California

[cahwyguy]

I'm sure there is talk on the Fictional boards about making a tunnel freeway due south from Palmdale to Pasadena. Commute problem solved!

Why fictional when it was actually once seriously considered?

https://www.gribblenation.org/2023/09/angeles-forest-highway-los-angeles.html?m=1

I still think its wild how almost none of the freeway corridors in that area ever were built (138 comes to mind). Doesn't seem like any of those paper highways ever will be either.

WHen you look at those highways (Route 138, Route 48, all the roads through the Angeles National Forest), it is unclear whether their benefit (time savings, construction jobs) offsets the environment impact of their construction and operation. We know a lot more now about that than we did in the 1950s and 1960s.

With an engineering hat on, the better question to ask is: What is the problem that these freeways would really be solving, and are there better ways to solve that problem? If their primary purpose is to solve congestion, then the real answer is to move people to the jobs, or jobs to the people. More housing and density in the cities; more manufacturing in the high desert; more (electric) trains to transport goods; and of course completing the high speed rail, which will see a rail tunnel under the mountains.

Much as I enjoy highway history, and despite what some here will say, highways aren't always the answer -- especially when you don't really understand the question.

[Max Rockatansky]

FWIW I don't think 138 is all that bad east of Palmdale to I-15.  Where it is actually bad is within Palmdale itself.  The problem probably could be solved by making rebuilding Pearblossom Highway as a true Palmdale bypass.

[Voyager]

FWIW I don't think 138 is all that bad east of Palmdale to I-15.  Where it is actually bad is within Palmdale itself.  The problem probably could be solved by making rebuilding Pearblossom Highway as a true Palmdale bypass.

I also think making 138 a full freeway between 5 to Palmdale would help relieve a lot of 14 traffic, although it would add more to 5 as a result.

[Max Rockatansky]

FWIW I don't think 138 is all that bad east of Palmdale to I-15.  Where it is actually bad is within Palmdale itself.  The problem probably could be solved by making rebuilding Pearblossom Highway as a true Palmdale bypass.

I also think making 138 a full freeway between 5 to Palmdale would help relieve a lot of 14 traffic, although it would add more to 5 as a result.

I don't know about that.  138 west of 14 is pretty desolate and sparsely traveled.  Really the biggest problem I see is that it isn't signed at 65 MPH but rather 55 for some reason.  I don't recall ever having issues passing anyone on that corridor. 

[pderocco]

FWIW I don't think 138 is all that bad east of Palmdale to I-15.  Where it is actually bad is within Palmdale itself.  The problem probably could be solved by making rebuilding Pearblossom Highway as a true Palmdale bypass.

I've always heard that the two-lane parts from Palmdale to Phelan had a high accident rate, which could be alleviated by  creating a proper expressway, as they've been doing little by little.

The expressway plans for I-5 to CA-14 were a lot further along, I believe. Even when I lived in LA, I only went up there on weekends, when traffic was light, so I don't know how heavy the truck traffic is on the western part of CA-138 during the week. But if it's heavy enough to make it hard to pass, then that project might still be a good idea.

The plans for a freeway through Palmdale, turning into an expressway to I-15 and beyond, went nowhere. But you could say the same for the grand plans for the SoCal Logistics Airport, which still doesn't even have a rail connection. Maybe in 50 years...