California Highways: Route by Route

Episode 2.09 of California Highways: Route by Route continues our exploration of Route 1, as we complete discussing present-day Route 1 in Medocino County from Gualala to Leggett and current Route 1's end at US 101. Along the way, we'll discuss the communities of Gualala, Point Arena, Albion, Mendocino, Fort Bragg, Westport and Rockport, and Leggett. As always, we'll cover the history of the route, and some current projects along the route. Our next episode will be the last on Route 1, this time covering what was Sign Route 1, and now covers Route 208 and Route 211 in the Lost Coast.

Episode 2.07 of California Highways: Route by Route continues our exploration of Route 1 by exploring an interesting gap in the route: The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB). The GGB is not part of the state highway system, and thus (from the point of view of the state) not part of either Route 1 or US 101. It is part of US 101 per AASHTO, and is run by its own district. We'll cover what was there before the bridge, the construction of the bridge, and current projects along the bridge (such as the singing bridge retrofit, the suicide barrier, and the earthquake retrofit. We'll also discuss how one pays tolls on the bridge. Looking forward, episode 2.08 will continue our exploration of Route 1 moving northward from the Marin Headlands to the Redwoods.

In Episode 2.05 of California Highways: Route by Route, we continue our exploration of Route 1 by exploring everything about the segment of Route 1 from Carmel in Monterey County to just N of the Tom Lantos Tunnels near Monara (in San Mateo Couny). This includes communities such as Carmel, Monterey, Seaside, Watsonville, Castroville, Aptos, Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Coastline, Half Moon Bay, and Montara.  As always, we go over the history of this segment of the route, the history of the route through various communities , the freeway plans, discuss relinquishments, names, and some current plans. We also talk in detail about the Devil's Slide and the Tom Lantos Tunnels, as well as projects in Santa Cruz. Looking forward, episode 2.06 will continue our exploration of Route 1 with the portions between Pacifica to (and including) the city of San Francisco.

In Episode 2.04 of California Highways: Route by Route, we continue our exploration of Route 1 by exploring everything about the segment in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County and the portion in Monterey County up through Big Sur until just S of Carmel. This includes the Five Cities (Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Shell Beach (actually part of Pismo Beach), Arroyo Grande, and Oceano (unincorporated county land serviced by the Oceano Community Services District)), San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, and San Simeon, as well as the (in)famous Big Sur. This episode also features an interview with Anneliese Ågren, a resident of Big Sur. As always, we go over the history of this segment of the route, the history of the route through various communities , the freeway plans, discuss relinquishments, names, and some current plans. We also talk about the history of slides on the Sur, and what people should know about the impacts of those slides. Looking forward, episode 2.05 will continue our exploration of Route 1 with the portions in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Mateo county from Carmel through Devil's Slide (Montara).

In Episode 2.03 of California Highways: Route by Route, we continue our exploration of Route 1 by exploring everything about the segment in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, from Solromar / Malibu at the edge of Ventura County to near Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County. We'll go over the history of this segment of the route, the history of the route through various communities including Malibu, Oxnard, Ventura, Lompoc/Vandenberg and Orcutt. We'll go over the freeway plans, discuss relinquishments, names, and some current plans. Looking forward, episode 2.04 will continue our exploration of Route 1 with the portions in San Luis Obispo from the 5 Cities through the northern edge of Big Sur in Monterey County.

In this episode, we explore numbering systems in state highways. It is the start of a four part miniseries on highway numbers in California. Specifically, this episode explores the rhymes and reason for the assigning of signed route numbers to highways with the state shield. This includes looking at the patterns in those numbers, and how the numbering system stands today after the Great Nenumbering. The subsequent episodes in the miniseries will explore the numbering system of US Highways, the numbering of and the history of California’s Interstates, and the signed county route system.

The episode also explores another numbering system on state highways: Post Miles. As opposed to sequential mileage numbers as is found in other states, California uses a system called post miles that identifies points along a highway using a combination of a county and a mile point from the southern/western county line, possibly with clarifying prefixes or suffixes. We discuss this system is good detail.

In this episode, we conclude our exploration the history of the State Highway System with the last episode in this 6-part miniseries. This episode focused on the post-1969 era in the stat highway system: the changes in the highway system after 1969; the impact of the environmental quality acts, and the growing involvement of the regional transportation agencies. We also explore the changes in governance of state highways.

In this episode, we’re continuing to explore the history of the State Highway System, focusing on the construction boom in the 1960s under the administration of Pat Brown. This period saw the great renumbering, as highways were unified under a combined legislative / sign route system (as opposed to the separate systems that existing previously). It also saw a tremendous expansion of the freeways as construction worked hard to meet the construction deadlines. The period ended with the passage of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the election of Ronald Reagan, and the Freeway Revolts.

Welcome to the first season of California Highways: Route by Route. This first season will be establishing the background listeners will need for our subsequent route by route podcasts. We'll start with a history of the state highway system. We'll then explore how highways are numbered in the state. Lastly, we'll look at how highways are named, and some of the organizations involved with state highways.

This first episode explores the start of the state highway system. We'll start with the humble beginnings with the first routes defined by the legislature, and then go into the routes defined by the first three bond acts. We'll also explore the Good Roads movement, and we'll have a special interview with Adam Prince of Gribblenation.

Here are some relevant links: