Author: Daniel

Daniel has been interested in highways since he started collecting gas station maps as a kid (from Bill Yarnall’s Union 76 station in Playa Del Rey, CA). In college, he picked up a copy of LA Freeway by David Brodsly, and he grew even more interested in the history of the highways. In the mid-1990s, he started posting lists of California’s highways to the USENET newsgroup ca.driving, and by 1996, this had turned into the website California Highways. Since 1996, he has been maintaining and expanding the California Highways site with history, maps, updated status, legislative information, and more about the numbered highways in California. In 2004, he started an adjunct blog on Livejournal; by around 2010 he had moved that blog over to its own installation on California Highways: Observations Along The Road. Outside of highways, Daniel has interests in ancillary historical areas, such as the history of Las Vegas. He is also an avid audience member for live theatre, and posts regular theatre reviews on his blog. He is a boardgamer (you can find his collection listed on BoardGameGeek). He is active within Judaism: he is co-maintainer of the soc.culture.jewish FAQ; was moderator of the Liberal Judaism Mailing List; and is past president of his synagogue’s brotherhood. Professionally, he has worked in the field of cybersecurity since 1985. In that arena, he is nationally known and has contributed to many publications, including NIST SP 800-53 Revisions 4 and 5; NIST SP 800-37, and publications from CNSS. He has been involved with TCSEC and Common Criteria programs since the earliest days of the criteria. He is an officer of ACSA, the sponsor of the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, and has been on the ACSAC Organizing committee in various positions since 1989. He is a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP).

CARxR Ep. 1.03: Building a State Highway System: The 1930sCARxR Ep. 1.03: Building a State Highway System: The 1930s

September 15, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comment| 5:29 pm

Proposed Auto Club State Route Signage

In this episode, we’re continuing to explore the history of the State Highway System, focusing on the 1930s and the early 1940s. This is part of our first season of California Highways: Route by Route, where we are exploring the background needed for our route by route journal. In this episode, we’ll see the establishment of the legislative route system, the creation of state sign routes and the signage by the auto club, a major expansion of the state highway system, and continuing growth on the Federal side, laying the groundwork for the eventual interstates. This episode also features an interview with Morgan Yates, Archivist of the Auto Club of Southern California. During his interview, Morgan shared a picture of alternative state routing signs proposed by the ACSC (included here thanks to the auto club). You can write to Morgan at: Corporate Archivist; Automobile Club of Southern California; 2601 S. Figueroa St., MS H-118; Los Angeles, CA 90007.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Anchor.FM:

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Episode 1.02: Building a State Highway System: The 1920sEpisode 1.02: Building a State Highway System: The 1920s

August 13, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comments| 8:57 am

This first season of California Highways: Route by Route establishes the background listeners will need for our subsequent route by route podcasts. We’re starting with a history of the state highway system. In Episode 1.01, we discussed how the highway system started and got through the first three bond acts that created a large number of today’s routes. This second episode explores the 1920s: the start of the gas tax, the Melville Act that allowed the state to take over traversable highways through small cities that cannot afford them, as opposed to just rural highways between cities, the impact of the Breed Bill, and the establishment of the Division of Highways (today’s Caltrans). We’ll go over some of the major highways added during this time period, and most importantly, we’ll discuss the start of the Federal Highway system, better known today as the US Highways. We’ve got a special interview related to that subject: Joel Windmiller, President of the California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association.

Here’s the link to the show:

Here’s a link to the show on anchor.fm:

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Episode 1.01 – Before 1920 – Building a State Highway SystemEpisode 1.01 – Before 1920 – Building a State Highway System

July 18, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comment| 6:05 pm

Welcome to the first season of California Highways: Route by Route. This first season will be establishing the background listeners will need for our subsequent route by route podcasts. We’ll start with a history of the state highway system. We’ll then explore how highways are numbered in the state. Lastly, we’ll look at how highways are named, and some of the organizations involved with state highways.

This first episode explores the start of the state highway system. We’ll start with the humble beginnings with the first routes defined by the legislature, and then go into the routes defined by the first three bond acts. We’ll also explore the Good Roads movement, and we’ll have a special interview with Adam Prince of Gribblenation.

Here’s the link to the show:

Here’s a link to the show on anchor.fm:

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Episode 0.02 – Route 105 – It Only Takes a Century (Sample Episode)Episode 0.02 – Route 105 – It Only Takes a Century (Sample Episode)

May 28, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comment| 4:18 pm

This is a sample episode to show what the Route by Route format will be, as we don’t expect to start exploring routes until the second season. The first season will be mostly background: The history of the California State Highway system, explorations of how highways are numbers, exploring how highways are named, and the entities you’ll be hearing about in the episodes, such as the CTC. But we know you want the routes, so we decided to do a sample one for you. This episode focuses on Route 105.

The episode covers the following topics:

Legislative Route 105
1965-1968 Interstate 105
Post 1968 Interstate 105 – The Century Freeway
Why I-105 doesn’t end at I-5
The construction and the consent decree
Names on the Highway
Significant Problems
Major Current Projects

Here’s the link to the show:

Here’s a link to the show on anchor.fm:

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Well, We Did It. The Teaser Episode is UpWell, We Did It. The Teaser Episode is Up

April 16, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comment| 11:33 pm

It’s getting closer. Tom and I recorded our first “teaser” episode today. Here it is for your listening pleasure. We welcome comments on the episode (and I welcome lessons on Audacity and Roxio Sound Editor (current version; I’m using 2011)), and we’re looking for a great “free” theme song. We’ll be recording a sample episode next (on Route 1), and then once we’ve finished writing about half the first season, we’ll record and start releasing a first season. You can find a full planned episode guide on our episode guide page.

Here’s the direct link to the episode:

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Watch This SpaceWatch This Space

April 15, 2022| Daniel| 0 Comment| 2:49 pm

Welcome to California Highways: Route by Route. This is a new podcast that celebrates and shares the contents developed for the California Highways website and the blog posts about California Highways on Gribblenation (because every highway has a story). Tom Fearer of Gribblenation and I are your hosts. We are the in the process of developing our sample episodes, plotting out the seasons, researching and writing the scripts for the first season, and recording the episodes. So watch this space. We’ll announce new episodes here, as well as publishing them on all major podcast outlets via anchor.fm.

If you love the original content on our respective web sites, don’t worry. This is an adjunct project for Tom and I. I’ll be continuing to maintain and improve California Highways and adding to my blog, and Tom will continue to explore the highways, and sharing their history and images over on Gribblenation, as well as adding Gribblenation Roadcast episodes.

If you would be interested in helping to cover the costs of developing these episodes, or have original music you would be willing to let us use, please contact Daniel.