vivdunstan

November is now in the books. This means two things: It is now less than a week away before ACSAC (Annual Computer Security Applications Conference), and holiday movies and music have started. I’m looking forward to the former, for which I’m local arrangements and registration chair (although it is a lot of work); much less so to the latter (because if one doesn’t observe Christmas, the hoopla over the holiday becomes a bit obsessive). That said, whatever holiday you are observing during this month of holidays: I hope it is happy, meaningful, and celebrated with those you love and care about.

I’m continuing to work on podcast episodes. I’ve currently working on writing the first episode on Route 12, leaving two more on Route 12, one on Route 13, and one on Route 14 to go. I’ll be getting back to the last round of updates for 2025 as soon as I get back from the conference.

We’ve started Season 4 of the podcast, and we were able to use new recording software  (Zencaster) for episode. I think it sounds better, and I’m hopeful that the next episode will be even better as I now know how to adjust my microphone input better. Let us know what you think. It looks like the regular audience is between 60-70 folks, and I’d love to get that number up (as of today, we’re at 36 for 4.03, 63 for 4.01 and 4.02 and 70 for 3.15), although the numbers don’t included those who listen directly from the CARouteByRoute website (as I don’t know how to get those stats). You can help. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. Share the podcast on Facebook groups, and in your Bluesky and Mastodon communities. For those that hear the early episodes, the sound quality of the episodes does get better — we were learning. If you know sound editing, feel free to give me advice (I use Audacity to edit). As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Creators, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcatching app or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Creators) . The following episode has been posted this month:

• November | CA RxR 4.03: Route 9: Santa Cruz and Saratoga. Episode 4.03 starts a pair of episodes that explore 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. This episode (4.03) covers the current Route 9 from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos; the next episode (4.04) covers the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 through Mountain View, Milpitas, and up through Hayward and the Castro Valley. This episode also explores the 9^th State Route between Peanut and Kuntz (now Mad River), and LRN 9. LRN 9 ran all the way from Ventura to San Bernardino, and was Sign Route 118 from Ventura to Pasadena, and US 66 from Pasadena to San Bernardino. As always, we’ll talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. As noted, the next episode explores the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 from Saratoga through Milpitas to the Castro Valley. (Spotify for Podcasters)
• November | CA RxR 4.02: I-8 and US 80 Between El Cajon and the Arizona Border. This is Episode 4.02, which continues our exploration of Route 8, better known as Interstate 8. In this episode, we focus on the portion of I-8 from La Mesa (just outside of San Diego) to the Arizona border. We look at not only current I-8, but the routing of the predecessor route, US 80. We discuss the communities of La Mesa and El Cajon, Alpine and Descanso, Boulevard, the Mountain Springs Grade, Jacumba, Ocatillo (with a digression on the Imperial Highway), El Centro, Holtville and the Algondenes Dunes (with a digression on the Plank Road), Winterhaven and Yuma. We also briefly talk about the interesting routing of US 80 within Arizona, and how it differs from I-8. We talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. In the next episode, we’ll turn our attention to Route 9, which currently runs from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos, but which once ran all the way to Castro Valley. (Spotify for Podcasters)

As a reminder: One of the sources for the highway page updates (and the raison d’etre for for this post) are headlines about California Highways that I’ve seen over the last month. I collect them in this post, which serves as fodder for the updates to my California Highways site, and so there are also other pages and things I’ve seen that I wanted to remember for the site updates. Lastly, the post also includes some things that I think would be of peripheral interest to my highway-obsessed highway-interested readers.

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for November.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. See this article for more tips on bypassing paywalls. ☊ indicates an primarily audio article. ↈ indicates a primarily video article. ]

Highway Headlines

• Two Weeks After Anniversary of Fatal Malibu Crash, City Could Reject PCH Safety Improvements (Streetsblog Los Angeles). On Monday, November 3, the Malibu Planning Commission will hold a final hearing on the proposed Caltrans Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Safety Project, a $55 million plan to repave and upgrade the western portion of PCH between Cross Creek Road and the Ventura County line. Find meeting details at the bottom of this article. This PCH project has been in the works for years. Then, after a fatal crash that killed four young women standing along PCH on October 17, 2023, advocates scrambled to get Caltrans to include safety improvements along with the repaving. The project now aims to improve safety and accessibility along the corridor via a range of infrastructure updates. Proposed features include 15 miles of new or upgraded bike lanes, nearly 7,000 linear feet of new sidewalks in high-pedestrian areas including near Pepperdine University, 42 dark-sky compliant light poles, 19 guardrails, 22 curb ramps, three retaining walls, and two realigned intersections. The plan also includes median reconstruction and law enforcement pull-outs at various locations.
• Freeway vs. Highway: Yes, the Difference Matters (Readers Digest). Some road names are regional, but it’s the definitions that matter most. Life is a highway, or so the snappy song by Canadian crooner Tom Cochrane tells us. But what is a highway, exactly? And when it comes to freeways vs. highways, is there a real difference? Living in New York City means I’ve driven on many high-speed roads in the tristate area, from parkways to expressways and everything in between. And I’m here to tell you they are indeed distinct from one another. But don’t take my word for it—I’m no driving expert. (I get more parking tickets than I should and occasionally use the bus lane to pass.) Instead, I’ve tapped Nathan Huynh, PhD, a highway expert and professor of civil engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, to suss out these thoroughfare subtleties, explain regional name differences and tell us why road terms matter.
• ＄ Caltrans cuts ribbon on 395 Olancha-Cartago widening (Ridgecrest Daily Independent). There are safer travels ahead on U.S. 395 in the Owens Valley with the end of major construction on the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project. This project constructed 12.5 miles of new pavement, replacing the previous two-lane highway with a split 4-lane expressway designed to eliminate cross-centerline crashes. This is the final stretch of U.S. 395 to be converted into a 4-lane expressway in most of Inyo County. “The Olancha Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project underscores Caltrans’ safety and people-first philosophy,” said Acting District 9 Director Brandon Fitt. “Enhancing safety along this vital roadway improves the quality of life for residents of Olancha and Cartago and provides a better and more efficient travel experience for drivers.”
• Caltrans Commitment to Safety Highlighted in Completion of the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project (Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News). There are safer travels ahead on U.S. 395 in the Owens Valley with the end of major construction on the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project. This project constructed 12.5 miles of new pavement, replacing the previous two-lane highway with a split 4-lane expressway designed to eliminate cross-centerline crashes. This is the final stretch of U.S. 395 to be converted into a 4-lane expressway in most of Inyo County. “The Olancha Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project underscores Caltrans’ safety and people-first philosophy,” said Acting District 9 Director Brandon Fitt. “Enhancing safety along this vital roadway improves the quality of life for residents of Olancha and Cartago and provides a better and more efficient travel experience for drivers.” The new lanes on U.S. 395 closed the gap between existing four-lane sections to the north and south. The upgraded facility will meet future transportation demands as vehicle and freight traffic through the region continues to increase.
• Construction continues for Fanny Bridge near Lake Tahoe; nearby construction also scheduled (2 News Nevada). The Fanny Bridge construction continues in Sunnyside, California, along Lake Tahoe while crews add a permanent sewer line scheduled for Friday, November 7. During this project, cars will detour onto Lake Boulevard bypass to access State Route 89 and State Route 28. According to Caltrans, West Lake Boulevard will remain open for business and for transit center access, with only the Fanny Bridge being closed. The walking and bicycle path across the Truckee River Dam will remain open throughout the project.
• Old Woman Springs Road officially designated “High Desert State Scenic Highway” (Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree). State Route 247, known locally as Old Woman Springs Road, now has a new name. The road that connects Yucca Valley to Barstow will now by known as “High Desert State Scenic Highway.” The Homestead Valley Community Council (HVCC) received word from Caltrans that the road was officially dedicated as “scenic” by the state’s road agency on October 4. The HVCC had been campaigning for the highway to be designated as scenic, and was informed of the designation by San Bernardino County’s Land Use Services on Thursday (October 30).
• Goleta’s San Jose Creek Bridge Set for Major Replacement Project (Edhat). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will replace the San Jose Creek Bridge along State Route 217 in Goleta, the agency announced on social media on October 27, 2025. The work will require full overnight closures between Hollister Avenue and Sandspit Road on October 28, 2025, and October 30, 2025, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. The road closures will allow for the installation of precast girders for the new bridge, the City of Goleta said in a statement. The bicycle lane will remain open during the overnight closures.
• Hwy. 1 slide update: Caltrans installs cable nets to prevent falling rocks (SLO Tribune via MSN). Crews continue making progress in stabilizing Regent’s Slide on Highway 1, Caltrans said Wednesday, giving an update on work at the troublesome cliff face that’s contributed to a nearly three-year closure along the Big Sur Coast. of that stretch of the All-American Road and National Scenic Byway. The state road agency still estimates a spring 2026 reopening for through travel from Cambria to the Monterey Bay area, maybe as early as late March. That timing depends on various influences, of course, the most significant of which is weather, because heavy rains can unleash more slides in the geologically unstable area.
• California’s Iconic, Major Interstate With Renowned Views Has Been Named America’s Busiest Highway (Yahoo! News). Similar to Interstate 95 (I-95), the East Coast’s major highway that’s considered one of America’s deadliest, the West Coast’s own Interstate 5 (I-5) stands out, not for danger, but for its sheer volume of traffic. Recently named America’s busiest highway by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), I-5 is more than just a road; it’s a lifeline connecting some of the country’s most vital regions. This 1,381-mile artery isn’t just about logistics, it’s a journey through the heart of the West Coast — and a scenic one at that. From sun-drenched beaches and bustling metropolises to sprawling farmland and snow-capped peaks, I-5 offers an unmatched visual narrative. Travelers along the Pacific Coast experience a true spectrum of the American landscape, especially between Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Ana — the stretch of area under the spotlight in this recent study.