🛣 Headlines About California Highways – December 2021

[cahwyguy]

Well, it's the end of the month ... and the end of the year ... and you know what that means.

Headlines. Here are the headlines about California Highways for the month of December 2021 ( https://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=16204 ).  As always, ready se....

But wait, a few things first:

(1) I view the PSW forum and our hobby as a community; a family. To that end, in doing my updates and such, I've noticed the absence of forum regular sparker. He hasn't posted since Mid-September. His history posts here are unique and useful. Does anyone know him in real life? Do we know if he is alright?

(2) I say good riddance to 2021. We hoped to be back out on the roads fully by now, and ... well, if you know me, you know my opinion on this. Please do what you can to be safe and healthy in 2022, so that we might be able to meet on the great roads of this great state.

And with that, please review https://cahighways.org/wordpress/?p=16204 and as always, ready, set, discuss.

P.S.: Expect the final updates for 2021 to the California Highways pages by the end of the weekend.

[Max Rockatansky]

For what it is worth 2021 was fairly solid for me.  I didn't really know what to make of it until I was doing the year-end podcast on Gribblenation the other day and realized this year had things like; Crater Lake, Hawaii, the Everglades, Yellowstone and Redwood Coast in it.  Maybe it didn't feel quite on the normal level at the time given I only flew a handful of times? 

Pertaining to Sparker I haven't heard anything from my end.  I know he has disappeared previously, but not something to this length...hope he's okay.

Really I wish all these counties and transportation people would get away from the notion that the corridor of CA 37 needs to be moved out of San Pablo Bay.  That has been a highway begging to be expanded for decades and is by far the favored route in the region.  I get there is environmental concerns, but at some point that interest has to be put the back side in the interest of making the Bay Area just slightly less miserable to traverse.  It isn't like the corridor isn't already in San Pablo Bay and there are options (albeit expensive) to improve the environmental situation.

I heard about the roundabout on CA 129 through some of the coastal groups I follow.  Really anything that can be used to facilitate easier access for traffic flow around Watsonville without adding more traffic lights is a good thing.  CA 129 is by way my favored back door route to get to the Bay Area via CA 1 or CA 9.

Expanding CA 25 is nice, but it is a band-aid fix unless that expressway four lane expressway makes it all the way to US 101.  I'm skeptical about the roundabout given how much freight traffic is on CA 25 and CA 156.  The junction of CA 25 and US 101 really could use a full interchange redesign.

I don't see giving CA 247 a scenic highway designation.  I could see maybe CA 62 outside of 29 Palms but there is really nothing special about CA 247 in terms of scenery. 

I'm kind of debating a mountain bike ride on the Old Ridge Route or El Camino Viejo this winter.  I did a brief segment for 8N04 regarding the early First State Highway Bond era stuff associated with the Old Ridge Route and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  I kind of think having more websites advocating the Ridge Route will ultimately help with any sort of preservation effort, or at minimum cultivate more interest.

[M3100]

I'm happy to see that Thomas Guides have made a reappearance; I still bring those along on journeys.  They're great for us "non-linear" drivers that like to explore back roads, side roads and such.

As for Caltrans' "Complete Streets" policy...several years ago there was a road extension completed in L.A. suburb Torrance with no sidewalks, and with bicycles prohibited.  I don't know if it was a CalTrans project; it was for Del Amo Blvd. between Maple Ave. and Crenshaw Blvd.  The new connection includes a bridge over the BNSF Railroad, and passes near a PBF (formerly ExxonMobil) refinery.  While I understand the concern for safety, IMO they could have easily included sidewalks, or at least bike lanes.