California

[pderocco]

Kanan Dume is probably the fastest route over the mountains (other than the 405), if you don't count extra time getting there.

[Scott5114]

https://lastreetnames.com/street/


Here is a cool road geek page on the history of LA Area street names. Yes its like gribblenation but for local streets.

Here's a similar site for San Francisco: http://sfstreets.noahveltman.com/

[RZF]

Considering how Malibu becomes a tourist trap in the summer, the Topanga Canyon Rd closure won't go over well for many groups of people, unless the majority of tourists (namely those out-of-state/country) are coming from the Westside.

[gonealookin]

It's looking good for early May openings of Sonora and Ebbetts Passes this year.  Those are especially pretty drives when there's still a lot of snow on the mountains.

https://twitter.com/Caltrans9/status/1783884977924604255

[cl94]

Yeah, saw that this morning. Everything else is opening on schedule, figured those would as well unless there's a freak late storm.

[GaryA]

Drove up to Santa Barbara yesterday, and noticed that a long-existing unsigned driveway exit on US 101 northbound just south of the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line has been given an exit number (Exit 82, I believe).

This was probably done since this section of the road is now supposed to be a freeway after the crossovers at La Conchita and Mussel Shoals were eliminated.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZGPmcZ3tN576TZtS9 (though GSV doesn't yet have the exit number sign).

[pderocco]

I never noticed, but that driveway used to have a crossover too. Some big gasoline tanker trying to make a left turn onto 101 SB must have been scary.

[TheStranger]

Drove up 101 from LA to the Bay yesterday.  Lots of construction in Prunedale - I know some grade seperations are new to the last decade or so, will there be more coming in the near future too?

[Max Rockatansky]

I've been driving past that project for several months.  I thought it was a shoulder widening and barrier reinforcement the first couple times I looked at it.

[cl94]

I've been driving past that project for several months.  I thought it was a shoulder widening and barrier reinforcement the first couple times I looked at it.

From what I can tell, it's a bunch of relatively minor stuff. Barrier/ guiderail replacement, resurfacing, drainage. Every cross street between Salinas and San Francisco has been removed (with one exception near San Juan Bautista) and a full freeway is officially off the table right now for various reasons, so I don't think the value add of something else in Prunedale would be worth the cost.

I'll be down that way to meet with one of the agencies having jurisdiction next month, so I can try and remember to ask them if we don't have an answer.

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51316464531
I take the I-80 shield is normal in California?

Three digit width for two numbers.

[Max Rockatansky]

Very regular occurrence.  Spotted one in reassurance shield form recently on the Bay Bridge:

https://flic.kr/p/2pN4N3E

[cl94]

Yeah, even I-5 has a ton of 3 digit shields. Pretty common in CA. Similarly, there are a decent amount of 2-digit shields along 3DIs.

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?: https://www.gadgetinsiders.com/news/california-explores-new-road-tax-trial-to-foster-innovation/.

[Max Rockatansky]

Not new news, a pilot was ordered several years ago.  It didn't go over so great for San Diego County when they planned a real mileage tax.  That being the case I wouldn't expect the reception to the pilot to be warm.

[pderocco]

I think it's a lousy idea. The great virtue of the gas tax is that there is a strong correlation between the amount of tax paid and the amount of wear on the road, due to vehicle weight. Mileage ignores that. The solution is to require that chargers be metered and the electricity taxed.

[Max Rockatansky]

Problem is that this stuff is all based on "reduction of VMT" and not hurting the 2035 PHEV mandate.  The last thing this is about "equity in road use." 

End of the day, I suspect some sort of middle of the road will ultimately win out.  Given stuff like EVs not getting free pass for HOV lanes is on the table for 2025 there might be hope for a more balanced approach with generating road revenue from them than one might assume.

As an aside, that site was painful to read for a lot of reasons.

[FredAkbar]

As the owner of a plug-in hybrid, I don't see how it would even work in my case. I can switch between electric and gas at any time, or even a blend of the two. It would be hard to discern just the electric miles driven for taxation purposes, though the car I believe does make this ratio available in the display somewhere.

[pderocco]

As the owner of a plug-in hybrid, I don't see how it would even work in my case. I can switch between electric and gas at any time, or even a blend of the two. It would be hard to discern just the electric miles driven for taxation purposes, though the car I believe does make this ratio available in the display somewhere.

That's another problem that would be solved by taxing electricity from chargers.

[FredAkbar]

As the owner of a plug-in hybrid, I don't see how it would even work in my case. I can switch between electric and gas at any time, or even a blend of the two. It would be hard to discern just the electric miles driven for taxation purposes, though the car I believe does make this ratio available in the display somewhere.

That's another problem that would be solved by taxing electricity from chargers.

Taxing superchargers seems sensible by that logic, but many EV/PHEV owners charge at home, often from a regular 120V outlet. There's no analogue to that for gasoline.