Headlines About California Highways – September 2020

[cahwyguy]

October 1st. The start of many things: 5781. The government fiscal year. But it is also the end of a month, and as such that means: Headlines. Here are headlines and other articles about numbered highways in California, in both the northern and southern portions of the state. As always... ready, set, discuss.

https://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=15967

Note: Buried in the introduction is the post is the fact that I'm doing another periodic update of the site. I've been catching up here, and will be going through the headlines, but if you have any corrections or other information for me to include in this round, please mail it to me (faigin@cahighways.org) or post it here.

[ClassicHasClass]

"Your odds of getting in a collision on the 120 Bypass as you near Highway 99 if you are trying to head south toward Ripon and Modesto is six times higher than the statewide average." And how. That connector is a mess and way under spec for its volumes.

"Officially, it will be known as California State Route 11. Unofficially, it will be seen as an easier way to cruise into Southern California from Mexico. The new highway will connect the new Otay Mesa East Port of Entry, scheduled to break ground in late 2022, to the freeway system in San Diego." I'll believe it when I see it. That's been on the books for a long time.

[Max Rockatansky]

Regarding Gribblenation and the Trans-Sierra Highway articles I do have one still left to renovate in CA 108/Sonora Pass.  I might be hitting Tahoe over Veteran's Day Weekend which is likely to include the new bridge over Echo Summit on US 50 if not Johnson Pass (if open).  I was pretty happy with how the renovated articles pertaining to CA 4/Ebbetts Pass, CA 89/Monitor Pass, and US 395/El Camino Sierra turned out.  Tracking down much of the history of the Big Trees Road (future CA 4) and ghost town of Monitor (future CA 89) was particularly fun to research.  I'm hoping Sonora Pass has similar yields, but the history there is much more well documented IMO.

I noticed that the MTC was targeting "2035" for the possible tolls on CA 12, CA 37, and US 101.  That seems to suspiciously line up with another "2035 mandate" that recently was announced by the governor.  The latter I find very unrealistic for numerous reasons, but I'll save it for a thread that might pop up regarding the topic.  Regardless there definitely seems to be some causality with the target date for all lane tolling.

Having driven CA 192 I can definitely say that the old design of the highway isn't something that can be really overcome just a couple signs.  The radius of a lot of those curves is very sharp and I'm kind of surprised the CTC has never pushed to get it relinquished.

The old alignments of the North Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road were pretty wild with how they crossed the Southern Pacific.  The worst segment was probably Donner Pass before the Rainbow Bridge alignment was built.  I've been hiking out there and it is hard to envision cars actually going through there. 

I'm glad I got Great Highway in before it essentially became impassable to cars.  Its kind of sad IMO that it largely was allowed to erode away.  It was a beautiful road by car but also a really handy back road along the coast that had little traffic.

[sparker]

Regarding Gribblenation and the Trans-Sierra Highway articles I do have one still left to renovate in CA 108/Sonora Pass.  I might be hitting Tahoe over Veteran's Day Weekend which is likely to include the new bridge over Echo Summit on US 50 if not Johnson Pass (if open).  I was pretty happy with how the renovated articles pertaining to CA 4/Ebbetts Pass, CA 89/Monitor Pass, and US 395/El Camino Sierra turned out.  Tracking down much of the history of the Big Trees Road (future CA 4) and ghost town of Monitor (future CA 89) was particularly fun to research.  I'm hoping Sonora Pass has similar yields, but the history there is much more well documented IMO.

I noticed that the MTC was targeting "2035" for the possible tolls on CA 12, CA 37, and US 101.  That seems to suspiciously line up with another "2035 mandate" that recently was announced by the governor.  The latter I find very unrealistic for numerous reasons, but I'll save it for a thread that might pop up regarding the topic.  Regardless there definitely seems to be some causality with the target date for all lane tolling.

Having driven CA 192 I can definitely say that the old design of the highway isn't something that can be really overcome just a couple signs.  The radius of a lot of those curves is very sharp and I'm kind of surprised the CTC has never pushed to get it relinquished.

The old alignments of the North Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road were pretty wild with how they crossed the Southern Pacific.  The worst segment was probably Donner Pass before the Rainbow Bridge alignment was built.  I've been hiking out there and it is hard to envision cars actually going through there. 

I'm glad I got Great Highway in before it essentially became impassable to cars.  Its kind of sad IMO that it largely was allowed to erode away.  It was a beautiful road by car but also a really handy back road along the coast that had little traffic.

Apparently D5 has been wanting to offload CA 192 section-by-section for decades, but locals with political pull have put the kibosh on that for quite some time.  Apparently they want to ensure state maintenance of the principal E-W route through the decidedly toney residential areas of northern SB and Montecito -- and they have little trust in either city or SB County to continue the current level of maintenance once owning the facility, so they make very pointed phone calls to that effect.  I will have to acknowledge that the last time I traveled on 192 in the mid-2000's I did see Caltrans work crews doing spot repairs -- it was after a substantial rain, and I think they were doing work on several culverts.  These same influential folks were able to do the same for much of the CA 144 alignment from that area down to the "flatlands", although once on level ground the remainder to US 101 was relinquished about 15 years ago.   

[Max Rockatansky]

Regarding Gribblenation and the Trans-Sierra Highway articles I do have one still left to renovate in CA 108/Sonora Pass.  I might be hitting Tahoe over Veteran's Day Weekend which is likely to include the new bridge over Echo Summit on US 50 if not Johnson Pass (if open).  I was pretty happy with how the renovated articles pertaining to CA 4/Ebbetts Pass, CA 89/Monitor Pass, and US 395/El Camino Sierra turned out.  Tracking down much of the history of the Big Trees Road (future CA 4) and ghost town of Monitor (future CA 89) was particularly fun to research.  I'm hoping Sonora Pass has similar yields, but the history there is much more well documented IMO.

I noticed that the MTC was targeting "2035" for the possible tolls on CA 12, CA 37, and US 101.  That seems to suspiciously line up with another "2035 mandate" that recently was announced by the governor.  The latter I find very unrealistic for numerous reasons, but I'll save it for a thread that might pop up regarding the topic.  Regardless there definitely seems to be some causality with the target date for all lane tolling.

Having driven CA 192 I can definitely say that the old design of the highway isn't something that can be really overcome just a couple signs.  The radius of a lot of those curves is very sharp and I'm kind of surprised the CTC has never pushed to get it relinquished.

The old alignments of the North Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road were pretty wild with how they crossed the Southern Pacific.  The worst segment was probably Donner Pass before the Rainbow Bridge alignment was built.  I've been hiking out there and it is hard to envision cars actually going through there. 

I'm glad I got Great Highway in before it essentially became impassable to cars.  Its kind of sad IMO that it largely was allowed to erode away.  It was a beautiful road by car but also a really handy back road along the coast that had little traffic.

Apparently D5 has been wanting to offload CA 192 section-by-section for decades, but locals with political pull have put the kibosh on that for quite some time.  Apparently they want to ensure state maintenance of the principal E-W route through the decidedly toney residential areas of northern SB and Montecito -- and they have little trust in either city or SB County to continue the current level of maintenance once owning the facility, so they make very pointed phone calls to that effect.  I will have to acknowledge that the last time I traveled on 192 in the mid-2000's I did see Caltrans work crews doing spot repairs -- it was after a substantial rain, and I think they were doing work on several culverts.  These same influential folks were able to do the same for much of the CA 144 alignment from that area down to the "flatlands", although once on level ground the remainder to US 101 was relinquished about 15 years ago.   

192 had some substantial upgrades and maintenance going on last year when I drove it.  It was weird seeing things like one lane bridges intermixed with brand new structures.  Either way, it's an extremely narrow road and has almost no utility nowadays aside from being a sneaky route around Santa Barbara in severe traffic. 

[sparker]

Regarding Gribblenation and the Trans-Sierra Highway articles I do have one still left to renovate in CA 108/Sonora Pass.  I might be hitting Tahoe over Veteran's Day Weekend which is likely to include the new bridge over Echo Summit on US 50 if not Johnson Pass (if open).  I was pretty happy with how the renovated articles pertaining to CA 4/Ebbetts Pass, CA 89/Monitor Pass, and US 395/El Camino Sierra turned out.  Tracking down much of the history of the Big Trees Road (future CA 4) and ghost town of Monitor (future CA 89) was particularly fun to research.  I'm hoping Sonora Pass has similar yields, but the history there is much more well documented IMO.

I noticed that the MTC was targeting "2035" for the possible tolls on CA 12, CA 37, and US 101.  That seems to suspiciously line up with another "2035 mandate" that recently was announced by the governor.  The latter I find very unrealistic for numerous reasons, but I'll save it for a thread that might pop up regarding the topic.  Regardless there definitely seems to be some causality with the target date for all lane tolling.

Having driven CA 192 I can definitely say that the old design of the highway isn't something that can be really overcome just a couple signs.  The radius of a lot of those curves is very sharp and I'm kind of surprised the CTC has never pushed to get it relinquished.

The old alignments of the North Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road were pretty wild with how they crossed the Southern Pacific.  The worst segment was probably Donner Pass before the Rainbow Bridge alignment was built.  I've been hiking out there and it is hard to envision cars actually going through there. 

I'm glad I got Great Highway in before it essentially became impassable to cars.  Its kind of sad IMO that it largely was allowed to erode away.  It was a beautiful road by car but also a really handy back road along the coast that had little traffic.

Apparently D5 has been wanting to offload CA 192 section-by-section for decades, but locals with political pull have put the kibosh on that for quite some time.  Apparently they want to ensure state maintenance of the principal E-W route through the decidedly toney residential areas of northern SB and Montecito -- and they have little trust in either city or SB County to continue the current level of maintenance once owning the facility, so they make very pointed phone calls to that effect.  I will have to acknowledge that the last time I traveled on 192 in the mid-2000's I did see Caltrans work crews doing spot repairs -- it was after a substantial rain, and I think they were doing work on several culverts.  These same influential folks were able to do the same for much of the CA 144 alignment from that area down to the "flatlands", although once on level ground the remainder to US 101 was relinquished about 15 years ago.   

192 had some substantial upgrades and maintenance going on last year when I drove it.  It was weird seeing things like one lane bridges intermixed with brand new structures.  Either way, it's an extremely narrow road and has almost no utility nowadays aside from being a sneaky route around Santa Barbara in severe traffic. 

My go-to "sneaky route" invariably involved the now-relinquished CA 225 along the beachfront -- at least for days other than hot summertime weekends, when that road was itself crushed with recreational traffic -- and folks looking for a place to park!

[Max Rockatansky]

Regarding Gribblenation and the Trans-Sierra Highway articles I do have one still left to renovate in CA 108/Sonora Pass.  I might be hitting Tahoe over Veteran's Day Weekend which is likely to include the new bridge over Echo Summit on US 50 if not Johnson Pass (if open).  I was pretty happy with how the renovated articles pertaining to CA 4/Ebbetts Pass, CA 89/Monitor Pass, and US 395/El Camino Sierra turned out.  Tracking down much of the history of the Big Trees Road (future CA 4) and ghost town of Monitor (future CA 89) was particularly fun to research.  I'm hoping Sonora Pass has similar yields, but the history there is much more well documented IMO.

I noticed that the MTC was targeting "2035" for the possible tolls on CA 12, CA 37, and US 101.  That seems to suspiciously line up with another "2035 mandate" that recently was announced by the governor.  The latter I find very unrealistic for numerous reasons, but I'll save it for a thread that might pop up regarding the topic.  Regardless there definitely seems to be some causality with the target date for all lane tolling.

Having driven CA 192 I can definitely say that the old design of the highway isn't something that can be really overcome just a couple signs.  The radius of a lot of those curves is very sharp and I'm kind of surprised the CTC has never pushed to get it relinquished.

The old alignments of the North Lincoln Highway/Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road were pretty wild with how they crossed the Southern Pacific.  The worst segment was probably Donner Pass before the Rainbow Bridge alignment was built.  I've been hiking out there and it is hard to envision cars actually going through there. 

I'm glad I got Great Highway in before it essentially became impassable to cars.  Its kind of sad IMO that it largely was allowed to erode away.  It was a beautiful road by car but also a really handy back road along the coast that had little traffic.

Apparently D5 has been wanting to offload CA 192 section-by-section for decades, but locals with political pull have put the kibosh on that for quite some time.  Apparently they want to ensure state maintenance of the principal E-W route through the decidedly toney residential areas of northern SB and Montecito -- and they have little trust in either city or SB County to continue the current level of maintenance once owning the facility, so they make very pointed phone calls to that effect.  I will have to acknowledge that the last time I traveled on 192 in the mid-2000's I did see Caltrans work crews doing spot repairs -- it was after a substantial rain, and I think they were doing work on several culverts.  These same influential folks were able to do the same for much of the CA 144 alignment from that area down to the "flatlands", although once on level ground the remainder to US 101 was relinquished about 15 years ago.   

192 had some substantial upgrades and maintenance going on last year when I drove it.  It was weird seeing things like one lane bridges intermixed with brand new structures.  Either way, it's an extremely narrow road and has almost no utility nowadays aside from being a sneaky route around Santa Barbara in severe traffic. 

My go-to "sneaky route" invariably involved the now-relinquished CA 225 along the beachfront -- at least for days other than hot summertime weekends, when that road was itself crushed with recreational traffic -- and folks looking for a place to park!

The way Old 225 is configured now it is really not a good option for detour traffic.  Funnily enough, we just were talking about the Necro Segment of 225 in the RoadwayWiz Group which lives on via the railroad underpass on Castillo Street (all 0.081 miles of it). 

[sparker]

The way Old 225 is configured now it is really not a good option for detour traffic.  Funnily enough, we just were talking about the Necro Segment of 225 in the RoadwayWiz Group which lives on via the railroad underpass on Castillo Street (all 0.081 miles of it). 

True that -- "road diets" and other obstacles have rendered the 225 coastal stretch -- the first to be relinquished -- well past slog to approaching a glorified parking lot.  Coming south on 101 back over New Years' 2018-19 -- as a mere passenger -- we hit traffic after the 217 merge, worsening at the 154 junction.  My friend who was driving asked me if I knew any alternatives -- but I told him to stay on the freeway and just tough it out (State Street is also not a viable detour).  Took about 15-20 minutes from 154 to Montecito, but it cleared up a bit into Carpenteria, only to bog down again past Rincon into Ventura (the infamous lane drop at CA 33 didn't help!).  Fun stuff!

[Max Rockatansky]

Considering 37 as it currently sits is ultimately a doomed facility it is inevitable that it will become tolled when/if it is upgraded in the future.  That said, what's the deal with trying to toll CA 12?  I'm assuming that is referring to the Sacramento River Delta Section?...if so I can't fathom that would play well with folks in Rio Vista.

I'll be checking out the new Echo Summit structure if weather permits in early November.  There might be a chance that trip will include the rest of US 50 I haven't covered from E16 west to CA 99/CA 51.