In the Jurupa area of Riverside, there is a really neat old railroad bridge. Built in 1904, it was a part of the former San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad, a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. This bridge is fairly unique in Southern California in that it is a concrete arch design instead of the usual steel truss type. As it is also a single-track bridge, increasing traffic may warrant an additional span.
In the Hollywood Hills off of Coldwater Canyon Road, there is an unusual street. First turning off of Coldwater Canyon as Cherokee Lane in Los Angeles, it looks like a pretty standard road. However, reaching further up, the road passes the Beverly Hills city limits. Well, only half of it does. So, now the left half is in Los Angeles and the right half is in Beverly Hills. The blocks are also now slightly different, with the LA side in the 9400 block and the Beverly Hills side in the 9300 block.
The road follows the city limits until it reaches Bowmont Drive. Bearing to the right at the intersection, things get very unusual. Instead of just different cities, now the same roadway has different names. The left side is now the 9300 block of Cherokee Ln in Los Angeles. The right side is now the 2000 block of Loma Vista Dr in Beverly Hills. This oddity continues until the entire roadway crosses into Beverly Hills a short ways up the canyon. Sometimes cities work together, sometimes they work apart. This is the most unusual mix I’ve ever seen.
In the 1950’s, a section of what is now the 15 in San Diego was built. Known then as the Wabash Freeway, it ran from Harbor Blvd to 40th St in the City Heights area. Today, it is known as the 15 freeway and has been upgraded significantly. Access to the old freeway was a bit different than today. Nile Street in North Park used to have a direct connection with the freeway. Today, Nile Street ends in a park. A section of the old ramp still exists, however, as an access to the park.
Even in heavily built up Orange County, there can still be places where old highways can be seen. One of the best examples is located in Brea Canyon, where the Orange Freeway winds its way through open and undeveloped lands between Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Before the freeway, State 57 followed Brea Canyon Road. This two-lane roadway has changed little through here and has a few interesting features.
In July 2010, I was able to go to Baja California with a friend. Part of our route traversed Federal Highway 2 (Mexico), which suffered some damage from the April 2010 quake. Hwy 2 had been repaired but the adjacent old alignment had not been. I was rather amazed at the amount of offset from this earthquake. I observed about 2′ of horizontal and about 5′ of vertical offset at the highway crossing.
