Dusk drive to Palm Springs from Corona (91/60/10/111) From 101not5

[bing101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiIaL__tL3M


Wow A rare tour of CA-111 from Expressway to main street in Palm Springs.

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^
.......and you didn't even stop off for a date shake in Morongo!  Cool video in my old stomping grounds; did that very trip regularly ca. 1998 when living in Anaheim Hills and visiting relatives in La Quinta. 

[nexus73]

Back in 1974 I drove my 1967 Imperial to PS.  The A/C was out and the temp was the same as the highway, 111.  Driving at 70 MPH made for the opposite of wind chill so I had to roll up the two front windows and let the rears handle the circulation duty until I got into PS. 

That was my only time to go to PS.  Funny to think 111 is still a 4-lane expressway 44 years later with all that has gone on over there. 

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Used to stay on 111 quite a bit when I was working in the Inland Empire Area.  I miss the solitude of all those desert routes once you get away from Coachella Valley. 

[sparker]

Back in 1974 I drove my 1967 Imperial to PS.  The A/C was out and the temp was the same as the highway, 111.  Driving at 70 MPH made for the opposite of wind chill so I had to roll up the two front windows and let the rears handle the circulation duty until I got into PS. 

That was my only time to go to PS.  Funny to think 111 is still a 4-lane expressway 44 years later with all that has gone on over there. 

Rick

With the relinquishment of much of CA 111 in the Coachella Valley, anything more than a 4-lane expressway into PS would be pointless.  Most traffic bound for "other desert cities" (like Indio, Palm Desert, etc.) stays on I-10 and generally takes the closest N-S (Monterey, Washington) arterial to their destination unless they have a stop to make in or around PS.   

[MarkF]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

No work noticed yet on the Badlands section of CA 60, but there was an overpass under construction a little east of Jack Rabbit Road, near the east end of CA60.  There looks to be a large housing development going in there, and the overpass appears to be part of that effort.



And westbound on I-10, the BGS with the CA60 over US60 shield was still there.

[sparker]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

Next to the ironically revered but apparently now gone "craig county" sign in OK, one of the more famous idiosyncratic BGS's around.  First cast my eyes on it in the late '90's; glad to know it's still going strong!

[Max Rockatansky]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

Next to the ironically revered but apparently now gone "craig county" sign in OK, one of the more famous idiosyncratic BGS's around.  First cast my eyes on it in the late '90's; glad to know it's still going strong!

I miss driving by that sign, I wish that I had a picture of it from the old days.  For a long time Coachella Valley essentially on the moon but now has been swallowed up by the outward growth of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

[nexus73]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

Next to the ironically revered but apparently now gone "craig county" sign in OK, one of the more famous idiosyncratic BGS's around.  First cast my eyes on it in the late '90's; glad to know it's still going strong!

I miss driving by that sign, I wish that I had a picture of it from the old days.  For a long time Coachella Valley essentially on the moon but now has been swallowed up by the outward growth of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

When I took I-10 into LA in 1999, it was amazing to see how far east the metro area had extended.  Seeing it at night showed lights everywhere with an 8-lane freeway to make one think they could be in El Monte!  If water was limitless, eventually Phoenix and LA would be one megapolis.

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

Next to the ironically revered but apparently now gone "craig county" sign in OK, one of the more famous idiosyncratic BGS's around.  First cast my eyes on it in the late '90's; glad to know it's still going strong!

I miss driving by that sign, I wish that I had a picture of it from the old days.  For a long time Coachella Valley essentially on the moon but now has been swallowed up by the outward growth of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

When I took I-10 into LA in 1999, it was amazing to see how far east the metro area had extended.  Seeing it at night showed lights everywhere with an 8-lane freeway to make one think they could be in El Monte!  If water was limitless, eventually Phoenix and LA would be one megapolis.

Rick

It honestly has me wondering if the growth will reach El Centro in a couple decades.  Seeing the 86 corridor grow and be improved upon was surreal amid the decaying Salton Sea. 

[MarkF]

Here's a video where I stay in I-10 instead of getting off at CA111.  It goes from Irvine to east of Indio. This was the first road video I ever made, over 24 years ago, in 1994.

https://youtu.be/az0ypEjBE80

Cap of the sign in 1994:

[sparker]

By the way, when I shot that video last Saturday, the button copy "other Desert Cities" signs were still in use.

Next to the ironically revered but apparently now gone "craig county" sign in OK, one of the more famous idiosyncratic BGS's around.  First cast my eyes on it in the late '90's; glad to know it's still going strong!

I miss driving by that sign, I wish that I had a picture of it from the old days.  For a long time Coachella Valley essentially on the moon but now has been swallowed up by the outward growth of Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

When I took I-10 into LA in 1999, it was amazing to see how far east the metro area had extended.  Seeing it at night showed lights everywhere with an 8-lane freeway to make one think they could be in El Monte!  If water was limitless, eventually Phoenix and LA would be one megapolis.

Rick

It honestly has me wondering if the growth will reach El Centro in a couple decades.  Seeing the 86 corridor grow and be improved upon was surreal amid the decaying Salton Sea. 

In the near term, it's unlikely that significant growth on a major scale will extend south beyond the former 86/86S merge southwest of Mecca (where the agricultural area gives way to unreclaimed desert); it's getting a little far out for commute purposes, and there's still substantial land left in the Indio area for infill development.  CA 86 will likely continue to be simply a desert-based "open-range" expressway between Mecca and Westmorland; there's just little in the way of attractors for any kind of development -- just look at Salton City; it was laid out, a la California City out in the Mojave Desert, decades ago with street grids (mostly unpaved as of yet) in anticipation of housing growth -- but in neither case has the expected scale of development come to pass.  Those areas may be attractive to those who simply want a relatively inexpensive place to locate somewhat removed from "civilization" -- but their numbers haven't yet indicated that they're adequate to support the infrastructure (public and/or commercial) endemic to actual cities or towns.   And the chances of Imperial Valley development extending north along the CA 86 (or 78) corridor past Westmorland are equally slim; there's still places for what housing or other amenities would be deployed in the foreseeable future within the El Centro-Brawley area; expansion to the West Salton Sea area would be decades away if done at all!  (A word to the wise -- that side of the Sea can, during winter months, be quite foul-smelling when the breezes pass over the water -- be mindful of this if considering locating in that area!).