Skip to main content

Disaster Tourism Road Trip Part 1; California State Route 129

By
Back in February of this year the heavy winter rains had finally started to subside.  Pretty much across the entire state of California there was extensive mudslides that had wiped out several roadways.  At the time there was already an extensive slide on California State Route 35 and Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on CA 1 had already been damaged beyond repair.  Amid the chaos the Santa Cruz Range was getting hit hard with various closures throughout the mountains.  Local news stations across San Francisco Bay were being openly critical of people traveling through the slides to check out the aftermath; specifically they were being called "disaster tourists."

Given the weather was starting to improve I made plans for a weekend trip through the Santa Cruz Range northward to the countryside north of San Francisco Bay.  I started my Disaster Tourism Trip with a clinch of CA 129.






CA 129 is a 14 mile state highway traversing the Santa Cruz Range from US 101 in San Benito County to CA 1 in Watonsville in Santa Cruz County.  My travel direction on CA 129 was westbound from US 101 to CA 1.





CA 129 is mostly a two-lane highway uses a low pass through the Santa Cruz Range following the general path of the Pajaro River.  CA 129 runs entirely on Riverside Drive.





At Old Chittenden Road there is a rail crossing which CA 129 crosses under.  Not even CA 129 was immune to mudslides as the highway was closed through the pass shortly before my trip.






Westward CA 129 emerges into Salinas Valley and begins to approach the coast near Watstonville.





After passing through the farm lands CA 129 enters Wastonville and intersects County Route G2 at Main Street.  G2 is the connecting route between CA 129 and CA 129 which is a block north on Beach Street.  Before CA 1 was built to a freeway it ran on Main Street in Watsonville and CA 129 ended here.





The freeway alignment of CA 1 was built some time between 1967 and 1969.  The change can be seen on the State Highway Maps of the respective years in addition to the changes to both CA 129 and CA 152 which were both extended.

1967 State Highway Map

1969 State Highway Map

Modern CA 129 continues west out of downtown Watsonville and ends at the CA 129 freeway.



Prior to 1964 CA 129 was the unsigned Legislative Route 67.  LRN 67 was first defined back in 1921 from LRN 2 (US 101) to Chittenden Station.  In 1933 LRN 67 was extended to Watsonville, CAhighway.org details the history of LRN 67/CA 129.

CAhighways.org on LRN 67

CAhighways.org on CA 129

There was a minor alignment shift at some point along LRN 67/CA 129.  It would seem that the highway at one point took a 90 degree angle through Johnston Corner via Carlton Road and Thompson Road instead of the modern bypass on Riverside Drive.  The original post 1933 alignment can be seen on the 1935 California Division of Highway Santa Cruz County Map.

1935 Santa Cruz County Map


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cajon Pass; Cajon Pass Toll Road, National Old Trails Road, US Route 66/91/395 and Interstate 15

By
This past weekend I spent some time in Cajon Pass traversing the many historic road alignments. Cajon Pass is located in San Bernardino County, California along the San Andreas Fault.  Cajon Pass  serves the boundary line between the Mojave Desert, the San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains and San Bernardino Valley.  Cajon Pass is historically one of the most traveled transportation corridors in American California and presently is served by four rail lines, Interstate 15 and California State Route 138. While Cajon Pass is known mostly for carrying US Route 66 it has carried numerous other signed highways that have had a significant impact on regional and national road travel.  While this is my best attempt to compile everything from the best sources I could find into one single transportation history blog regarding road travel in Cajon Pass I suspect as time goes on this article will be frequently updated.  If you have any information that you ...
1 comment
Read more

Pardee Dam Road

By
Pardee Dam is a 358-foot-high concrete structure located near Campo Seco at the Calaveras County and Amador County Line.  Pardee Dam impounds the Mokelumne River which forms the namesake Pardee Reservoir.  Pardee Dam was completed during 1929 and is part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  Pardee Dam is accessed by the namesake Pardee Dam Road which crosses the structure via the one-lane road seen as the blog cover photo.   Part 1; the history of Pardee Dam Road The closest community to Pardee Dam is that of Campo Seco on the Calaveras County side of the Mokelumne River.  Campo Seco was founded in 1850 by Mexican Miners who worked placer claims in Oregon Gulch during the height of the California Gold Rush.  Campo Seco would reach a population of about three hundred by 1860 spurred by the numerous mining claims in the area.  Main Street of Campo Seco flowed directly into the Campo Seco Turnpike which had been authorized by the California L...
2 comments
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more