🛣 Headlines About California Highways – April 2024

[cahwyguy]

It's the start of a new month. You know what that means. Look under your chair. You get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline!

Ready, set, discuss

Headline post: https://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=16796

[Max Rockatansky]

There is a surprisingly large number of old alignments of the Redwood Highway north of Trinidad.  There are some particularly haggard spots near the Douglas Memorial Bridge ruins which are basically falling into the ocean.

[pderocco]

So they're going to widen The Old Road in Santa Clarita as an alternative to the Grapevine? The Grapevine is almost 30 miles further north. Even if we accept that a lot of people mistake the Five Mile Grade for the Grapevine, the portion of The Old Road that they intend to widen isn't an alternative to that, it's an alternative to the flat part of I-5 south of Castaic. This has nothing to do with the Grapevine, a Grapevine, or any kind of vine.

That said, I'm glad they're going to widen it. Especially for the wheelchairs...

[Plutonic Panda]

I thought they couldn't widen roads anymore in California because of the VMT crap.

[cahwyguy]

I thought they couldn't widen roads anymore in California because of the VMT crap.

You're thinking Caltrans. The Old Road is either county or city of Santa Clarita.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's the start of a new month. You know what that means. Look under your chair. You get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline! And you get a headline!

Ready, set, discuss

Headline post: https://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=16796

Wasn't the Route Fire north from there up on Golden State Highway?  It isn't as though this project is going to demolish Pyramid Dam and reopen Piru Gorge for thru-traffic.  That actually would make for a solid alternative to I-5 towards the Tejon Pass area. 

Ironically the Old Ridge Route is open as a normal road between Old Highway and Templin Highway.  Usually that is enough to get past problems in the Castaic area.  The actual standing alternative to I-5 to CA 138 right now involved using San Francisquito Canyon Road.

[Plutonic Panda]

I thought they couldn't widen roads anymore in California because of the VMT crap.

You're thinking Caltrans. The Old Road is either county or city of Santa Clarita.

I see so that law only to applies to Caltrans. But Caltrans also oversees widening in Orange County as well which has added several GP lanes.

[cahwyguy]

I thought they couldn't widen roads anymore in California because of the VMT crap.

You're thinking Caltrans. The Old Road is either county or city of Santa Clarita.

I see so that law only to applies to Caltrans. But Caltrans also oversees widening in Orange County as well which has added several GP lanes.

I see so that law only to applies to Caltrans. But Caltrans also oversees widening in Orange County as well which has added several GP lanes.

Generally, it is Caltrans that has to deal with VMT as it justifies projects to the CTC and in EIRs. Local projects usually don't go to that level. In any case, it is unlikely this segment of the Old Road would have a significant VMT impact.

[And you didn't comment that this month had nothing from Streetsblog LA. They seemed to have been much quieter in April, or at least the search engines I use didn't find anything.]

[Plutonic Panda]

I was pleasantly surprised to not see as much anti freeway rhetoric as I usually do but I also took yours and Max's point about the VMT law.

[pderocco]

I thought they couldn't widen roads anymore in California because of the VMT crap.

You're thinking Caltrans. The Old Road is either county or city of Santa Clarita.

Ahah! All we road lovers have to do is get the counties to build nice new roads alongside the freeways. How about next to CA-91 through Santa Ana Canyon to start with? Caltrans can pound sand.

[pderocco]

Wasn't the Route Fire north from there up on Golden State Highway?  It isn't as though this project is going to demolish Pyramid Dam and reopen Piru Gorge for thru-traffic.  That actually would make for a solid alternative to I-5 towards the Tejon Pass area.

Coming south, a couple of times I've encountered a traffic jam on the 5 Mile Grade, and gotton off at the truck brake check area, where there's a sneak path onto the old Golden State Highway.

Ironically the Old Ridge Route is open as a normal road between Old Highway and Templin Highway.  Usually that is enough to get past problems in the Castaic area.  The actual standing alternative to I-5 to CA 138 right now involved using San Francisquito Canyon Road.

Do you think that's better than Lake Hughes Road?

[Max Rockatansky]

San Francisquito Canyon Road I've found to be a little more versatile given it lined up better with a run north to Willow Springs. Munz Ranch Road is near the northern terminus and will get you into the Mojave fairly quick.

[cahwyguy]

Ahah! All we road lovers have to do is get the counties to build nice new roads alongside the freeways. How about next to CA-91 through Santa Ana Canyon to start with? Caltrans can pound sand.

Actually, there are good arguments to do so. The situation on I-10 E of Beaumont is a prime example: Having the county road provides a relief route for emergencies if the freeway needs to be shut down. I think similar arguments can be made for Santa Ana Canyon (if there is an accident in the canyon closing the 91), or for the Ridge Route area (which the Old Road provides). But as it isn't the primary routing, it likely doesn't undergo the same VMT scrutiny as adding a lane to an existing freeway (which would be used more heavily) would.

[Plutonic Panda]

Sepulveda BLVD through the Sepulveda Pass should have been addressed as well. It should be 3 lanes each way with protected bike lanes and sidewalks. Instead there are sections with no pedestrian footpaths. It's very dangerous to ride a bike on it. It is only two lanes each way and can get extremely congested, and has a bottleneck at the tunnel where it narrows to 3 lanes.

I also wish the subway would've been built at the same time the freeway was expanded. It'd be nice to see this country take on more mega projects at once addressing entire corridors instead of segments.

[cahwyguy]

Sepulveda BLVD through the Sepulveda Pass should have been addressed as well. It should be 3 lanes each way with protected bike lanes and sidewalks. Instead there are sections with no pedestrian footpaths. It's very dangerous to ride a bike on it. It is only two lanes each way and can get extremely congested, and has a bottleneck at the tunnel where it narrows to 3 lanes.

I think there are two issues in widening Sepulveda: The Tunnel and the neighborhood. The tunnel is a problem because of how long it would be shutdown, as it would have to be a complete rebuild. The neighborhood is a problem because of the cost of the additional right of way, and the fact that the city (as this is a city project) wouldn't have the money for, or justification to, take the land.

So Sepulveda will stay as it is, especially as there are alternatives nearby, from going down Havenhurst from Mulholland, Laurel Canyon, Coldwater Canyon, and a few other of the canyon shortcuts. It it wasn't for the Santa Monica Mountains National Whatever, they might complete dirt Mullholland, but that's not going to happen.

I just hope that Topanga gets reopened quickly. When I have to do the Northridge to El Segundo commute each week, the Route 27 closure adds at least 30-45 minutes to the commute.

[pderocco]

Sepulveda BLVD through the Sepulveda Pass should have been addressed as well. It should be 3 lanes each way with protected bike lanes and sidewalks. Instead there are sections with no pedestrian footpaths. It's very dangerous to ride a bike on it. It is only two lanes each way and can get extremely congested, and has a bottleneck at the tunnel where it narrows to 3 lanes.

I've driven that a thousand times, and I don't think I've ever seen a pedestrian on it (except around the Getty). I rarely see bikes on it, either, although I suspect that the steepness would still be the limiting factor even if they added protected lanes.

[Plutonic Panda]

Sepulveda BLVD through the Sepulveda Pass should have been addressed as well. It should be 3 lanes each way with protected bike lanes and sidewalks. Instead there are sections with no pedestrian footpaths. It's very dangerous to ride a bike on it. It is only two lanes each way and can get extremely congested, and has a bottleneck at the tunnel where it narrows to 3 lanes.

I've driven that a thousand times, and I don't think I've ever seen a pedestrian on it (except around the Getty). I rarely see bikes on it, either, although I suspect that the steepness would still be the limiting factor even if they added protected lanes.

I wouldn't exactly refer to it as Times Square. But I've certainly seen people walking on it. And I see bikes often on the weekends. I think this is a case of build it and they will come given there are virtually no alternatives.

Same thing with the Cahuenga Pass. When I was without a car and I lived off of barham, I had to take my bike and I was playing with my life. Of course there was the red line.

[M3100]

Re: I-10 Desert Rehab: I just drove that stretch yesterday (5/3/24) and while the eastbound lanes were open, the intersection at Desert Center to CA 177 was not open to eastbound drivers.  Drivers were directed 8 miles further east, to the next offramp, where one traveled over I-10 on a "damaged bridge" (no trucks allowed) and then back in the westbound lanes to reach CA 177.

[pderocco]

I didn't realize they had replaced the pavement on that part of I-10, from Desert Center to Wiley's Well Rd. I've come down 177 and gone west a couple of times recently, so I just missed it. I can't find any info on that on the Caltrans site, just on the current projects east and west of that. Does what you reported, about a damaged bridge, have anything to do with that, or is that repavement completely done, and now something else has cropped up in Desert Center?

[ClassicHasClass]

Coming south, a couple of times I've encountered a traffic jam on the 5 Mile Grade, and gotton off at the truck brake check area, where there's a sneak path onto the old Golden State Highway.

TIL. How about that.

[Max Rockatansky]

Yeah I didn't know that either and I suspect I'll probably be trying it out for myself the next time I head to L.A. 

[pderocco]

Of course, when there's a traffic jam, you have to take Templin to Ridge Route too, so it's not quick. But it's fun.