Unbuilt State Highways in CA

[Quillz]

Does CalTRANS actually expect, under ideal circumstances, to construct all the state highways that are currently either unfinished, or completely unbuilt and only planned?

There is this, for example: http://www.cahighways.org/maps/2003scstatus.pdf

Things in orange, such as the CA-14 extension and CA-64, are planned to be built, at least on paper. You can see some other changes, such as a rerouting of CA-34 and an extension to CA-118. Of course, this is just in the L.A. area, there are many other areas in the state that are full of various unbuilt state highways.

Here's a full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconstructed_state_highways_in_California

But there are some issues. For example, on CA-14, "Exit 0" is with I-5 at the Newhall Pass, implying the route ends, even though the mile markers do not. Thus, the former implies everything south of the Pass is canceled, while the latter says no, the route is still planned to reach Malibu.

[NE2]

Caltrans has noting to do with it. The state legislature designated these highways (and added them to the freeway and expressway system).

[cahwyguy]

Well, there are plans and there are plans. 

For some there are actual route adoptions, and perhaps even construction plans. Whether those plans will ever be funded is a different question, with the answer being "probably unlikely". For others routes have never have been nor will be adopted, and the routes have just never been removed from the state system.

Why haven't they been removed? A second good question, with the usual answer being some right of way had been purchased or some property, and it is more trouble to Caltrans to process that land to rescind and turn it over to another agency. The more common answer, however, is that a route on paper with no adoption doesn't affect anything, and isn't worth the legislature's time and money to remove from the books (which has significant cost given committees, votes, and the legislative process). As a California citizen, I'd rather them spend their money on something useful.

[Desert Man]

Ventura county never got the freeway project already made for Orange county, and no modern highway routes opened in the San Gabriel or San Bernardino mountains. Environmental reasons and residential concerns blocked approval for them, and most of all the lack of population in these areas at the time, other than the decline in oil supplies during the 1970's OPEC embargos.