California

[Max Rockatansky]

While trying to look up why BART parking is randomly free today, I discovered this recent article on a Hayward local who was instrumental in blocking the Route 238 freeway project in that city and wants to see a suburban high density development with very little parking space:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Suburban-homes-with-no-parking-Utopian-vision-in-14999949.php

SAMSUNG-SM-G930A

So basically just more of the same for the Bay Area just with a Walt Disney/Epcot style dystopian twist to it?

[skluth]

While trying to look up why BART parking is randomly free today, I discovered this recent article on a Hayward local who was instrumental in blocking the Route 238 freeway project in that city and wants to see a suburban high density development with very little parking space:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Suburban-homes-with-no-parking-Utopian-vision-in-14999949.php

SAMSUNG-SM-G930A

So basically just more of the same for the Bay Area just with a Walt Disney/Epcot style dystopian twist to it?

I found the website for the development, since the article is behind a paywall. The only real difference is parking will be leased. Housing prices and HOA fees seem relatively decent for the Bay Area, so I don't think charging for parking is that out of line. The development is between a BART station and a CSU campus, so many of the residents can probably get by with Uber and mass transit. It's probably not a model that will work in many locations, but it may work here.

Some of the expectations are unreasonable. They plan on a bus stop within the development. This would require the bus to take a one block detour off the main drag (Carlos Bee Blvd) specifically to serve this development. I don't know if this was actually promised or the developers have a "if we build it they will come" Pollyanna mentality, but in either case I expect the bus stop to ultimately be on Carlos Bee. The land was recently a quarry site. I'd be very worried about land subsidence on the site, especially during earthquakes. But that may be something California homeowners tolerate, like building on fire-prone hillsides.

I expect residents mainly will come from CSUEB, which is within walking distance of the development. Some may be students, but staff may find the combination of location and housing cost unbeatable. The money savings mostly come from not needing additional land for cars; New Urbanists do have a point that there is a cost to providing infrastructure (roads, garages) for cars. I'm sure the vegan-granola crowd will love it. To repeat my opinion, this development model may work here but I really don't think it's something that can work elsewhere in the US except in very specific circumstances.

[JustDrive]

I'm sure at least a few people have seen this video, but I found it really cool. "Dashcam" footage from 1988 showing someone driving from Glendon Ave in Culver City, down Venice to the "San Diego", then north to the Ventura Fwy to Van Nuys Blvd:

https://youtu.be/SUh0PsW7XyI

My favorite bits are that the traffic reports, which you can hear repeatedly throughout the video, which almost never mention freeway numbers ("the San Diego [Fwy]", "the Pomona", the "Ventura Freeway". The only number I recall hearing was the 57 and the 134 (though usually "134 Ventura Fwy"). Also repeated references to the "four level".

For any LA locals, is this still the style of traffic reports? Mostly just freeway names (apart from some)?

And for our older and/or more tasteful users, the video is chock-full of really great music from the era.

One thing I remember from the 405 of the 80s is that before the Getty was opened, Getty Center Drive was originally signed as "Chalon Road."  Oh, and the Montana Avenue exit was still around

[bing101]

https://ktla.com/news/5-freeway-in-burbank-to-close-for-36-hours-starting-april-25/

Update I-5 in Burbank to be closed in April for the I-5 widening.

[sparker]

https://ktla.com/news/5-freeway-in-burbank-to-close-for-36-hours-starting-april-25/

Update I-5 in Burbank to be closed in April for the I-5 widening.

The Burbank Blvd. ovecrossing/interchange was always underpowered from its 1960 construction; originally I-5 narrowed down to 3+3 lanes through there and was only "widened out" by restriping a couple of decades later.  That whole section through Glendale and Burbank from the CA 134 junction up to San Fernando Road north of downtown Burbank had some questionable design standards, which did involve dropping the outer (#4) lane onto single-lane C/D facilities through the Western Ave. and Alameda Ave. interchanges (along the stretch opened in late 1957), while the Burbank Blvd. facility mentioned here simply peeled the right lanes off onto exit ramps.  Vivid memories -- that was the closest section of I-5 to my boyhood home in northwest Glendale!     

[Max Rockatansky]

So I just had a thought regarding something that never crossed my mind until now.  Old US 99 on "The Old Road"  near Santa Clarita, is that a reference to "El Camino Viejo"  and it just went over my head until now?   Granted El Camino Viejo and even early US 99 were aligned through Newhall Pass...but still it's the general vicinity.  Does anyone have any insight onto why "The Old Road"  was chosen as a road name for Old US 99?

[ClassicHasClass]

Because it's the ... old road? (Not trying to be obtuse here ...  )

[Max Rockatansky]

Because it's the ... old road? (Not trying to be obtuse here ...  )

Yes, but given there was a historic roadway nearby that actually had that name in Spanish is that a total coincidence or tongue and cheek intentional?  Essentially that would be akin to old parts of US 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco being named "The Royal Road."    I'm kind of surprised that nobody ever tried to push Caltrans to designate CA 33 as El Camino Viejo. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Open question, how well known is "El Camino Viejo" in the California road community.  El Camino Viejo essentially was the alternate to El Camino Real through San Joaquin Valley and was the first real European path north over the mountains from Los Angeles.  El Camino Viejo was replaced by the Stockton-Los Angeles Road in the 1850s which in turn was eventually replaced by the Old Ridge Route in the 1910s.  The literal translation of "El Camino Viejo" would be "The Old Road" or "The Old Way" which got my gears grinding on the "The Old Road" which happens to be part of former US 99. 

Regardless I've kind of found that knowledge of El Camino Real in the general road world is sparse at best.  A lot of people tend to assume the Old Ridge Route was created in a vacuum when that wasn't even close to being the case.

[roadwaywiz95]

For this upcoming weekend's Webinar presentation, we'll be taking a look at the freeway system in and around San Diego, CA, one of California's largest cities and one of the more interesting urban centers on the west coast. Coverage will begin on Saturday (4/18) at 6 PM ET and will feature live contributions from members of this forum; we hope to see you there!

[Beltway]

The suggestion that the so-called "MacArthur Maze" has something to do with its presence is probably spot-on. 

That is a nickname, the official and original name seems to be Distribution Structure, and I have seen that in some CalTrans publications.

The MacArthur Maze (or simply the Maze, also called the Distribution Structure) is a large freeway interchange near the east end of the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland, California.  It splits Bay Bridge traffic into three freeways–the Eastshore (I-80/I-580), MacArthur (I-580) and Nimitz (I-880).

The maze was constructed along with the Bay Bridge in the 1930s; construction of the Distribution Structure itself started on April 8, 1934.  Although the official name was the East Bay Distribution Structure, the media and public nicknamed it the "Maze" as early as 1939.  The site, wholly contained within the city of Oakland, was chosen as it was a key point where tracks from the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Key System railroads intersected.  The first configuration was relatively simple: westbound traffic from 38th St (later MacArthur Blvd) merged with northbound traffic from Cypress St and crossed above the Southern Pacific tracks, then split into ramps north to the Eastshore Highway (US 40) and west to the Bay Bridge.  A parallel set of ramps handled eastward/southward traffic.  Film footage of the early Maze can be seen in the 1941 movie Shadow of the Thin Man, as Nick and Nora Charles drive off the Bay Bridge on their way to Golden Gate Fields in Albany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Maze

[sparker]

The suggestion that the so-called "MacArthur Maze" has something to do with its presence is probably spot-on. 

That is a nickname, the official and original name seems to be Distribution Structure, and I have seen that in some CalTrans publications.

The MacArthur Maze (or simply the Maze, also called the Distribution Structure) is a large freeway interchange near the east end of the San Francisco—Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland, California.  It splits Bay Bridge traffic into three freeways–the Eastshore (I-80/I-580), MacArthur (I-580) and Nimitz (I-880).

The maze was constructed along with the Bay Bridge in the 1930s; construction of the Distribution Structure itself started on April 8, 1934.  Although the official name was the East Bay Distribution Structure, the media and public nicknamed it the "Maze" as early as 1939.  The site, wholly contained within the city of Oakland, was chosen as it was a key point where tracks from the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Key System railroads intersected.  The first configuration was relatively simple: westbound traffic from 38th St (later MacArthur Blvd) merged with northbound traffic from Cypress St and crossed above the Southern Pacific tracks, then split into ramps north to the Eastshore Highway (US 40) and west to the Bay Bridge.  A parallel set of ramps handled eastward/southward traffic.  Film footage of the early Maze can be seen in the 1941 movie Shadow of the Thin Man, as Nick and Nora Charles drive off the Bay Bridge on their way to Golden Gate Fields in Albany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Maze

The original Distribution Structure/"Maze" became a traffic nightmare soon after it was completed.  Essentially configured as two directional interchanges connected by the bridge over the combined SP, Santa Fe, and Key System rail lines, which converged in south Emeryville, it required US 50 traffic, which emptied out onto now-MacArthur Blvd., to make a leftward lane shift over a short distance -- in both directions -- to stay on the route.  By the early '50's, the situation became untenable, particularly when the Eastshore/US 40 highway was upgraded to a freeway and started carrying much more traffic than previously, a lot of it heading to Oakland rather than over the Bay Bridge.  So once Interstate funds were available in early 1957, the structure was modified with direct ramps between the Bay Bridge approach and US 50 east (which was to have originally become I-5W).  The original structure was still used for traffic from US 40/I-80 westbound to both US 50 and south SSR 17 (Cypress Street); it remained in service even after the Cypress Viaduct on the Nimitz Freeway was completed in 1958.  Direct ramps to that freeway from both directions of I-80 were completed in the late '60's, fully eliminating the drastic lane-shifting aspects of the interchange.  Of course, the whole thing was revamped when the Cypress viaduct collapsed with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and now-I-880 was rebuilt on a new alignment to the southwest; in the process eliminating the Bay Bridge-to-I-880 movements within the interchange and replacing them with new ramps above West Grand Avenue.  Arguably the "epicenter" of the Bay Area freeway system, it's likely the Maze hasn't seen its last revamping (later HOV/HOT modifications have taken place since the 1997 I-880 reopening).   

[bing101]

Freewayjim does a tour of CA-27 in a 2013 roadgeek video. Yes its a nice scenic drive around the Santa Monica Mountains.

[nexus73]

Freewayjim does a tour of CA-27 in a 2013 roadgeek video. Yes its a nice scenic drive around the Santa Monica Mountains.

Seeing a few large clumps of vehicles parked on the roadside made me wonder what was going on at those locations?  Do you have any idea? 

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Freewayjim does a tour of CA-27 in a 2013 roadgeek video. Yes its a nice scenic drive around the Santa Monica Mountains.

Seeing a few large clumps of vehicles parked on the roadside made me wonder what was going on at those locations?  Do you have any idea? 

Rick

Lots of hiking and festivals in Topanga Canyon.  You have to be there at the crack of dawn on a weekend to get good parking. 

[nexus73]

Crack of dawn when facing a county population of 9 million means you had better beat the sunrise!  Thanks for the explanation Max.

Rick

[roadwaywiz95]

Our next installment in the "Virtual Tour" series is scheduled to take place on Saturday (4/25) at 6 PM ET. Come join me and members of the AARoads community as we profile Interstate 8 across southern California and discuss the history and features of this highway, all while enjoying a real-time video trip along the length of the freeway Yuma, AZ and San Diego, CA.

A link to the event location can be found below:

[pderocco]

So I just had a thought regarding something that never crossed my mind until now.  Old US 99 on "The Old Road"  near Santa Clarita, is that a reference to "El Camino Viejo"  and it just went over my head until now?

Ironically, quite a bit of The Old Road in Santa Clarita, from about Calgrove to Magic Mountain, isn't actually the old road, because that's completely buried under I-5.

[sparker]

So I just had a thought regarding something that never crossed my mind until now.  Old US 99 on "The Old Road"  near Santa Clarita, is that a reference to "El Camino Viejo"  and it just went over my head until now?

Ironically, quite a bit of The Old Road in Santa Clarita, from about Calgrove to Magic Mountain, isn't actually the old road, because that's completely buried under I-5.

Yeah -- what's marked as the "Old Road" south of Magic Mountain Parkway is essentially a series of parallel/frontage roads functioning as local servers, with no actual semblance of the old 4-lane highway, which from the Weldon Canyon section north of the CA 14 interchange down the hill, was directly overlaid by I-5 back in the late '60's.  The earliest freeway section, opening in early '63, was from Magic Mountain to north of CA 126, which was originally a freeway stub fed by a trumpet interchange on I-5 -- that was on all-new alignment east of the old road and included the truck scale facility.  The next to be built was the high bridge over Weldon Canyon itself, with the old road at the bottom of the canyon; that dates from about 1965.  Those two segments were connected bit by bit until 1970, when both the current Newhall Pass alignment and the reverse-carriageway segment north of Castaic were opened to traffic. 

[roadwaywiz95]

For this upcoming weekend's Webinar presentation, we'll be taking a look at the freeway system (at least the sections I managed to cover in February 2020) in and around Los Angeles, CA, one of America's largest cities and one of the more interesting urban centers on the west coast. Coverage will begin on Saturday (5/2) at 6 PM ET and will feature live contributions from members of this forum; we hope to see you there!

[Plutonic Panda]

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/caltrans-eyes-alternatives-for-albion-river-bridge-project/48349

[sparker]

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/caltrans-eyes-alternatives-for-albion-river-bridge-project/48349

I certainly hope that they choose an arch-series design and make every effort to render it as attractive as the Big Sur bridges.  But it is likely that actual construction will see some postponement because of the detritus of the certain COVID-related dip in revenue -- which actually has its pros and cons.  The "pros" are a longer lead time to design a physcially attractive structure; the "cons" are potential pressure to do the job as economically as possible, which would likely result in a cookie-cutter prestressed-girder-on-bents type of design, which would certainly make the locals pissed off!   This is one instance regarding highways where the Coastal Commission, which has expressed preference for the Big Sur-type arch design, may actually provide some measure of benefit rather than being an obstacle. 

[Plutonic Panda]

Man I'm really torn. I do wish they would preserve this bridge but I can see the argument against that.

[kkt]

I should make a point of getting down there and taking some pictures. 

[Max Rockatansky]

I should make a point of getting down there and taking some pictures.

Me too...oh wait that was part of my plans for two weeks ago...