U.S. 101 needs a traffic signal between the cities of Paso Robles & San Miguel.

[ACSCmapcollector]

U.S. 101 needs a traffic signal between the cities of Paso Robles & San Miguel.

I wonder how come Caltrans District 5 has no plans for a deadly intersection on U.S. 101 expressway near Wellsona, with major accidents and deaths occuring here, I just read in the San Luis Obispo Tribune that another bad accident occured there not too long ago, what do we need a traffic signal or a new diamond interchange there?

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[Max Rockatansky]

This the one with Exline Road?

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6826803,-120.6967191,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYzRkxPkHgne0SnqfQ9iX7g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Or Monterrey Road?

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6671714,-120.6959253,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sc3JmUSg1cgQhGIZLxpwGJg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Why not just put a barrier up at both Exline and Monterrey that doesn't allow traffic to cross US 101?  The traffic on Monterrey could go north and pull a U-turn for south at Exline and the Stockdale traffic could do the same for northbound.  I've seen configurations like that on other Californian Expressway configurations which are done that way to stop cross traffic at dangerous intersections...some sections of US 101 north of Monterrey come to mind..  Given that all the traffic signals between L.A. and San Francisco are gone that would probably be a good band-aid fix until funds become available later on.  Prunedale has a lot of examples where the cross traffic is forced into one direction on US 101:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.8095635,-121.6431263,16z?hl=en

[coatimundi]

No, I think he's talking about the Wellsona Road interchange, just north of that: https://goo.gl/maps/JiZFz68dUwz

That intersection gets a lot of highway traffic because of the truck stop. It seems like the local traffic is pretty minimal. I'm on San Marcos Road a lot, and there's never anyone on it.

It's a high-priority intersection for SLO County. They're going to build an interchange though. I don't think any work has been started though.
Adding a traffic signal would put the only traffic signal on US 101 between its beginning in Los Angeles and where it starts to follow Van Ness in San Francisco. That's over 400 miles, and that would be the only traffic light right smack in the middle of it.

[Max Rockatansky]

No, I think he's talking about the Wellsona Road interchange, just north of that: https://goo.gl/maps/JiZFz68dUwz

That intersection gets a lot of highway traffic because of the truck stop. It seems like the local traffic is pretty minimal. I'm on San Marcos Road a lot, and there's never anyone on it.

It's a high-priority intersection for SLO County. They're going to build an interchange though. I don't think any work has been started though.
Adding a traffic signal would put the only traffic signal on US 101 between its beginning in Los Angeles and where it starts to follow Van Ness in San Francisco. That's over 400 miles, and that would be the only traffic light right smack in the middle of it.

Geeze...yeah that's an ugly one.  At least they got some turn-off and merge lanes at that intersection, a lot of Caltrans expressways don't even have those.  It would take some widening at Exline to make that a viable U-turn point for trucks...  It would probably be easier to solve the problem if there was a service station for trucks on the north bound lanes.....at least some truck pumps.  Yeah they really just need to do an interchange and call it a day on that one.  Having people scream to a halt from 65 MPH for a single traffic light isn't a good idea.

[kkt]

Wellsona Rd. and the Monterey Rd.-Stockdale Rd. exits should be diamonds.  It looks like the driveways on the side roads are far enough from the highway that there'd be room for the downgrade from the overpass, although Benton Rd. on the southbound side of 101 might be too close to meet the overpass and need to be relocated.  It looks like the property next to it is vacant in the Google Earth photo dated 2016.

While I'm at it, the northern Monterey Rd. grade crossing  should be made into an overpass, a surface street connection from San Marcos Creek Vineyards to San Marcos Rd. built, and the San Marcos Rd. grade crossing of 101 made into a 3-way interchange.

Exline Rd. could be either closed or made an overpass with no exit.

Definite NO to new traffic lights on 101 south of San Francisco.

[ACSCmapcollector]

I think they are going to upgrade this section of U.S. 101, no intersections with traffic signals, what about a traffic circle instead?  I already read in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, about that section today. Traffic signals maybe but traffic circle could be a solution.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[kkt]

US 101 AADT in that area is around 22,000 to 24,000 (2014 data).  I think that's a bit high for a traffic circle.

[silverback1065]

signals don't actually make things safer.

[ACSCmapcollector]

Then a freeway would work for that section of expressway with only the other two roadways being built as Y interchanges.  Or that entire section should be built with diamond interchanges.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[nexus73]

Freeway it.  Problem solved.  Prunedale should have been freewayed half a century ago.  Silly Caltrans!  When you see billboards saying "Blood Alley", you might think There's A Problem!  Leave it to the stupidity of bureaucracy to see problems go unsolved for so long.

...and people wonder why other people are so PO'ed in this election cycle on both sides of the political spectrum.

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Freeway it.  Problem solved.  Prunedale should have been freewayed half a century ago.  Silly Caltrans!  When you see billboards saying "Blood Alley", you might think There's A Problem!  Leave it to the stupidity of bureaucracy to see problems go unsolved for so long.

...and people wonder why other people are so PO'ed in this election cycle on both sides of the political spectrum.

Rick

Problem is that money doesn't grow on trees in this state...despite the huge gas and income taxes.  It doesn't help when you have a DOT in Caltrans that need a crap ton of upgrades to expressways in uber rural areas that didn't need them and can't get through a lot of relinquishments fast enough....and not to mention all the other little nickle and dime legislative pieces that we're infamous for down here.  With 38 million people it's kind of amazing how all that money can disappear into a black hole.

Now with that in mind I say that knowing full well that a US 101 style expressway wouldn't exist anywhere else in the country like it does here....so yeah it's kind of ironic we're complaining about a US Route that likely would be two-lanes in similar areas all over the rest of the country.  The only other state with so many US and State Highways built up to expressway or freeway status that I can think of that might compete with California is Michigan...and most of those were built during a much more positive state economic climate as well.

[ACSCmapcollector]

Not unless you have the Democratic Presidential nominee elected to the White House, she would help with our highways around here, this is an infrustructure problem that can be fixed easily with Governor Jerry Brown and soon to be president Hillary Clinton, even though I am not going into politics here.  She has a plan to bring money across every state in the USA to be fixed.  What more can we want, we should also cheer for what will happen in 2017 with the Road Charge per mile program to be started in California by Caltrans too.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[Max Rockatansky]

Not unless you have the Democratic Presidential nominee elected to the White House, she would help with our highways around here, this is an infrustructure problem that can be fixed easily with Governor Jerry Brown and soon to be president Hillary Clinton, even though I am not going into politics here.  She has a plan to bring money across every state in the USA to be fixed.  What more can we want, we should also cheer for what will happen in 2017 with the Road Charge per mile program to be started in California by Caltrans too.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

Yeah I'm more interested in local pieces of legislation or laws that come before Congress....the Presidential office gets all the press but people always forget on the Federal Level that the Executive Branch is just one of three branches.  The problem you got with the executive branch these days is that whoever you elect you're getting the uber polarizing version of what that party represents...whether that be Republican or Democrat...they both have huge negatives.  That's why so many laws can't get passed when nobody can act within the middle ground. 

Doesn't this forum have a rule about politics or am I thinking of another one?  Regardless holding a far left or far right lean really hasn't helped anyone...especially in the last two decades.  Too bad none of these third parties couldn't ever really get a good foot hold going, it might break up a lot of these deadlocks that block legislative movements...especially the infrastructure variety.  Hell there really hasn't been anyone to come around with some clout since the Progressive movement or hell even when the Whig part was a thing.    Social media has turned pretty much turned the ugliness level up to extreme...it's pretty disappointing regardless of who supports who...  So with that in mind I'm going to decline on hitting my personal politics, it never leads anywhere good on these forums.

One thing that I'm not a supporter of is tracking mileage and being taxed off of it.  Not while I'm being taxed out the butt at the pump...which we all certainly are in California.  There is too much negatives to that law in respect to privacy concerns for that me to get behind...I'd rather see another gas tax increase.

With that in mind, things could be worse.  It's pretty small minded to flip out about things like Highways and all these first world problems.  Things could always be worse; we don't have things having to learn "duck and cover" because the Reds might nuke us at any minute, no Nazis/Axis threat waiting to invade from across the ocean or even a Great Depression with a Dust Bowl driven migration west to worry about.

Final Edit:

Yep, found the topic covered in Forum guidelines:

"Political discussion is discouraged. Since discussion of roads will always involve politics to some degree, it is not outright banned, but members are instructed to remember that this forum is frequented by many people with diverse political beliefs, and strive to avoid protracted debate on the subject. The staff reserves the right to limit debate on political topics if a moderator judges the topic to be too divisive."

So basically this thread took a turn for the thin-ice mighty damn quick.  I'm going to head for the higher neutral ground while the gettin is good...I think I have more videos up to upload into the 80s/90s Car thread.

[Max Rockatansky]

Hey check it out; the Tumbler Batmobile...sure love to take that up US 101:

If it's built anything close to the implied spec in the movies those dangerous intersections wouldn't be a problem anymore....and yes...it does come in black. 

[coatimundi]

I think there has always been the intention of converting the Wellsona Road intersection into an interchange. That's why the businesses are set back so far from the highway. It just needs to be funded.

A lot of the growth in Northern SLO County has been pretty recent. The ranches have turned to vineyards, the money has piled in, and the wealthy transplants now do a lot more driving. So it's just a matter of waiting for the change to happen. Bridging the freeway gap between northern Paso and San Miguel though should probably be a priority at this point. And, beyond Wellsona Road, I don't know that it would really take that much to make it into a slightly safer, Prunedale-style freeway.
But, yeah, Prunedale is a perfect example of how Caltrans seems to view 101 problems and priorities. Just keep it on the project list. But Prunedale also required some pretty ridiculous and overly expensive interchanges due to the terrain. This stretch in Northern SLO County would be nothing like it.

[kkt]

Problem is that money doesn't grow on trees in this state...despite the huge gas and income taxes.

$6.4 billion for the new east span of the Bay Bridge... because retrofitting the old one would have cost $250 million.

By the way, the occupant of the White House has pretty much nothing to do with how state transportation funds are spent or misspent.

[Max Rockatansky]

Problem is that money doesn't grow on trees in this state...despite the huge gas and income taxes.

$6.4 billion for the new east span of the Bay Bridge... because retrofitting the old one would have cost $250 million.

By the way, the occupant of the White House has pretty much nothing to do with how state transportation funds are spent or misspent.

Sure got rid of those ugly steel girders...man..I'm sure that was an awful reminder to people in San Francisco everyday that the old bridge went to Oakland. 

[ACSCmapcollector]

My opinion for the HSR project is to cancel it and give the bond money to Caltrans only for highway repair, widening of highways and more.  That is less than $10 billion in the bucket, I think California needs about $55 to $60 billion total to spend on repairs, what about new freeways, interchanges, expressways, tollways.   I am hoping on the Road Charge program to have some money set aside for the above purpose without putting California in red debt ink.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[Max Rockatansky]

My opinion for the HSR project is to cancel it and give the bond money to Caltrans only for highway repair, widening of highways and more.  That is less than $10 billion in the bucket, I think California needs about $55 to $60 billion total to spend on repairs, what about new freeways, interchanges, expressways, tollways.   I am hoping on the Road Charge program to have some money set aside for the above purpose without putting California in red debt ink.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

Well it's way too late to cancel the high speed rail now, that project is going to happen no matter what at this point.  Mass transit is definitely part of the state agenda for either good, bad or indifferent....and with a budget surplus it just gives it justification.  Part of the problems with highways in general is that by and large the modern attitude is "fix it when it's broken."  Basically you go back to times like the 1950s and there was a much different mindset towards highway development than there is today....California was one of those states leading the charge.  The good news is that California got a lot over developed highways like US 101, CA 58 and US 395 during that time when that would largely would be impossible in the modern climate.  The real failure was that Caltrans had a lot of time to relinquish control of a lot of roadways that were replaced by the expressways or Interstates.  Now you have a route catalog that is almost as bizarre and convoluted as the LRN days.  That certainly doesn't help from a budgetary aspect when you have a crap ton of semi-completed upgrades, disconnected highways, heavily trafficked urban surface routes, rural secondary routes all competing for the same dollars as something like road maintenance much less high speed rail....  But when you really think about it, is a budget surplus of $10 billion really all that much in a state with a population of 38 million?  Hell...at least nobody is threatening to cut the state parks like they were less than a decade ago...

[ACSCmapcollector]

Only compared with Europe and Japan, that bullet train will work.  However, Amtrak also need high priority too in Caltrans budget for passenger railroads in the United States. HSR will come, however the question is how many of our 38 million will use it, it doesn't go near Disneyland as of yet, or Six Flags Magic Mountain (in Anaheim, Santa Clarita= Valencia).  That is why Governor Brown wants a big trade off with gasoline tax traded to the Road Charge per mile, which I am in favor for.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

[Max Rockatansky]

Only compared with Europe and Japan, that bullet train will work.  However, Amtrak also need high priority too in Caltrans budget for passenger railroads in the United States. HSR will come, however the question is how many of our 38 million will use it, it doesn't go near Disneyland as of yet, or Six Flags Magic Mountain (in Anaheim, Santa Clarita= Valencia).  That is why Governor Brown wants a big trade off with gasoline tax traded to the Road Charge per mile, which I am in favor for.

Scott C. Presnal
Morro Bay, CA

So basically squeeze people who don't want to use the train in the first place or won't have access to it at all?  And for a train that won't even be minimally operational until 2019?...I'd say only in California but a lot of east coast states want to do the same thing.  At least they have the rail infrastructure already built out that way and it's considered a normal part of life for a lot of people in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and the Baltimores out there.  Just sounds like a forced political agenda to push people off the roads to me.

That's the crappy thing, way back when the car started to take over from the train there used to be a huge infrastructure of railroad networks that moved not only cargo but people.  There are so many towns in California that started as simple rail sidings for steam trains, some made it while others didn't (Old US 66 east of Barstow to Needles has a ton of rail ghost towns along it's alignment).  A lot of those lines were along modern US Routes which basically made them useless for anything but cargo and a lot went defunct.  The Interstates largely just put another nail in the coffin for passenger rail for everything except east coast suburbia due to ease of access.  All it would take to offset the cost of the high speed rail is a gas tax increase or another tax increase somewhere else.  The mileage tracking has the trapping of political deterrence to driving and environmental red tape to it..

Now with that said will it deter me from driving my 30,000-40,000 miles a year?  No....but it might make do a lot of my travel out of California rather than in it, so basically you have people like me taking their recreational dollars to other states.  I'd say about 12,000 of those miles are purely commuting, the rest are doing the stuff that I like to do...whether it be out in the mountains, a car show or even the desert.  A couple cent raise per gallon the gas tax doesn't raise the same red flags in my eyes versus having to report your mileage to the state every year.  It's just interesting that the state that is largely credited with the birth of modern car culture and suburban living would stoop to stuff like this just to force a couple people onto a high speed rail that's getting built anyways.

[Alex]

Stepping in here to add that you should not post personal details of someone on the forum here (i.e. their address, even if it is via lat long coordinates), unless they granted you permission to do so. With that stated, I have removed the posts pertaining to that and the follow up banter.