Category Archives: Roads

Highways, History, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County

City of San Diego – 1970

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The City of San Diego Clerk has been placing a large number of videos on YouTube over the past few months which are quite unique and eye-opening. In 1970, the City created videos of many of the roadways in San Diego. These are done in the same manner as Caltrans Photologs, which essentially takes a photo of the road every few feet or so, creating a fast motion video of the road. Roads such as Murphy Canyon Road and Kearny Villa Road no longer exist in the same manner as they did back then. Both have been greatly modified by I-15 and State 163. Some of the street names don’t match current names, however. Black Mountain Road, as shown in the video, is basically Del Mar Heights Road and Landsdale Dr, among others. Miramar Rd, in the video, covers current Eastgate Mall as well, as it was the old alignment of Miramar Rd through to UCSD.

These videos show this and more. Why not see it for yourself and be amazed! Try and count the number of spinning gas station signs too.

San Diego City Clerk YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn1v1JAjFEEvqMi-VHpee5w/videos

Caltrans, District 6, District 7, Grapevine, Highways, I-5, Image, Kern County, Old Alignment, Ridge Route, Roads, US 99

Featured Image – 12/23/2019

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1932/34 concrete at the divergence of the lanes at Grapevine.

Here at Grapevine, a small section of concrete is visible adjacent to the southbound lanes of I-5. This is a section of former US 99. A small color difference can be noticed between the two lanes that are visible. This difference is due to age. The lanes to the left were constructed in 1932 when Grapevine Grade was realigned, bypassing the original 1914 Ridge Route grade. This was built as two lanes as a temporary measure to expedite the opening of the new route. Right after it was opened, a third lane was added, the lane on the right, creating a three-lane roadway with a common passing lane in the center, or “suicide lane”. This condition persisted until 1943 when the road was widened yet again to four lanes. In 1959 – 1960, these lanes were bypassed by the current southbound lanes of I-5. Today, they remain as one of the last remnants of the 1932-1959 version of Grapevine Grade.

Advocacy, Caltrans, District 11, Highways, I-805, North Park, Road Signs, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County

Caltrans Sign Change

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NB I-805 at El Cajon Blvd

In June 2019, I sent a message to Caltrans requesting a change in the signage on I-805 northbound at El Cajon Blvd. The sign didn’t reflect the lane assignments and can be confusing to motorists not familiar with the interchange. In November, I got a response and they will not only change the sign but will move where it is placed. I thought that was pretty cool. Once again, it takes so little to make a positive change. I encourage others to do so as well.

My message:

CSR Ticket Number:757911
Date Submitted:2019-06-17 14:04:28
Date Completed:2019-11-12 00:00:00
California County:San Diego
State Highway Route:805
Nearest Town or City:San Diego
Nearest Cross Street:El Cajon Blvd
Mode of Transportation:Motorcycle
Direction of Travel:Northbound
Date & Time Situation Noticed:2019-06-17   12 noon – 1 pm
Type of Situation:Signs – Missing, Broken, Blocked or Down
Description of Situation:NB El Cajon Blvd exit sign is missing an EXIT ONLY tab and optional lane arrow. It can be confusing to motorists that don’t realize there are two possible lanes to use to exit at El Cajon Blvd when heading NB.
Geographic Location of Situation:On NB I-805 approaching El Cajon Blvd

Caltrans response:

Message from Customer Service Liaison: Our Traffic Operations Engineer reviewed this issue and provided the following response. You can expect to see a project in the near future. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Traffic Safety & Operations (South Region) is recommending the existing overhead panel be upgraded and re-positioned to centered above the two lanes of the exit ramp and also, additional sign be installed at the northbound I-805 exit ramp to El Cajon Boulevard per California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD), 2014 Edition. We will initiate a Minor B project to upgrade the existing overhead panel and forward a request to Operations Support to install “RIGHT LANE MUST EXIT SIGN” and 8-inch solid white line approaching the exit ramp.

Highways, Ridge Route, Roads, Updates, US 99

Ridge Route Update

From the Ridge Route Preservation Organization:

Finally, some good news! While it is not finalized at the time of this writing, our Volunteer Service Agreement is nearing completion. We got a copy today to review and so far, things look quite promising. We will also be getting a key to the gate, which means we will have access to the road. Our first act, after getting the key, is to do a preliminary survey of the road to assess the general condition of the roadway and determine what needs to be worked on prior to the upcoming rainy season.

What this means is that we are planning to do work on the Ridge Route in late Spring 2020, after the rains have subsided. Details on this event will be posted once we get a bit more information together and work out what the event will entail. The agreement does have a few stipulations, mostly regarding how our events will be held and what we can do during them. One of those is that we need to give a list of all attendees prior to an event, as such we will be expecting all persons attending to let us know before they attend.

So, things are looking up for the Ridge Route. Work is still in progress regarding Forest Service maintenance, right-of-way, and land ownership issues. Those will take a while but I have confidence they will be resolved in due time. In the mean time, plan on going on the road in late Spring 2020 and prepare to work!

California, Disaster, District 8, Earthquake, Fault, Geology, Highways, Inyo County, Ridgecrest, Roads, San Bernardino County, SR-178, Trona, Updates

Ridgecrest – Part 2 Now Online

Part 2 of my Ridgecrest earthquake field trip is now online. This time, I also won’t forget to add a link!

Ridgecrest Earthquakes of July 4-5, 2019 – Part 2