California

[TheStranger]

In this 1960s footage of San Francisco, found some old video of US 101/Bayshore Freeway from SFO to South San Francisco -

https://youtu.be/SLwXfAV1aJo?t=341

(5:41 in)

OF NOTE:

Northbound on 101, the next-three-exits sign in the median shows the following:

"South San Francisco" exit (today's Grand Avenue exit)
"Butler Road" (the pre-1993 Oyster Point exit, before Oyster Point was realigned to the late-1980s Sister Cities Boulevard as part of the increasing business park development east of the freeway; Butler Avenue still exists on the west side of 101)
"Brisbane" (the exit that is now known as "Bayshore Boulevard/Cow Palace" but in the pre-exit numbering era I grew up in, was simply "Cow Palace")

6:02 is the Alemany Maze, notable in this video because this might be one of the only times it was ever videotaped or photographed as the US 101/Route 82/Route 87 interchange.  (Or for all I know this was back in the US 101/Bypass US 101 days?  "It's A Mad Mad World" was the listed movie on one of the marquees of the old mid-Market theater district)

6:10 shows the old white-on-black signage for the Central Freeway/SF Skyway (US 101/I-80) split after Hospital Curve

[kkt]

Wow, that brings back dim childhood memories of the Eiffel Tower image on top of the City of Paris department store.

Love the button copy stop sign in Chinatown.

[nexus73]

The newest vehicles are 1965 models and there are just a few.  My guess is that the film was taken in late 1964, probably October since the weather is nice.

Rick

[ClassicHasClass]

Loved the Bay Bridge exit signage.

[pderocco]

The newest vehicles are 1965 models and there are just a few.  My guess is that the film was taken in late 1964, probably October since the weather is nice.

At least some of it was in July. The Republican presidential convention was going on in Daly City, and the video showed someone carrying a large campaign sign for Margaret Chase Smith, and someone else with a smaller William Scranton sign.

I didn't realize the cable cars on the turntable were pushed around by men, but I guess it makes sense, since they don't have motors.

That video has the weirdest processing on it, some kind of hyper-aggressive noise reduction that causes strange artifacts on signs and geometric patterns, especially around 2:30.

[kkt]

Yes, they push the cable cars around the turntable.  The turntable is on ball bearings or something, pushing it does not look like it's really taxing the operator's strength.

Back in the day, men and boys over 12 were allowed to stand at the edge of the cable car so you were looking out at the cars in the street with nothing in between you and them.  (Not women, sorry.)  But now both to eliminate the sexism and to make it safer, every cable car rider is required to have a seat inside the car.  Kind of sad to see the tradition of hanging on to the edge of the car go away.  And I'm not even convinced it's a lot safer.  The cable car's construction is lightweight, definitely not a place I'd like to be if it was in a collision with a car even at a stately 9 1/2 mph.

[Rothman]

Yes, they push the cable cars around the turntable.  The turntable is on ball bearings or something, pushing it does not look like it's really taxing the operator's strength.

Back in the day, men and boys over 12 were allowed to stand at the edge of the cable car so you were looking out at the cars in the street with nothing in between you and them.  (Not women, sorry.)  But now both to eliminate the sexism and to make it safer, every cable car rider is required to have a seat inside the car.  Kind of sad to see the tradition of hanging on to the edge of the car go away.  And I'm not even convinced it's a lot safer.  The cable car's construction is lightweight, definitely not a place I'd like to be if it was in a collision with a car even at a stately 9 1/2 mph.

Website says you can still hang on to the outside rails:

https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/cable-cars

Anyone could do so when I lived in SF and prior, no matter one's gender.  Shoot, me and my siblings did so when my siblings we younger than 12 during an earlier visit.  Visit was in the late 1980s and then I lived there in the very late 1990s.

The cable cars are ridiculously slow.  If you fall off, you can just run and catch up easily.

[kkt]

Yes, they push the cable cars around the turntable.  The turntable is on ball bearings or something, pushing it does not look like it's really taxing the operator's strength.

Back in the day, men and boys over 12 were allowed to stand at the edge of the cable car so you were looking out at the cars in the street with nothing in between you and them.  (Not women, sorry.)  But now both to eliminate the sexism and to make it safer, every cable car rider is required to have a seat inside the car.  Kind of sad to see the tradition of hanging on to the edge of the car go away.  And I'm not even convinced it's a lot safer.  The cable car's construction is lightweight, definitely not a place I'd like to be if it was in a collision with a car even at a stately 9 1/2 mph.

Website says you can still hang on to the outside rails:

https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/cable-cars

Anyone could do so when I lived in SF and prior, no matter one's gender.  Shoot, me and my siblings did so when my siblings we younger than 12 during an earlier visit.  Visit was in the late 1980s and then I lived there in the very late 1990s.

The cable cars are ridiculously slow.  If you fall off, you can just run and catch up easily.

Hey, so it does!  Cool, that makes my day.  I'll be sure to plan a trip back there with the child and ride a cable car or two.  Maybe lots of people complained about the "no hanging on outside" rule and they changed it.

[heynow415]

Yes, they push the cable cars around the turntable.  The turntable is on ball bearings or something, pushing it does not look like it's really taxing the operator's strength.

Back in the day, men and boys over 12 were allowed to stand at the edge of the cable car so you were looking out at the cars in the street with nothing in between you and them.  (Not women, sorry.)  But now both to eliminate the sexism and to make it safer, every cable car rider is required to have a seat inside the car.  Kind of sad to see the tradition of hanging on to the edge of the car go away.  And I'm not even convinced it's a lot safer.  The cable car's construction is lightweight, definitely not a place I'd like to be if it was in a collision with a car even at a stately 9 1/2 mph.

And only the Powell/Beach and Powell/Taylor lines have turntables.  The California Street line deadheads (no Jerry Garcia pun intended) at either end into a single track.  The California St. cars are of a different design that have two sets of controls for the gripman to operate it in either direction with open air seating at each end.

[kernals12]

Did Caltrans choose to have the Santa Monica Freeway veer away from Olympic Boulevard west of Culver City because they doubted the Beverly Hills Freeway would ever come to fruition?

[M3100]

Generals Highway, between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, has reopened.  This route was closed last fall due to fire activity. Los Angeles Times article here:

[M3100]

CA 79, between Temecula and Aguanga, has a signaled/flagged one-lane segment mid-way, where construction crews are working on a bridge near Dripping Springs.  We traveled this segment the morning of March 7; the waits were not very long at the construction site.

[Max Rockatansky]

Generals Highway, between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, has reopened.  This route was closed last fall due to fire activity. Los Angeles Times article here:

Worth noting that if anyone is looking for a scenic drive then Generals Highway, CA 180 in Kings Canyon and Mineral King Road (all accessible from Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks) are all top notch.

[Lukeisroads]

Generals Highway, between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, has reopened.  This route was closed last fall due to fire activity. Los Angeles Times article here:

Worth noting that if anyone is looking for a scenic drive then Generals Highway, CA 180 in Kings Canyon and Mineral King Road (all accessible from Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks) are all top notch.

I feel like 180 and 168 is dangerous cause the concrete can burn up

[Max Rockatansky]

Generals Highway, between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, has reopened.  This route was closed last fall due to fire activity. Los Angeles Times article here:

Worth noting that if anyone is looking for a scenic drive then Generals Highway, CA 180 in Kings Canyon and Mineral King Road (all accessible from Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks) are all top notch.

I feel like 180 and 168 is dangerous cause the concrete can burn up

Both are largely covered in a asphalt surface nowadays.  For what it is worth the Generals Highway had a lot of repaved sections in the KNP Fire zones when I drove it last week. 

[Plutonic Panda]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

[Max Rockatansky]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

I don't know about "great."   Opinion pieces usually are lacking on citations and actual examples of the argument they trying to convey.  It read like a complaint fest about the gas tax and the Newsom administration. 

[kernals12]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

I don't know about "great."   Opinion pieces usually are lacking on citations and actual examples of the argument they trying to convey.  It read like a complaint fest about the gas tax and the Newsom administration.

They did mention the horrifyingly totalitarian law that classified vehicle miles travelled as a form of pollution.

[Max Rockatansky]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

I don't know about "great."   Opinion pieces usually are lacking on citations and actual examples of the argument they trying to convey.  It read like a complaint fest about the gas tax and the Newsom administration.

They did mention the horrifyingly totalitarian law that classified vehicle miles travelled as a form of pollution.

Mentioned, but gave no actual reference point for the reader to refer back to.  Basically this is no better than the exact opposite extreme presented by the likes the Los Angeles Times in their opinion pieces.

And to clarify, I'm not outright dismissing the arguments the article is trying to make.  What gets me is the way it is written is towards a particular bias.  There is plenty of non-empty calorie highway content regarding California that it could have been written in a much more meaningful way...but that's just my opinion.

[Plutonic Panda]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

I don't know about "great."   Opinion pieces usually are lacking on citations and actual examples of the argument they trying to convey.  It read like a complaint fest about the gas tax and the Newsom administration.

I guess what I agreed with it on was that it's more practical to continue to invest in easing congestion whilst building a transit network to offer alternatives. Not the approach California seems to be now be taking with almost completely ignoring congestion mitigation projects that include building new roads or lanes. Yes there are some exceptions to this but all the long term planning shows very little going to such projects. What hasn't started yet is being heavily scrutinized with some much needed projects like the 710 tunnel being canceled entirely.

But yeah I shouldn't have used the term great to describe the whole article and it does seem to focus on Newsom more than it should but it is worth pointing out there does seem to be a sentiment that making congestion worse will "encourage"  people to use transit. I can't remember where but I've seen this said more than once by government officials and Caltrans is on record saying the days of adding new GP lanes are in the past with exceptions to current plans.

[Max Rockatansky]

Great opinion piece about the bullshit policies in California that are delaying in widening roads which badly need it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/04/10/newsom-administration-makes-traffic-congestion-worse/

I don't know about "great."   Opinion pieces usually are lacking on citations and actual examples of the argument they trying to convey.  It read like a complaint fest about the gas tax and the Newsom administration.

I guess what I agreed with it on was that it's more practical to continue to invest in easing congestion whilst building a transit network to offer alternatives. Not the approach California seems to be now be taking with almost completely ignoring congestion mitigation projects that include building new roads or lanes. Yes there are some exceptions to this but all the long term planning shows very little going to such projects. What hasn't started yet is being heavily scrutinized with some much needed projects like the 710 tunnel being canceled entirely.

But yeah I shouldn't have used the term great to describe the whole article and it does seem to focus on Newsom more than it should but it is worth pointing out there does seem to be a sentiment that making congestion worse will "encourage"  people to use transit. I can't remember where but I've seen this said more than once by government officials and Caltrans is on record saying the days of adding new GP lanes are in the past with exceptions to current plans.

To some extent it depends on the Caltrans District.  I would certainly say with District 7 and District 4 we aren't likely to see new State Level road infrastructure of any major degree any time soon.  Conversely there are exceptions like District 6 where the last couple decades have seen major new road developments in recent decades.  I think a lot of the new development in District 6 has much to do with the localities involved being more agreeable to road based infrastructure additions.  It certainly doesn't hurt that District 6 is one of the few regions in California currently seeing a population boom.

[Techknow]

I saw an interesting contractor error today... On US 101 north towards the I-380 junction exit there's an orange sign that uses US Route Shields for I-380 and I-280, as if taking the exit would take one to US 380 to get to US 280. The US Route shield is not only an outline but has a white background!

This seems too good to be true... except it's on GSV! Apparently it was there last November, and it's still here as of April. I'll see if I can get a photo for prosperity's sake.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.6270444,-122.4017645,3a,76.6y,351.9h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjHrPrAlvz6AiHK5f5nsJXw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[kkt]

I saw an interesting contractor error today... On US 101 north towards the I-380 junction exit there's an orange sign that uses US Route Shields for I-380 and I-280, as if taking the exit would take one to US 380 to get to US 280. The US Route shield is not only an outline but has a white background!

This seems too good to be true... except it's on GSV! Apparently it was there last November, and it's still here as of April. I'll see if I can get a photo for prosperity's sake.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.6270444,-122.4017645,3a,76.6y,351.9h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjHrPrAlvz6AiHK5f5nsJXw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Good one

[LilianaUwU]

I saw an interesting contractor error today... On US 101 north towards the I-380 junction exit there's an orange sign that uses US Route Shields for I-380 and I-280, as if taking the exit would take one to US 380 to get to US 280. The US Route shield is not only an outline but has a white background!

This seems too good to be true... except it's on GSV! Apparently it was there last November, and it's still here as of April. I'll see if I can get a photo for prosperity's sake.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.6270444,-122.4017645,3a,76.6y,351.9h,100.54t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjHrPrAlvz6AiHK5f5nsJXw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Talk about a wrong turn at Albuquerque Roswell.

[skluth]

Caltrans to begin next phase of Hwy 46 widening project

By: Erin FePosted at 1:16 PM, Apr 13, 2022 and last updated 5:46 PM, Apr 13, 2022

Caltrans is about to begin a project that will double lanes along Highway 46 in northern San Luis Obispo County.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for this Friday.

The project will widen Highway 46 East from Shandon to Cholame.

"What we're doing is we're taking a five-mile stretch starting east of the Shandon rest area to east of the Jack Ranch Café," said Heidi Crawford, Caltrans District 5 PIO.

Construction on this phase is expected to wrap up sometime in 2024.

"We've made places on the road where people can merge on, they can merge off, unlike what it was before. Of course, any time you're taking anything from a two-lane to a four-lane, there's just better flow," Crawford said.

Caltrans say the project's price tag is more than $115 million with the money coming from the State Transportation Improvement Fund.

"it's going to affect commuters, it's going to affect the tourists, it's going to affect the trucking community. people that drive this road on a regular basis,"  Crawford said.

At the end of the project, Highway 46 East will be a four-lane expressway

from Paso Robles to Lost Hills in Kern County.

A project to improve the Highway 46/State Route 41 interchange is expected to begin in 2024.

Link