:

IMG_6613 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Interesting that 180 isn't listed but not surprising considering it was far from being a freeway when this guide sign was new.  168 would have been on Shaw and Clovis.
Nice to see old historic signs that serve as reminders to what once was. It's also interesting that after all those years they've kept it up for as long as they have.

Quote from: andy3175 on August 24, 2017, 01:04:09 AM
Recent article regarding Historic US 101 signing efforts in San Diego...

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-101-history-20170818-story.html

QuoteNearly a century ago when automobiles were a relatively new invention, roadsters and open-air sedans made their way from the Mexican border to Orange County along a patchwork of paved and unpaved surface streets.

They included Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla Boulevard, Turquoise Street, Cass Street, Garnet Avenue, Morena Boulevard, San Diego Avenue, India Street, Harbor Drive, Broadway in Chula Vista and Beyer Boulevard in Otay Mesa.

To help tourists and even locals avoid getting lost, the federal government in 1926 began formally designating a series of signed roadways that included U.S. Highway 101 — the first official north-south route through San Diego.

And those well-known surface streets and several others in San Diego County were part of the route, which had developed erratically since just after 1900 based on where roads were paved and a wide variety of other factors.

The original Highway 101 was replaced relatively quickly in 1933 by the more modern and direct Pacific Highway featuring bridges and ramps, which kept the name Highway 101 despite following a significantly different route than the original version.

And Pacific Highway gave way in 1964 to Interstate 5, an even more modern road following a similar path that is the third, and possibly final, official north-south highway route along San Diego’s coast.

QuoteBefore the original Highway 101 and the already existing roads it included, there was a stagecoach route from Old Town to Los Angeles in the late 1800s that followed mostly the same semi-coastal route as the famous El Camino Real charted by Father Juniperro Serra.

When people began driving cars in San Diego around 1900, there was a dearth of paved roads and a trip to Los Angeles could take nearly 10 hours.

City officials debated for several years whether to build a north-south route along the coast through Pacific Beach and La Jolla, or to build a more direct route through the rugged and hilly terrain of Rose Canyon to the east.

They eventually chose the coastal route based on its flatness and scenic beauty, and paving was completed in 1920 of La Jolla Boulevard, Turquoise Street, Cass Street and Garnet Avenue.

But the shorter Rose Canyon route, which some travelers had used before the Pacific Beach route had been paved, was flattened a bit and rerouted in 1930 with a big plan on mind.

City officials decided to create a new Highway 101 by grading and extending Atlantic Street from Barnett Avenue to the Rose Canyon highway at Balboa Avenue, and re-naming it Pacific Highway.

The road was designated as the new Highway 101 in San Diego when it opened in late 1933, and it was connected to the state’s portion of Highway 101 that had been completed all the way to just south of Del Mar.

In 1935 the city officially changed the names of Atlantic Street, West Atlantic Street, Rose Canyon Highway, Torrey Pines Mesa Road and Torrey Pines Road to Pacific Highway.

The road was eventually connected to the South Bay and the border in the 1950s with construction of the Montgomery Freeway.

Thirty years later, Interstate 5 was built on essentially the same path as Pacific Highway and the Montgomery Freeway, except where it veers toward Sorrento Valley on its way into North County.

But a few sections of the old Pacific Highway still exist, including a long stretch from downtown up to Mission Bay Park where you can see the road’s old-fashioned highway interchanges.

The road also still exists from where it began near present-day Seaport Village through the northern edge of downtown.

And a few other sections have survived, such as North Torrey Pines Road between UC-San Diego and Del Mar, Gilman Drive between Interstate 5 and the university, and Mission Bay Drive in Pacific Beach.

In contrast, nearly all of the original Highway 101 has survived, of course, because it was essentially surface streets.

Missing portions, however, include a chunk that became part of the UCSD campus and a stretch eliminated to create the National City Mile of Cars. In addition, part of the original 101 isn’t open to the public because it’s within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

There is evidence the original Highway 101 split into two separate routes for a few years because of congestion concerns, but details of that are disputed. The western route may have included Ingraham Street and Foothill Boulevard.

And the later version of 101 was divided into two routes in North County, between Palomar Airport Road and State Route 76, for the same reason in the 1950s.

Highway 101 still exists north of San Diego as a major freeway running from Los Angeles all the way to Washington State.
But other than the historic markers, the 101 name has essentially been wiped out in San Diego County, except in a few North County cities where the road remains mostly unchanged from decades ago.

And more info on our page at https://www.aaroads.com/california/us-101ha_ca.html.
I applaud the fact that the old US 101 route is finally getting some recognition in San Diego. I wish OR and WA would acknowledge their own portions of US 99 like CA does, and not with state route shields either!
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

Max Rockatansky

^^^

Kind of makes me question the quality of the operation at Fresno-Yosemite if they have had the same sign hanging up since the 1960s.  One would think that the budget would allow for that sign to be replaced with something a little more informative as to the nearby freeways, 180 is the most accessible and isn't even mentioned.

sparker

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 30, 2017, 11:21:33 PM
^^^

Kind of makes me question the quality of the operation at Fresno-Yosemite if they have had the same sign hanging up since the 1960s.  One would think that the budget would allow for that sign to be replaced with something a little more informative as to the nearby freeways, 180 is the most accessible and isn't even mentioned.

I think the "US 99" error shield was just a sign contractor mistake; since the CA 168 freeway wasn't even opened until about 1992, and that sign likely dates from around that period.   US 99 would have been officially 28 years gone by that time (and 26 years since the U.S. shields were taken down in the summer of 1966).  Besides, it's blue -- no shield on that sign is technically/MUTCD correct.  If you're gonna make a mistake, might as well make it big!

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: sparker on August 31, 2017, 01:34:13 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 30, 2017, 11:21:33 PM
^^^

Kind of makes me question the quality of the operation at Fresno-Yosemite if they have had the same sign hanging up since the 1960s.  One would think that the budget would allow for that sign to be replaced with something a little more informative as to the nearby freeways, 180 is the most accessible and isn't even mentioned.

I think the "US 99" error shield was just a sign contractor mistake; since the CA 168 freeway wasn't even opened until about 1992, and that sign likely dates from around that period.   US 99 would have been officially 28 years gone by that time (and 26 years since the U.S. shields were taken down in the summer of 1966).  Besides, it's blue -- no shield on that sign is technically/MUTCD correct.  If you're gonna make a mistake, might as well make it big!

Looking at the history of the airport the last major renovations/updates were in the early 2000s.  Just off camera there is a green guide sign showing all the correct shields and all routes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.7704225,-119.721763,3a,75y,337.77h,89.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZAY5-CSlaf5Eab_vXj2O4Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

nexus73

Blue signs for freeways...must be Europe...LOL!  Neat to see an US 99 shield on such isn't it?

Rick
US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

silverback1065

i thought airport signs were always blue

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: silverback1065 on August 31, 2017, 12:51:44 PM
i thought airport signs were always blue

They are, after reading what Sparker said and looking at the street view I tend to agree that the US 99 is likely a fairly recent contractor goof.  I'll have to swing over that way and maybe get a closer look this next week if I get an opportunity.  Surprised the hell out me while I was sitting in the passenger seat being picked up, I literally took that photo standing up through the sun roof.   :-D
   

Max Rockatansky

#388
Tioga and Sonora Pass had a snow closure already, probably won't last with warmer weather coming:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/04/snow-closes-yosemites-tioga-road-and-sonora-pass/

The new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on CA 1 in Big Sur is opening by the end of the day on Friday the 13th:

https://bigsurkate.blog/2017/10/03/pfeiffer-canyon-bridge-to-open-end-of-day-on-friday-101317/

gonealookin

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 05, 2017, 12:51:43 AM
Tioga and Sonora Pass had a snow closure already, probably won't last with warmer weather coming:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/04/snow-closes-yosemites-tioga-road-and-sonora-pass/

Caltrans has a historical listing of the winter closure dates:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/clsdlst.htm

However, the dates of the closures shown there, usually after Thanksgiving, are misleading.  Those are the dates when they formally throw in the towel on each road and say "we're not going to try to reopen this thing until the spring".  In fact, most of those passes, particularly Ebbets, Sonora and Tioga, are usually "closed due to snow" though not officially "closed for winter" sometime earlier in November, maybe second week of November on average, and sit closed but in limbo for a few weeks, on the possibility that minimal snow and an extended dry period through the rest of November may allow them to be opened for Thanksgiving weekend.  But in most cases there's enough snow in November at >8000 feet that they never reopen after the first big November storm.  October sees them closed for 24 hours period or so but October snow is usually not so copious that it can't easily be plowed away.

I know I have driven over Tioga at Thanksgiving, and one year it was even open for Christmas/New Year's, but that's very rare.

The spring reopening dates are more accurate.  Sonora Pass is almost always open for Memorial Day, but that wasn't the case in 2017.  It's not just clearing the snow and abating the avalanche danger, it's repairing any damage they find once they're down to bare pavement.  There were some major repair issues on Ebbetts Pass this year, thus the 6/30 opening.

andy3175

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on October 05, 2017, 12:51:43 AM
Tioga and Sonora Pass had a snow closure already, probably won't last with warmer weather coming:

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/04/snow-closes-yosemites-tioga-road-and-sonora-pass/

The new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on CA 1 in Big Sur is opening by the end of the day on Friday the 13th:

https://bigsurkate.blog/2017/10/03/pfeiffer-canyon-bridge-to-open-end-of-day-on-friday-101317/

Some additional resources on the 10/13/2017 opening date of the new SR 1 Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge from last week:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-pfeiffer-canyon-bridge-20171006-story.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/04/big-sur-pfeiffer-canyon-bridge-to-open-oct-13/

QuoteCaltrans says the new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge will open Oct. 13, eight months after the transportation agency shut down the bridge along Highway 1 just south of Big Sur Station.

"There is some bridge rail work to be done and some guard rail work to be done,"  said Jim Shivers, a Caltrans spokesman.

Caltrans will pave the roadway this weekend, which will be followed by lane striping. Among the other work yet to be done is trenching to improve drainage on the existing roadway and grinding down the road as it approaches the bridge to make for a smooth transition. Crews will also have to remove the large machinery currently in place as part of construction work.

"It's a full opening,"  Shivers said, explaining both lanes will be open to the public Oct. 13 by 5 p.m. ...

The single-span, steel girder structure was built without the columns that made the previous configuration vulnerable to landslides at an estimated cost of $24 million.

"We did seven years of work in about seven months,"  Shivers said. "It's pretty remarkable what work has been done here, it's really amazing."  ...

Highway 1 remains closed at the massive Mud Creek slide on the southern end of the Big Sur coast, about 10 miles north from the San Luis Obispo County border. Crews are working on building a new road atop the quarter-mile slide at a cost of $40 million. The highway is expected to reopen in late summer 2018.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

andy3175

Update on SR 1 reopening between Muir Woods and Stinson Beach:

http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20171003/caltrans-targets-december-for-highway-1-reopening

QuoteCaltrans plans to reopen storm-damaged Highway 1 between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach by December – if the weather cooperates.

"We are hoping to give the residents out there a Christmas present,"  said Steve Williams, Caltrans spokesman. "But it is complicated work and we don't know what the weather will be like."

Last winter's record rains caused significant problems on the coastal highway. Caltrans officials said there were 17 storm-related work sites in Marin, most of those on Highway 1. The work has an estimated cost of more than $75 million.

A section of Highway 1 in Muir Beach opened in early May after being closed since January after parts of the road washed away and down a hillside.

But another key section of Highway 1 to the north, between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, where the highway has dipped, cracked and slipped, has yet to see through-traffic. The reopening date was initially pegged at early September, then October, and now December is the new target. ...

To get to Stinson Beach from the south now, drivers need to use a detour on Panoramic Highway, which extends the trip about 13 miles.

Other work is also set to start on Highway 1. That construction will include shoring up retaining walls at several locations.

Even once it opens, Caltrans plans to keep signs up with traffic warnings that encourage people to use the Panoramic detour so Highway 1 does not get backed up, county officials said.

The road closures, detours and one-way controls brought by the winter storms made West Marin difficult to navigate on busy weekends over the summer.

Locals are familiar with closures of the highway, seeing major shutdowns in 2005, 2006, 2014 and again this year.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

sparker

Quote from: andy3175 on October 10, 2017, 12:31:27 AM
Update on SR 1 reopening between Muir Woods and Stinson Beach:

http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20171003/caltrans-targets-december-for-highway-1-reopening

QuoteCaltrans plans to reopen storm-damaged Highway 1 between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach by December – if the weather cooperates.

"We are hoping to give the residents out there a Christmas present,"  said Steve Williams, Caltrans spokesman. "But it is complicated work and we don't know what the weather will be like."

Last winter's record rains caused significant problems on the coastal highway. Caltrans officials said there were 17 storm-related work sites in Marin, most of those on Highway 1. The work has an estimated cost of more than $75 million.

A section of Highway 1 in Muir Beach opened in early May after being closed since January after parts of the road washed away and down a hillside.

But another key section of Highway 1 to the north, between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, where the highway has dipped, cracked and slipped, has yet to see through-traffic. The reopening date was initially pegged at early September, then October, and now December is the new target. ...

To get to Stinson Beach from the south now, drivers need to use a detour on Panoramic Highway, which extends the trip about 13 miles.

Other work is also set to start on Highway 1. That construction will include shoring up retaining walls at several locations.

Even once it opens, Caltrans plans to keep signs up with traffic warnings that encourage people to use the Panoramic detour so Highway 1 does not get backed up, county officials said.

The road closures, detours and one-way controls brought by the winter storms made West Marin difficult to navigate on busy weekends over the summer.

Locals are familiar with closures of the highway, seeing major shutdowns in 2005, 2006, 2014 and again this year.

Back in the mid-70's, when I had just moved up to the Bay Area for the first time, I was living in Redwood City but had changed jobs and was working in Mill Valley.  Had a good friend living in Bolinas, so to avoid commuting between Marin and RC every day I stayed in a guest house behind my friend's place during the week and went home south on the weekends.  I started out the daily Mill Valley-Bolinas commute right along CA 1 via Muir Beach, but switched to Panoramic as the "default" route because it was actually less treacherous.  Also, I figured out some back roads in MV so I could cut off the last mile or so of Panoramic.  IMO, through drivers are actually getting something of a break by having to detour over Panoramic -- besides the jaunt through Muir Beach, the scenery on CA 1 can only be appreciated if one pulls off the road -- traveling it requires a driver's full concentration!  And it seemed, at least back in '76, that the few commercial vehicles heading toward Stinson, Bolinas, or points north of there preferred Panoramic as well; I had regular truck companions on that road!

TheStranger

Photo I took today of a damaged sign on US 101 in Santa Rosa

Chris Sampang

andy3175

Quote from: TheStranger on October 10, 2017, 06:53:11 PM
Photo I took today of a damaged sign on US 101 in Santa Rosa



Sad. The damage to that part of Santa Rosa is unfathomable and on a par with damage from other major firestorms in the history of California. The aerial views of destroyed neighborhoods are truly stunning and saddening, and my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in the inferno. That said, and bringing this back to roads, I wonder if they will replace that U.S. 101 Business route sign or watch it disappear forever. Sometimes, these old business route signs on California highways get damaged or removed... and they never come back.
Regards,
Andy

www.aaroads.com

Max Rockatansky

#395
Pictures from the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge grand opening on CA 1:

https://bigsurkate.blog/2017/10/14/bridge-opening-photo/

(Incidentally I'll have some of my own this coming week)

Accompanying article from the San Francisco Gate:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Big-Sur-back-in-business-with-opening-of-Pfeiffer-12277324.php

Really the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road coupled with CA 1 north of Lime Kiln State Park to County Route G16 is a pretty damn worthwhile little drive IMO.


sparker

Quote from: andy3175 on October 12, 2017, 11:20:01 PM
Sad. The damage to that part of Santa Rosa is unfathomable and on a par with damage from other major firestorms in the history of California. The aerial views of destroyed neighborhoods are truly stunning and saddening, and my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in the inferno. That said, and bringing this back to roads, I wonder if they will replace that U.S. 101 Business route sign or watch it disappear forever. Sometimes, these old business route signs on California highways get damaged or removed... and they never come back.

The damage to Santa Rosa and the Sonoma Valley is on a par with the 2003 firestorms that ravaged San Diego County as well as the San Bernardino mountains (as a then Redlands resident I witnessed the latter up-close!).  Unfortunately, the massive expansion of housing into formerly rural regions in this state has rendered such destruction almost inevitable; the warming trend has only served to accelerate the timetable for such occurrences.  One can only hope that this latest batch of disasters will serve as a limiting factor -- or even consideration -- when suburban and exurban developments are proposed in the years to come. 

myosh_tino

Quote from: sparker on October 15, 2017, 09:45:20 PM
Unfortunately, the massive expansion of housing into formerly rural regions in this state has rendered such destruction almost inevitable; the warming trend has only served to accelerate the timetable for such occurrences.  One can only hope that this latest batch of disasters will serve as a limiting factor -- or even consideration -- when suburban and exurban developments are proposed in the years to come.

I doubt it.  Some news outlets here are already speculating on the impact the Wine Country fires will have on already-astronomical Bay Area home prices.  I suspect most, if not all, of the destroyed homes in Santa Rosa  will be rebuilt.
Quote from: golden eagle
If I owned a dam and decided to donate it to charity, would I be giving a dam? I'm sure that might be a first because no one really gives a dam.

sparker

Quote from: myosh_tino on October 16, 2017, 01:03:18 PM
Quote from: sparker on October 15, 2017, 09:45:20 PM
Unfortunately, the massive expansion of housing into formerly rural regions in this state has rendered such destruction almost inevitable; the warming trend has only served to accelerate the timetable for such occurrences.  One can only hope that this latest batch of disasters will serve as a limiting factor -- or even consideration -- when suburban and exurban developments are proposed in the years to come.

I doubt it.  Some news outlets here are already speculating on the impact the Wine Country fires will have on already-astronomical Bay Area home prices.  I suspect most, if not all, of the destroyed homes in Santa Rosa  will be rebuilt.

Since most of the homes destroyed in the affected Santa Rosa neighborhoods had been exempted from current fire-resistant standards -- and, at least according to TV news reports from the area, most former residents expect to rebuild -- the builders of the new homes won't repeat that type of mistake.  I lived in Windsor, about 10 miles north of there, back in the late '80's, and passed that tract almost daily -- and it was in the "flatlands" immediately west of the US 101 freeway -- which this fire readily jumped!  Quite obviously, no one in the fire-control field had any idea that Cooley Park would be in jeopardy because of its physical location (even though the ridge that formed the fire's pathway came right up to Old Redwood Highway, just east of the freeway).  In this instance, the combination of winds and the fire's momentum resulted in the destruction of essentially the whole tract.  But it's the isolated houses scattered throughout the hills that provokes my concern; the lore of "wine country" has rendered Napa & Sonoma Counties (as well as Lake and southern Mendocino counties) a desirable place to put a vacation, retirement, or, if circumstances permit, a main residence.  I don't see that situation changing despite the number of such residences destroyed in this most recent fire event.  But the prospect of large-scale tract development up in the hills might be given second looks in light of the fires -- although because of the Cooley Park circumstances (i.e., the lack of fire standards), expansion in historically less fire-prone areas will likely continue unabated -- but with higher standards (and higher prices) applied.

kkt

At least it'll make potential buyers think twice for a while.  A cabin in woods at the end of five miles of dirt road would be so nice much of the time!  But it is, and should be, at the bottom of the firefighter's priority list, and you might have a lot of trouble escaping with your lives, let alone any possessions.  One hopes insurance companies will hesitate to insure these.

The subdivisions burning is more scary.  Cities could require renovations for increased fire protection anytime there's a substantial investment in the property - new roof etc.  And possibly sooner on rental property, hotels, and so on.



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