Massive CA-37 projects

[Voyager]

I swear this highway has been cursed since it was originally created. Does anyone remember how a levee broke during the original 1970's or 1980's construction in Vallejo and the famous Snowy Plower flew in there and nested so they took 30-40 years to finally be able to get that section of freeway built? Imagine what would happen if they tried a viaduct...

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone think it was a mistake to build CA 37 on its existing alignment? I'm not saying the roadway wasn't needed (it very likely was), but would it still have needed the extensive proposed upgrades if it had been built on a different alignment?

[Max Rockatansky]

Does anyone think it was a mistake to build CA 37 on its existing alignment? I'm not saying the roadway wasn't needed (it very likely was), but would it still have needed the extensive proposed upgrades if it had been built on a different alignment?

No, but it was built during an era when standards and expectations for the corridor were different.  This was originally the Sears Point Toll Road which opened to traffic in 1928.  The state would later purchase the toll corridor 1938 and it became Legislative Route Number 208 (and CA 48) in 1939. 

Historically there has always been flooding issues with the Highway segment over San Pablo Bay.  When the Sears Point Toll Road opened it wasn't a major commuting route like it is now.  There were freeway conversion proposals in the 1960s which would have abated much of the problem.  The proposals were controversial and not much has changed along the corridor (aside from being renumbered as CA 37 in 1964). 

But sure, a corridor like this wouldn't be built from scratch in modern times.  The state wouldn't build over open waters like San Pablo Bay and a private enterprise would never find a viable business case to go through all the EIS headaches.