Los Angeles History Link

When looking for images of the Pacific Electric Railway or something showing US 99 near downtown Los Angeles, I found this really cool website with a lot of old photos of the Los Angeles area. I recommend a visit! It is called Water and Power Associates.

https://waterandpower.org/index.html

A bit of US 60 and US 99

I went for a ride on my motorcycle today. Just needed to just get out for a bit. Part of my journey took me through Idyllwild, via State 74 and 243. No photos of that section though, as I was too busy having fun on the motorcycle. The “slalom” section, as the locals seem to call it, on 74 heading up to Mountain Center is one of my favorites to ride. 243 was a lot better than on previous rides, owing to a lot less sand on the roadway and new paving from near Lake Fulmor down to Banning. Quite a bit of fun can be had up in the mountains on a motorcycle, even at 55 mph.

It had been a while since I’d gone out that way and needed to check on some things to see if they still remained. I was pleasantly surprised to find the US 60 sign still remaining on I-10 at the split in Beaumont. It is the last one as the rest have long since been replaced. When this one will is still a mystery but I doubt it will last much longer.

Signage at the 10 / 60 split with the US 60 shield partially visible behind the State 60 overlay.

Heading west on I-10, I followed a bit of old US 99 just west of Cherry Valley Blvd near Calimesa, where a section of Roberts Road (original US 99) will be realigned and eventually destroyed, lost to another residential development. Here, there is a beautiful section of 1925 concrete that is still relatively pristine. It was bypassed in 1937 by an new alignment, which is now mostly underneath I-10.

Looking easterly from the end of the paving near I-10. Future “Roberts Road” can be seen in the background on the right-hand side.
1925 date stamp. Happened to be right where I stopped the motorcycle for a photo.
My motorcycle and 99, complete with the 99 license plate.

It was a long ride but a lot of fun. A bit warm in my leathers at times, mostly when stopped at lights. I did find one thing that was a bit surprising in Menifee, after I stopped for fuel. While I commend their efforts, they have incorrectly marked a section of Antelope Road south of Newport Road as “Historic US 395”. It is even painted on the roadway like the US 66 shields in the Mojave Desert. US 395 did pass through here, but along the path of the freeway. The two-lane version of 395 followed the northbound lanes I-215 to about Garbani Rd and then the southbound lanes north of there.

San Diego Slow Streets

Many cities throughout the US have implemented a “slow streets” program to help make it easier for people to get out and exercise during this crisis. In San Diego, this has taken on the form of a “light” closure of some roadways. This means that the roadways aren’t closed entirely to motor vehicles, but through traffic is discouraged by the use of signs and barricades at various intersections. In doing so, bicyclists and pedestrians are given more room on the street.

I strongly encourage everyone to check these out in your city. If you think the program should be expanded, let them know! I know the ones here in San Diego have been helpful. We’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

For the City of San Diego:

https://www.sandiego.gov/tsw/programs/slow-streets-program

For the City of Los Angeles:

http://ladot.lacity.org/coronavirus/apply-slow-street-your-neighborhood

Site Problems – Corrected for now

Well, it looks like my site was at least partially hacked this morning. As a result, the site was down for an extended period. There hasn’t been any loss of data, but it was quite annoying to deal with. I have also taken additional measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again, so hopefully it doesn’t.

Dams of California

A while back, I found a really interesting presentation on dams throughout California. Everything from records to failures is covered. I encourage all interested to check it out.

https://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/dams_of_ca/index.htm

Your Resource For Highways, Geology, Railroads, History, Bicycling, And More Throughout Southern California Since 1995.