California

[Max Rockatansky]

Live police chase right now on the Ridge Route (old US 99) in LA County!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stucrewfanpage/permalink/707248286613669/?__cft__

• =AZW4u1bYnLzp6qN1YEHa7ehffN1wrDZCRXMo5Iic3JGmFKE5ILE3oCl5goCMIE9j2ckgmN5chBbXnGt2Mo4eoRyAT5GiQ0aGz16Gb98N2p9h-7lDZEI9u5t6UmyNMaILA1upTpK1i2Nk86Q7ZWnDygef&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
  

The driver didn't even make it off the N2 portion of Old Ridge Route before he wrecked.

I was wondering if he was going to turn left at Sandberg to stay on N2, or end up on the unmaintained section of the RRR. That would have been fun.

Probably would have been hosed once he reached the Tumble Inn.  I'm pretty sure that gate got locked up again after the fires up there. 

[sparker]

A rare sighting of chains required all afternoon and evening in the Cuyamaca Mountains according to Quick Map. CA 79 from Interstate 8 to CA 78 in Julian. With this big atmospheric river storm coming statewide this week, I'm thinking 80, 5, and 15 will all possibly be closed at some point and chains required on most mountain highways in the state. Be safe everyone!

Aside from the occasional wildfire closure, the only time I've seen I-15 actually closed for snow was back in late winter 1998.  Traffic was shut down NB at the 15/215 interchange (original configuration).  I was carrying chains, and got off I-15 at Lytle Creek and took Devore Road across to Devore itself, scooted around town streets and got back on I-15 a mile north of the closure.  There was actually no snow on the surface all the way over Cajon but 15 was a little icy in spots; guess CHP thought SoCal drivers couldn't handle even that.   

[TJS23]

Aside from the occasional wildfire closure, the only time I've seen I-15 actually closed for snow was back in late winter 1998.  Traffic was shut down NB at the 15/215 interchange (original configuration).  I was carrying chains, and got off I-15 at Lytle Creek and took Devore Road across to Devore itself, scooted around town streets and got back on I-15 a mile north of the closure.  There was actually no snow on the surface all the way over Cajon but 15 was a little icy in spots; guess CHP thought SoCal drivers couldn't handle even that.

Hmm in the past few years I believe I saw a full closure of the Cajon Pass and I'm definitely sure they closed it in between Barstow and the State line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go--EGRkrUQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdpz-Txd9jk

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Since my own experience with closure was almost 23 years ago -- and weather issues have become considerably more severe since that time (gee -- I wonder why?) -- it's not surprising that previously non-problematic locations like the 4.7K altitude Mountain Pass, which I traversed almost yearly without incident when exhibiting or attending the winter CES show, generally held the 2nd weekend of January, are now intermittently subject to winter closure.  Nevertheless, the years I lived in Hesperia ('09-'12) Cajon remained open year round except for wildfire and traffic accidents.  But it seems that when it comes to weather and its corresponding travel issues, the past is becoming an increasingly unreliable predictor of the future!

[Plutonic Panda]

For anyone familiar with SoCal, I've lived here about 5 years and I was shocked to see snow coating the ground at Mulholland and Malibu Canyon. I've seen trace amounts multiple times on CA 23 on the higher elevations from PCH to the 101 but never at Malibu Canyon. How significant is that?

[Max Rockatansky]

For anyone familiar with SoCal, I've lived here about 5 years and I was shocked to see snow coating the ground at Mulholland and Malibu Canyon. I've seen trace amounts multiple times on CA 23 on the higher elevations from PCH to the 101 but never at Malibu Canyon. How significant is that?

Back in late 2016 I encountered some snow out in Big Sur coming west on G16/Carmel Valley Road approaching CA 1.  It wasn't much at ground level but up high it was pretty significant on some of the peaks.

[mapman]

I experienced snow on CA 17 back in February 1996.  I was commuting to college early one morning (by bus) from Santa Cruz County to Downtown San Jose, and Caltrans closed the highway just south of Summit Road because of the snow.  (Caltrans didn't have their snow plows stationed near the summit, hence it couldn't plow away the snow.)  We had to turn around, detouring down to Watsonville to CA 129 and US 101 in order to get to San Jose.  Needless to say, I was over 4 hours late getting to campus that day.

[kkt]

There was snow in the lowlands of Palo Alto one morning around 1978 or 79.  Just a dusting, and it was gone by 10 AM, but it was there.  I'm sure the hills were more of a problem.

[TJS23]

There was snow at the Summit on Highway 17 in February 2019, the highway was briefly closed overnight for a while while the snow plows cleared the roadway, there's some twitter videos as well very magical! I should have driven up but woke up too late.

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

[citrus]

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

Yeah, I just saw that! Going to be an interesting rest of the week, for sure. Yesterday, it looked like I-5 over the Grapevine and CA-58 over Tehachapi Pass were closed for significant time periods, and I-15 between Baker and the Nevada border was closed for a bit, as well. I-8 was closed east of San Diego for a stretch this morning. I-5 north of Redding is closed now, and sounds like US 199 is closed at the Oregon border too.

Some interesting chain requirements I usually don't see on the map, too.... CA-175 in the Clearlake area, CA-79 in San Diego County. And we're just getting started! I'm sure US-50 / I-80 will close for a bit, too. Would be amazing to see some snow flurries in SF proper - it was 34F when I got up this morning per my sensor outside - but I don't think that's in the cards.

[Max Rockatansky]

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

Yeah, I just saw that! Going to be an interesting rest of the week, for sure. Yesterday, it looked like I-5 over the Grapevine and CA-58 over Tehachapi Pass were closed for significant time periods, and I-15 between Baker and the Nevada border was closed for a bit, as well. I-8 was closed east of San Diego for a stretch this morning. I-5 north of Redding is closed now, and sounds like US 199 is closed at the Oregon border too.

Some interesting chain requirements I usually don't see on the map, too.... CA-175 in the Clearlake area, CA-79 in San Diego County. And we're just getting started! I'm sure US-50 / I-80 will close for a bit, too. Would be amazing to see some snow flurries in SF proper - it was 34F when I got up this morning per my sensor outside - but I don't think that's in the cards.

Amusingly CA 1/Shoreline Highway has stayed open.  That would be a scary ride getting towards Fort Bragg from Leggett in a thick rain. 

[kkt]

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

Yeah, I just saw that! Going to be an interesting rest of the week, for sure. Yesterday, it looked like I-5 over the Grapevine and CA-58 over Tehachapi Pass were closed for significant time periods, and I-15 between Baker and the Nevada border was closed for a bit, as well. I-8 was closed east of San Diego for a stretch this morning. I-5 north of Redding is closed now, and sounds like US 199 is closed at the Oregon border too.

Some interesting chain requirements I usually don't see on the map, too.... CA-175 in the Clearlake area, CA-79 in San Diego County. And we're just getting started! I'm sure US-50 / I-80 will close for a bit, too. Would be amazing to see some snow flurries in SF proper - it was 34F when I got up this morning per my sensor outside - but I don't think that's in the cards.

Amusingly CA 1/Shoreline Highway has stayed open.  That would be a scary ride getting towards Fort Bragg from Leggett in a thick rain. 

Did that drive in a light rain in the dark and that was quite bad enough.  Headlights don't do much for you when the road is all curves.

[Max Rockatansky]

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

Yeah, I just saw that! Going to be an interesting rest of the week, for sure. Yesterday, it looked like I-5 over the Grapevine and CA-58 over Tehachapi Pass were closed for significant time periods, and I-15 between Baker and the Nevada border was closed for a bit, as well. I-8 was closed east of San Diego for a stretch this morning. I-5 north of Redding is closed now, and sounds like US 199 is closed at the Oregon border too.

Some interesting chain requirements I usually don't see on the map, too.... CA-175 in the Clearlake area, CA-79 in San Diego County. And we're just getting started! I'm sure US-50 / I-80 will close for a bit, too. Would be amazing to see some snow flurries in SF proper - it was 34F when I got up this morning per my sensor outside - but I don't think that's in the cards.

Amusingly CA 1/Shoreline Highway has stayed open.  That would be a scary ride getting towards Fort Bragg from Leggett in a thick rain. 

Did that drive in a light rain in the dark and that was quite bad enough.  Headlights don't do much for you when the road is all curves.

Essentially all it is a modernized lumber haul road which connects Rockport to a Leggett.  It's kind of amusing that the Lost Coast was considered such a challenge that the present route was the only rational way to complete CA 1. 

[ClassicHasClass]

That, sir, is an insult to lumber haul roads. 

[Max Rockatansky]

What's really interesting is that Usal Road north of Rockport is shown as a major Mendocino County Road on the 1935 Division of Highways map.  I couldn't fathom that being the case now but at the name the lumber mill at Usal would have been active.   It made way more sense for CA 1 to go north through the Lost Coast when the lumber industry was still alive north of Rockport:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26bs%3D10%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26q%3DMendocino%2520county%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=718%2C-22%2C965%2C1582

Where it gets really interesting is on the 1937 Gousha Map has Rockport-Leggett as part of Temporary CA 1:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26lc%3DRUMSEY%7E8%7E1%26q%3DCalifornia%20state%20automobile%20association%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=-548%2C0%2C11924%2C19531

From there it gets even stranger with the State adopting the Rockport-Leggett segment:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/05/paper-highways-california-state-route-1.html?m=1

[TheStranger]

Went along 101 in South San Francisco, San Bruno, and Millbrae today, and a sign replacement project is underway - lots of new, slightly taller BGSes, mostly of the right-post kind, being placed near SFO.

There are a couple that are clearly designed to replace 1970s-era button copy signs and full-width gantries near 101/380, but placed in such a way that the new signs are completely blocked by the older ones.

Also saw a right-shoulder-post next-three-exits sign in SSF that is not far away from a 2005-era retroreflective, but median-post sign with the same info and that didn't look like it was anywhere outside of its useful service life.

The new signs still have internal exit tabs, despite the increased height.

[sparker]

But here's a very very rare closure now happening: 101 is closed from Laytonville to CA271, CHP report says they don't have enough plows to clear the roadway, at least a 2 hour delay! It's been a while since I drove from Eureka to SF but I remember seeing chain signs and being confused about it possibly happening, but apparently it is possible!   

Yeah, I just saw that! Going to be an interesting rest of the week, for sure. Yesterday, it looked like I-5 over the Grapevine and CA-58 over Tehachapi Pass were closed for significant time periods, and I-15 between Baker and the Nevada border was closed for a bit, as well. I-8 was closed east of San Diego for a stretch this morning. I-5 north of Redding is closed now, and sounds like US 199 is closed at the Oregon border too.

Some interesting chain requirements I usually don't see on the map, too.... CA-175 in the Clearlake area, CA-79 in San Diego County. And we're just getting started! I'm sure US-50 / I-80 will close for a bit, too. Would be amazing to see some snow flurries in SF proper - it was 34F when I got up this morning per my sensor outside - but I don't think that's in the cards.

Not surprised about the US 101 expressway through the Cummings area; a large portion of that is carved out of the hillside and would be prone to avalanche, particularly with the wetter snow that occurs at lower altitudes such as that along 101.  Wonder if the hill between Calpella and Willits (shared with CA 20) has been affected by this storm; it actually closed several times during the winter of 1990-91 -- and it's at a considerably higher altitude than the Laytonville-Cummings-Leggett stretch!

[TheStranger]

Saw the 1992 Central Freeway youtube video reposted on FB recently (in some sort of historic San Francisco group) and the signage at the 1989-present Central Freeway/US 101/South Van Ness split caught my eye (note the temporary 101 sign on what had, to that point been labeled as "Mission Street/Van Ness Avenue":
https://youtu.be/vGM-crlegA4?t=212



Since the 2005 reconfiguration of the Central Freeway to end at Market Street, the exit is now known as "Mission Street/Duboce Avenue".

Also saw this old green sign at the Fell Street offramp that I don't think was there by the early 2000s:

[jdbx]

Saw the 1992 Central Freeway youtube video reposted on FB recently (in some sort of historic San Francisco group) and the signage at the 1989-present Central Freeway/US 101/South Van Ness split caught my eye (note the temporary 101 sign on what had, to that point been labeled as "Mission Street/Van Ness Avenue":

Also saw this old green sign at the Fell Street offramp that I don't think was there by the early 2000s:

I am very familiar with this stretch of highway, and I can confirm that the upper deck which handled East/Southbound traffic was demolished as far as the Van Ness onramp by 1999 when I started using the Fell St ramp regularly.  Along with that demolition, so went the sign.  The view in that last frame you shared was open air for me by that time.

[Plutonic Panda]

I wish they would have rebuilt that freeway. That thing must have been a blast to drive, when traffic actually moved lol

[jdbx]

I wish they would have rebuilt that freeway. That thing must have been a blast to drive, when traffic actually moved lol

It made it very convenient if you were headed out to the Richmond or Sunset.  I will say that the signal coordination on Octavia Blvd is pretty good, and while you are not moving at freeway speeds, it does still do a pretty good job of moving traffic out towards the panhandle.

The one that was really convenient was the Embarcadero Freeway, it was nice to be able to jump off right into Chinatown / North Beach without having to slog through all the lights and traffic getting across SOMA / Market St.  Not that I am making a case for bringing *that* monstrosity back.

[ClassicHasClass]

What was the control city for the 101 pullthru? San Rafael? Santa Rosa?

[TheStranger]

What was the control city for the 101 pullthru? San Rafael? Santa Rosa?

Golden Gate Bridge most likely (as is the case today). No Marin destinations are control cities for 101 at any point (currently) in SF.

SM-G973U1

[jdbx]

What was the control city for the 101 pullthru? San Rafael? Santa Rosa?

Golden Gate Bridge most likely (as is the case today). No Marin destinations are control cities for 101 at any point (currently) in SF.

I remember that the control cities on the pull through were "Civic Center / Golden Gate Bridge".  This is because prior to the earthquake, you could take the Central Freeway all the way to Franklin and Golden Gate Ave, which is only a couple of blocks from City Hall.


Moved reply out of quote. —Roadfro

[fungus]

Looks like California may be canceling Christopher Columbus on I-10. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously investigated and the state legislature will introduce a resolution to dename the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.  http://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/bos/bc/1102737_ReportonBdMtgof101320_Item59-G_021221.pdf