There’s been something on my mind that I’d like to share and hear others’ opinions about.
For many years, I have felt that Caltrans has been one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer money. A really prime example is the Highway 101 off-ramp project in San Miguel. The population of San Miguel is around 2,300, and for many years the off-ramp there has worked just fine! But Caltrans decided it needed to spend $56 million of our money to re-configure the off-ramp, closing miles of the highway down to one lane during the height of tourist season. To me, it’s a really unnecessary project.
Spend, spend, spend seems to be Caltrans’ official motto.
Kay Kunzler
Creston
This article appears in Education Today 2018.
What about the Los Osos Valley Road overpass? What a waste! When they originally built it circa mid 80’s I remember thinking that they should have made the bridge much wider and they’ll soon be back. Guess what, they should have and they did. How much did they spend this time to widen the bridge? I don’t know, but I’m sure it was in the tens of millions or maybe hundreds of millions. During construction they worked on the off-ramp from the north and, for some unknown reason tore up the road completely, dug a big hole, and constructed this piece of concrete that currently lies under the road that was basically the size of a large school bus. No one knows what that is for then they didn’t change the ramp one bit! Why didn’t they create a right-hand turn lane when coming from the south? It’s obvious that they don’t really want traffic to flow too quickly as those who want to turn right are backed up sometimes hundreds of feet awaiting for those who want to turn left to move. Additionally, the on-ramp heading south is no un-natural that most people don’t spend the energy to stay within the lines so the lines are basically worn away and non-existent at this time. I heard that CA spends 5x times more money per mile then TX, but we’re not getting our money’s worth. Guess what, that $5B gas tax should help fix things, right?
Totally agree.
Here’s the one that’s bugged me. The Y at 41 and 46, near Cholame. That spot has been deadly for decades, but instead of fixing that, they pave the triangles in the 101 off ramps through Atascadero?
Who decides what cal trans works on?
The minimal amount of work and energy that has been put into making highway 41 safe over the last 30 years is disturbing. For a state with one of the largest economies in the world it is extremely disappointing to me that CA wastes billions of dollars every year just paying government debt but we can’t find the money to fix what has been known as “Blood Alley” for decades. Over the last few years they have made some attempts and it has gotten better, but still much more needed to make the road safe and WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG?? We all need to hold the state more accountable for their spending on infrastructure and other major functions.