Ridge Route Presentation Video

If you missed the presentation on May 17, you can view it on the Historic Highway 99 Association of California’s YouTube channel at: Additional prior meetings can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAvGZpwJjMnoBplxbkxMmaw

Ridge Route Presentation

Join the Historic Highway 99 Association of California on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 6 pm for a presentation on the Historic Ridge Route by Michael F Ballard. The road will be covered from Castaic to Gorman. Learn about the current status of the roadway and the Ridge Route Preservation Organization that is working to …

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Historic US 101 in Agoura Hills, CA

US 101 has seen many changes over the years in the Los Angeles area. Most of the route is heavily urbanized with housing tracts and businesses lining the roadway. Parts of the original roadway have also been incorporated into the modern freeway. All this leaves little chance for any original paving to remain intact. There …

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From the Archives – 1923

The Ridge Route on US 99 between Castaic and Gorman was a very twisty roadway when it first opened. All told, there was about 39,600 degrees of curvature over the approximately 30-mile route, enough to go in 110 circles. The state gradually worked to alleviate this headache by straightening curves whenever possible. Some curves were merely daylighted where others were completely bypassed. In the case of the Callahan Line Change, as shown in the postcard above, the road was shifted to change eight sharp curves into one gentle curve. The work here was completed in 1926. In 1933, the roadway would by bypassed altogether by the Ridge Route Alternate.

From the Archives – 1935

In 1936, US 60 was realigned between Moreno Valley and Beaumont. This realignment took the highway off of the Jackrabbit Trail and put it on a new alignment through the Badlands. This is the same alignment State 60 follows today.

This photo from 1935 shows the immense cuts and fills that were necessary for even the two-lane version of the roadway. In 1956, the roadway was widened to a four-lane expressway, further deepening some of these cuts. Work is currently underway to make this section six-lanes, with the outer lanes being truck-climbing lanes.

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