1964 3 of the Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Route Restricted Expansion
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~~2no ~. 35 CALIFORNIA v.43,-rio.3-4 Hi•~ hway s ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ,'r ~~~ ~~ ~. ,~.~ ter, ~ # ~a ~ ,~~ ~~ a,.,+r~, ~~ ~,;~` ..~'AS.~.a_ ~~ ,n ~y w s .. ~ ~ ".~... ~ ~ t,' ~ ~ ~ ~,.°~ .~ ,Y~'~~ ~~ 3 >, ` i Qt left is photo in recent times of old $an Fernando Pass. Walls are remarkably stable. Once atoll road, charges were $2.50 fora 12-horse team, 25 cents fora horse and rider, i0 cents for miscellaneous arrivals, and 4 cents each for sheep. Above and below are pictures of various traffic problems experienced in negoFiating old Newhall Tunnel, which was only 17%z feet wide and 17 feet high at center. Dark, law, and narrow, it was difficult for trucks— virtually aone-way proposition—and fearsome for passenger cars which sometimes turned out heavily on weekends for wildflower viewing or other recreation. EVOLUTION OF A PASS According to the Soutl~er~n Califor- The first automobile went over the niq Historical Society Quarterly, the pass in 1902, an "Autocar" driven by first cut was made in the old San Fer- Los Angeles dealer Ralph Hamlin, ac- nando Pass in 1854 to improve a companied by the new owner from wagon road of sorts, and it was cut McKittrick, who had come by train deeper in 1858 for the Butterfield to piclz up his car. The grade was so Stages. It was further deepened in steep gasoline would not flow to the 1862 by General E. F. Beale, owner carburetor and they had to climb in of the huge Rancho Ted on, who re- reverse, both men leaping out and paired the mute and reopened it as chocking the wheels with rocks each a toll road between the San Fernando time the engine stalled. and San Joaquin Valleys. With the In 1904, to lessen the grade, men completion of the railroad in 1870, with picl~s and shovels once more la- wagon traffic fell off rapidly, and the boriously deepened the cut, and the county fell heir to the road in 1883. (Conti~zued on inside back cover) California. H1g hwa Y s a.~d Public Works Off°icia! Journal of the Division of Highways, Departmen# of Public Works, State of California Vol. 43 March-April Nos. 3-4 CONTENTS Page Santa Barbara Freeway _ _____-_ _ _----- 2 By J. M. Sturgeon, District ConsTruction Engineer Morongo Canyon - ----- - ------- ---------- 7 By C. F. Johnson, Resident Engineer Route Renumbering -------_-_-----___-----___-__-----_---- 11 Illuminated Signs Warn of Fog ____________________----_ -- 13 District VII Progress ---- ------ ------------ --- -------- -- -------------- ------- 14 By E. T. Telford, Metropolitan DisTrict Engineer San Diego Will Host June WASNO Meeting ______________ _______________________________ 35 Hofman Renamed to Highway Commission ____________________________ 35 Joint Meeting -- --- ---- - --------- - ----- -------------------------------------- 36 LARTSProgram ------ ----------------------------- -- ------------------ --------------- 3a By J. W. Shaver, AssistanT DisiricT Engineer GlendaleReport -------- -------------------------------------- ----------------------------- 42 By StuarT L. Hill, Headquarters Right of Way Agent Bay Bridge Reconstruction ------------ - ----------- -------- --- ----------------------- 4~. By E. R. Foley, Chief Engineer BellevueRoad ----------------------- ----- -------- -------------------- ------------------ 54 By Verne L. Davis, Road Commissioner, Merced County FRONT COVER: As the new numbering system for Collier-Unruh California Stote Highways goes into effect, Francis Act ------------ ------- --------------------- ----------- 5~ (Mickey) Johnson (right), Highway Maintenance Man !By C. T. Ledden, City and Coun4y Projects Engineer 111, and Blas Gonzales, Highway Maintenance Man I, Sacramento freeways Model Exhibited in Capitol 59 both from District VII Sign Maintenance Station, raise CriticalPath Method new sign shield on coastal route just south of Point --- -------------------------- --- ----------- ------------------------- 60 Mugu in Ventura County. Route, once known as "The By Richard V. Potter, Systems Research Engineer Roosevelt Highway," was previously numbered U.S. Scenic Highway Advisory Committee Holds Meeting 62 Highway 101 Alternate, is now a part of State High- ITTEMeeting way Route 1. See "Route Renumbering;' page I1. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 63 (Photo by PeTer Asano.) 'Tempus Fugit' Corner ------------ - ---- ----------- - ------ --------- ------------- 65 BACK COVER: View of Santa Barbara and newly com- NewRoutes ----------------------- ----- - - -------------- ------------------------- 66 section of 101 angling in pleted freeway U.S. from up- BridgeCosts ---- ------------------- -- --------- - ----------------- ------------------- 68 per left. Santa Borbara Yacht Harbor in foreground, By Harris K. Mauzy, Senior Bridge Engineer and William J. Yusavage, with city center and State Sireef right center. City Associate Research AnalysT owns virtually entire waterfront, and preserves it as a public park. Dark mass extreme right center is famous Neil Dunham Named Computer System Head __________ 69 Moreton Bay Fig, largest of its species in U.S. Freeway NewJob Uasses -- -------------- -------------- ----- ----------------------------- 70 routing passes just to north of it. See "Santa Barbara -- Freeway" page 2. (Photo by Robert Rose.) Retirements Walter M. Baumgart ----------_-_- 67 Edwin F. Levy -_-_____------------------ 71 J. W. Coghill 67 Nelson Spicklemire _ 71 Division List 71 InMemoriam -- -- ----------- - ------ ------------- --------- --------------------------------- 67 LESTER S. KORITZ, Editor STEWART MITCHELL, Associate Editor JOHN C. ROBINSON, Associate Editor WILLIAM R. CHANEY, Chief Photographer Editors are invited to use information contained herein and to request prints of any black anc~ white photographs. Address communications fo: EDITOR, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC WORKS P.O. Box 1499 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95807 do a dr and reevva By J. M. STURGEON, District Construction Engineer Santa Barbara, is now classed as one of the 11 Since World War II, realignment, DISTRICT kith its Spanish "urbanized areas" in the State. reconstruction, upgrading and im- Vbackground and Santa Barbara has become an educa- provement projects have followed each character, has been tion center with the Goleta Campus other in a steady procession in and regarded as a city of the University of California adja- around Santa Barbara on U.S. 101 to blessed with an cent to its west city limits, Santa Bar- meet ever-changing traffic needs abundance of bara City College inside the city, and caused by the growth and develop- scenic ocean and Westmont College just south of the ment of this area. mountain views, an city in picturesque Montecito. By the fall of 1961, this highway excellent climate, Growth of Industry had been constructed to full freeway and widely accepted as the center of Research centers for a number of or well-developed expressway stand- a resort and retirement area 'that is industries have established themselves ards from the junction of the Ven- among the best California offers. in and around Santa Barbara, as have tura-Santa Barbara county line to the While still considered a resort cen- a number of electronic and space age town of Buellton in the Santa Ynez ter, Santa Barbara, with 64,000 people, industries. Valley, some SO miles north of Santa This aerial of the Castillo Street undercrossing (near completion) shows the ~ouiing of traffic to the northbound lanes while fhe southbound lane is being finished. It also shows some of the railroad relocation in the curve at the left. 2 California Highways and Public Works v. w~E.= =T ~ L~ LJII I_I L~ L~ ~~~r-I_I L_J~~r~~~ I—J l~ -~~n nnnnnl~'lnni~inn~~ ~ 6 ; ~ ~I~~~ STA.161+85 ;. vi.nw. This project map from the specifications book shows the routing followed by the freeway through the Ciiy of Santa Barbara. Numbers refer to various structures. Barbara, except for a very significant Big Traffic Increase brought to completion, bids were 2 %Z -mile stretch running along the In the eight years between 1954 and called for, and on November 9, 1961, west side of downtown Santa Barbara. 1962 peak traffic on this section of work on this $5,000,000 project was There, between the intersection of highway jumped 85 percent, with fig- begun by Gordon H. Ball, Gordon De La Vina and Montecito Streets to ures now indicating better than 39,000 H. Ball, Incorporated, and Talbot D. the southeast and Pueblo Street on vehicles per day. Traffic congestion Bailey, Incorporated, contractors op- the west, traffic was still using a nar- increased to the point that cross traf- erating as a joint venture. row four-lane facility built in 1934. fic, which had also increased consider- The contractors were faced imme- Though some shoulder paving and ably in volume, could no longer be diately with some serious problems of widening have been accomplished handled efficiently even through sig- how to phase their construction work. since to provide four full-traffic lanes, nalized intersections. Delays and haz- The entire alignment to be con- the 40-foot-wide original construction ards increased beyond tolerable limits. structed was complicated by controls was no match for the traffic it had to Freeway design plans that had been and restrictions that were a designer's handle. developed for some time were quickly dilemma. To the south the main line The Castillo Street undercrossing, giving a detailed view of the "boat' secfiion described in the article. March-April 1964 3 of the Southern Pacific Railroad's coast route restricted expansion. On the north, Mission Creek,