California Highways: Route by Route History CARxR 1.06: Chronology – CEQA and Reality

CARxR 1.06: Chronology – CEQA and Reality

December 24, 2022December 24, 2022| DanielDaniel| 0 Comment| 5:27 pm
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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.

Our interview is with Gary Ruggerone, who was the Caltrans District 5 Environmental Branch Chief from June 1980 until December 2010 when he retired from Caltrans. He started as as an Environmental Planner in D7 in March 1979, one of 5 environmental planners hired off the very first Environmental Planner Civil Service Exam. He was directly involved with Caltrans during the early days of CEQA and NEPA and is joining us to provide valuable insight on the impact of the CEQA. Gary is currently the Owner/Principal Environmental Planner of Piedra Environmental Consultants, a local environmental planning firm specializing in CEQA and NEPA analysis and regulatory permit compliance for transportation-related projects. A life-long resident of California, Gary earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, and a Master of Arts in Population Aquatic Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Anchor.FM:

Here are some relevant links for the episode (I’ll likely edit this to add more links in later):

Episode 1.07 will start our next background miniseries, which will look at numbering in the state. We’ll start off with an exploration of the patterns of state highway numbering and postmiles. We’ll continue with 1.08, which will explore US highway numbering; 1.09, which will explore Interstate numbering and all things Interstate; and 1.10, which will look at the County Sign Route system. As always, we’re looking for interviews for future episodes. If you have any leads, please contact us:

  • For 1.08: Someone familiar with AASHTO’s role in highway numbering.
  • For 1.09: Someone familiar with an interesting aspect of the Interstate Numbering process. This will be a short interview, as the episode itself looks to be long. We might talk to one of the maintainers of an Interstate website.
  • For 1.10: Someone familiar with the county sign route system, either from the Caltrans office that coordinates the program or the a county Public Works person.

We encourage you to explore our back catalog through this site or our Anchor.FM home.

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CA RxR 2.10: Route 1: The Lost Coast (incl. Route 208 and Route 211)CA RxR 2.10: Route 1: The Lost Coast (incl. Route 208 and Route 211)

March 10, 2024March 10, 2024| DanielDaniel| 0 Comment| 4:37 pm

Episode 2.10 of California Highways: Route by Route completes our exploration of Route 1, as we discuss the “Lost Coast”. This area was originally part of the last segment of LRN 56, and was to be Route 1, but some reworking of the state system made the former lateral between Usal Road and US 101 (which in 1964 became Route 208) officially Route 1, and made the “Lost Coast” portion of the route Route 211. This episode explores the Lost Coast, including the history of Route 208 and Route 211. In our next episode we will move to Route 2, talking about Route 2 in the flatlands: From Santa Monica to and through Glendale, including the Beverly Hills Freeway, the Glendale Freeway, and even some Pacific Electric. We’ll also talk about the Western Terminus of US 66.

Here’s the link to the show:

 

And here’s the link on Spotify for Podcasters:

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CA RxR 4.04: Route 9: Pre-1964 – Milpitas to Castro ValleyCA RxR 4.04: Route 9: Pre-1964 – Milpitas to Castro Valley

December 19, 2025December 19, 2025| DanielDaniel| 0 Comment| 7:02 am

Episode 4.04 is our second episode exploring Route 9, which in its post-1964 version runs from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and Los Gatos. Before 1964, Route 9 continued N up to the Mountain View area, and then across to Milpitas, and up to the Castro Valley. The previous episode covered post-1964 Route 9 (and the first segment of pre-1964 Sign Route 9) from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and then into Los Gatos, as well as all the 9th State Route and LRN 9. This episode (4.04) covers the pre-1964 Route 9 portions N of Saratoga: Sign Route 9 through Mountain View, Milpitas, and up through Hayward and the Castro Valley. This portion of Sign Route 9 became Route 85, Route 237, Route 17/I-880/I-680 (in portions) and Route 238.  The next pair of episodes will be covering I-10, with episode 4.05 covering the Santa Monica Freeway portion, and episode 4.06 covering the San Bernardino Freeway portion.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Spotify for Creators:

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CA RxR 2.11: Route 2: In the Flatlands (Santa Monica and Los Angeles)CA RxR 2.11: Route 2: In the Flatlands (Santa Monica and Los Angeles)

April 12, 2024April 12, 2024| DanielDaniel| 0 Comment| 6:41 pm

Episode 2.11 of California Highways: Route by Route is the first of two episodes on Route 2. In this episode we explore the general history of all things Route 2: What was the second state route defined; what was legislative route (LRN) 2, what was Sign Route 2, and what is today’s Route 2. We focus on the flatland segment: From Santa Monica to the Glendale Freeway. We do a detailed exploration of the relationship of the Pacific Electric and Santa Monica Blvd; the history of Route 2 and US 66 — and the ever changing routing in Los Angeles and Santa Monica — and the whole story of the never-constructed Beverly Hills Freeway. The last episode of the season will complete our exploration of Route 2 by looking at Route 2 in the hills — the Glendale Freeway and the Angeles Crest Highway.

Note: I made one error in the show: I said the street in West LA was San Vincente. It is San Vicente (and I should know better — I grew up in the area and lived nearby on Darlington). Here’s the history of that name.

Here’s the link to the show:

 

And here’s the link on Spotify for Podcasters:

(more…)

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