Join the Historic Highway 99 Association of California on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 6 pm for a presentation on the Historic Ridge Route by Michael F Ballard. The road will be covered from Castaic to Gorman. Learn about the current status of the roadway and the Ridge Route Preservation Organization that is working to reopen the roadway.
Please register for the presentation using the link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvcuGsqzstGtJ2q0PNZ7FmvnNqAWeSNTKc
US 101 has seen many changes over the years in the Los Angeles area. Most of the route is heavily urbanized with housing tracts and businesses lining the roadway. Parts of the original roadway have also been incorporated into the modern freeway. All this leaves little chance for any original paving to remain intact.
There is one exception in the Agoura Hills area west of Los Angeles. A short section of 1930 concrete remains, though its days are limited. Known as Vendell Road, it branches off of Agoura Road just west of Liberty Canyon Road (Exit 34 on US 101). In a different twist, modern Agoura Road follows the original 1913 alignment. This roadway was bypassed in 1949 when this portion of US 101 was upgraded to an expressway and realigned. Later improvements to freeway still ignored this section and left it intact.
Today, construction is underway on a wildlife crossing that will obliterate the old paving and dramatically change this section of highway. The new bridge will be of great benefit to local and regional wildlife, allowing a safe crossing of a major transportation corridor. Despite the loss of the old road, I do look forward to seeing how it all looks in the end. The construction is just yet another lesson in making sure to take photos of things when you can while you can. You never know if it will be there when you return.
The Ridge Route on US 99 between Castaic and Gorman was a very twisty roadway when it first opened. All told, there was about 39,600 degrees of curvature over the approximately 30-mile route, enough to go in 110 circles. The state gradually worked to alleviate this headache by straightening curves whenever possible. Some curves were merely daylighted where others were completely bypassed. In the case of the Callahan Line Change, as shown in the postcard above, the road was shifted to change eight sharp curves into one gentle curve. The work here was completed in 1926. In 1933, the roadway would by bypassed altogether by the Ridge Route Alternate.
In 1936, US 60 was realigned between Moreno Valley and Beaumont. This realignment took the highway off of the Jackrabbit Trail and put it on a new alignment through the Badlands. This is the same alignment State 60 follows today.
This photo from 1935 shows the immense cuts and fills that were necessary for even the two-lane version of the roadway. In 1956, the roadway was widened to a four-lane expressway, further deepening some of these cuts. Work is currently underway to make this section six-lanes, with the outer lanes being truck-climbing lanes.
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The view is looking east from the Taylor St ramps on I-8, then signed as US 80, in 1960. A lot has changed in San Diego’s Mission Valley in the 62 years since this photo was taken. At the time, Mission Valley was sparsely developed with mostly open lands and dairy farms filling the valley. This would soon change as shopping malls, apartment buildings, gas stations, and hotels replaced those farmlands.
Some things haven’t changed. The house visible on the left side of the image is still there, as are the overpass and freeway ramps. Can you spot anything else that is still there today?