CA RxR 4.11: Route 13: Oakland and Berkeley

With Episode 4.11, our attention turns to Route 13. In this episode, we look at LRN 13, Sign Route 13, and Route 13. LRN 13 was the Sonora and Mono Wagon Road, which became today’s Route 219 and Route 108. Sign Route 13 was short-lived, quickly being renumbered as Sign Route 17 and Route 17, and is today’s Route 17, I-880, and I-580 N of the Bay Bridge. The post-1964 Route 13 of today runs from Route 61 to Route 61 through Oakland and Berkeley, and is best known as the Warren Freeway and Ashby Blvd. As for Route 61, you’ll just have to listen to the episode. Next time: In Ep 4.12, we’ll look at Route 14 and the unbuilt freeways of the San Fernando Valley. Lastly, note that in this episode Tom was having microphone trouble, so his sound is a bit off (and I don’t know Audacity well enough to fix it).

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Spotify for Creators:

Here are some relevant links (I may edit this to add more links in later):

We encourage you to explore our back catalog through this site or our Spotify for Creators home.

 

Related Post

CA RxR 4.14: Bonus: New Idria Road and Hites Cove RoadCA RxR 4.14: Bonus: New Idria Road and Hites Cove Road

Episode 4.14 is the first of two bonus episodes. It tells the story of the corridors of New Idria Road and Hites Cove Road. Both of these historic highway corridors lead to mining in Central California. This episode is based off blogs released on Gribblenation during October 2025 and May 2026. New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County. It branches off of Panoche Road, and winds its way south-ish through the Diablo range to the ghost mining town of Idria, continuing as Clear Creek Road. Hites Cove Road is an approximately seven-mile rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada range of Mariposa County, south of Route 140, and west of El Portal. Hites Cove, and its successor forest and OHV trail roads, leads to the ghost town of Hites Cove on the south fork of the Merced River. Two interesting stories about two interesting ghost towns. Next up: Our second bonus episode to close out Season 4: A roundtable discussion with Adam Prince and Doug Kerr as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the start of Gribblenation.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Spotify for Creators:

(more…)

CA RxR 3.15: LA Metro Archives (Bonus)CA RxR 3.15: LA Metro Archives (Bonus)

A New Year’s Gift for you: Our last Bonus Episode of Season 3. Episode 3.15 features an interview with Claire Kennedy, Archivist for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Agency (LA Metro). In this role, Claire manages the LA Metro Archives, which date back to the 1800s and the earliest horse-drawn transportation in the city. These archives cover not only the wide variety of transit agencies in Los Angeles, but also the highway and road system as Metro is the Regional Transportation Agency. These archives are a public resource, and are open by appointment; information on how to make an appointment is in the podcast (and below). Note that we had some trouble with Zencastr this episode; we fell back to FreeConferenceCall.com. We’ll pick up in the October with Season 4, which will cover Route 8 through Route 14.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Spotify for Creators:

(more…)

CA RxR 2.07: Route 1ish: Golden Gate BridgeCA RxR 2.07: Route 1ish: Golden Gate Bridge

Episode 2.07 of California Highways: Route by Route continues our exploration of Route 1 by exploring an interesting gap in the route: The Golden Gate Bridge (GGB). The GGB is not part of the state highway system, and thus (from the point of view of the state) not part of either Route 1 or US 101. It is part of US 101 per AASHTO, and is run by its own district. We’ll cover what was there before the bridge, the construction of the bridge, and current projects along the bridge (such as the singing bridge retrofit, the suicide barrier, and the earthquake retrofit. We’ll also discuss how one pays tolls on the bridge. Looking forward, episode 2.08 will continue our exploration of Route 1 moving northward from the Marin Headlands to the Redwoods.

Here’s the link to the show:

 

And here’s the link on Spotify for Podcasters:

(more…)