Get your kicks over Route 66 March 23, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges.4 comments
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on Tuesday opened a pedestrian bridge over Sunset Boulevard, according to an article in the Beverly Hills Courier and a news release from the hospital.
The $10 million bridge, funded by contributions from two couples, was built between Vermont and Hillhurst avenues. The Courier claims it will be “the only hospital bridge on Route 66.”
The bridge links the hospital’s research and patient-care facilities.
From the news release:
The 92-foot, 40-ton steel frame of the walkway was constructed off site and towed in 3/10 of a mile in October, with traffic control by the same firm that directed the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s historical tour through Los Angeles. [...]
The bridge [...] will provide safe passage for the hundreds of hospital staff who cross Sunset Boulevard at all hours, 365 days a year.
The Mother Road is littered with underground tunnels for pedestrians. But I’m hard-pressed to think of any overhead pedestrian bridges on Route 66. Can anyone recall any?
UPDATE: A reader pointed out an obvious pedestrian overpass on Route 66 — the one at the Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa.
And Scott Piotrowski, who knows more about Route 66 in Los Angeles County than just about anyone, points out that the section of Sunset where the hospital is located is not Route 66. So the newspaper got that wrong, and I didn’t catch the error.
Rock Creek Bridge closed to traffic March 8, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.4 comments
The historic Rock Creek Bridge on the old Ozark Trail alignment of Route 66 in Sapulpa, Okla., was closed to traffic Thursday after a state inspection deemed it unsafe, reported the Sapulpa Daily Herald.
A visit to the 1921 bridge Friday revealed that in addition to “Bridge Out” signs, large chunks of concrete laid onto the road also blocked access to the bridge.
The newspaper reported:
[C]ontracted engineers found concerns in several support beams during their fracture-critical inspection. Nearly 90 years of traffic accidents and metal fatigue finally took their tolls on the famous structure. [...]
City officials are working with engineers who are compiling their recommendations. They will make a decision on the best way to proceed.
“There is not yet a time frame on the repair determinations,” Gilliland said. [...]
“Hopefully they can fix it up for a pedestrian or bicycle bridge if it can’t handle traffic,” Route 66 enthusiast Frank Gierhart said.
The City of Sapulpa will have to perform the bridge repairs. However, the state can provide technical assistance if the city is awarded federal money for the project, the Herald said.
The bridge served Route 66 until 1952, when officials realigned the highway to the south. The Rock Creek Bridge remains on the National Register of Historic Places.
The news of the bridge’s closure came not as a surprise. We’d watched the bridge’s load rating drop in recent years to the 4-ton minimum. That meant any more deterioration would mean its closure.
The only way to reach the 3.5-mile stretch of the old Ozark Trail alignment of Route 66 lies several miles west, near a Shell gas station (map here). Don’t count on driving through the parking lot of the VFW hall near the bridge; access to the Ozark Trail is often blocked by a gate.
In the meantime, enjoy this video we produced two years ago about the Ozark Trail alignment of Route 66 near Sapulpa. Enjoy those old paths of Route 66 while you can; you never know if they’ll be taken away from you.
City of Carthage prods railroad to fix Whee Bridge February 26, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Railroad.add a comment
The City of Carthage, Mo., is taking a more assertive approach with the Union Pacific railroad to shore up two bridges, including the historic “Whee” Bridge on Route 66, reported the Carthage Press.
City Administrator Tom Short said the recent closing of the nearby Sycamore Street bridge due to cracks in its supports prompted the city to send a letter to the railroad, urging it to bring that bridge and the Oak Street bridge, aka Whee Bridge, on Route 66 up to a “reliable standard.”
Ten days after the letter was mailed, Short said the railroad hadn’t responded. The newspaper said:
In its letter, the city said: “A review of our information, it appears that the railroad was required to install and maintain numerous crossings in the city as a part of the city granting the easement for the railroad right-of-way. Therefore, the city of Carthage is hereby notifying the railroad of these conditions and requiring the bridge be brought up to a reliable standard.” [...]
The city has been talking to the railroad for more than six years about refurbishing the iconic Oak Street bridge, also known by other names as the “whee bridge” or “tickle-tummy bridge” because of its unique hump and its location on Route 66.
The city received state and county funds to refurbish the Whee Bridge, but the necessary work would have cost far more than the money that was available.
You’d think Union Pacific, which recorded record earnings in the fourth quarter and in all of 2012, could afford to cough up some money to help refurbish a beloved historic bridge on America’s most famous highway.
Route 66-inspired rail bridge over Arcadia freeway is finished December 18, 2012
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The distinctively styled Gold Line Bridge for light rail over Interstate 210 in Arcadia, Calif., finished construction Saturday, according to a news release from the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority.
The 584-linear-foot sculptured bridge is the largest single public art/transit infrastructure project in California. Guests at the dedication ceremony Saturday were allowed to walk on the structure before the tracks are laid.
Designed by award-winning artist Andrew Leicester, the Gold Line Bridge is anchored by two, 25-foot ‘baskets’ that pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of the San Gabriel Valley and the oversize iconic roadside traditions of nearby Route 66. The distinctive bridge has a serpentine main underbelly featuring casted grooves and hatch marks that simulate the patterns found on the Western Diamondback snake, metaphorically referencing the spine of the transit system.
The $18.6 million project cost about the same as a typical light-rail bridge, and finished on time. It’s part of the 11.5-mile Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project between Pasadena and Asuza.
(Photos courtesy of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority)
Crews begin dismantling Route 66 Bridge November 27, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Preservation.1 comment so far
Work crews started Monday in dismantling the closed Route 66 Bridge over the Meramec River at Route 66 State Park near Eureka, Mo., reported the Eureka-Wildwood Patch.
A crew member from XL Contracting, the staff handling the deconstruction of the bridge, told Patch Monday the concrete on the bridge will be cut into slabs and taken off, along with the railing.
He said the bridge’s beams will be left, in hopes that some entity will want to rebuild the bridge in the next five years.
He also said the bridge work was slated to be done by Dec. 14.
The bridge was built in 1932 to carry Route 66 into Times Beach, Mo. A previous report said the bridge’s decking would be removed to take weight off the structure and keep it from collapsing into the river.
The bridge was closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic in October 2009. About 20 preservation groups are working to restore the bridge to at least foot traffic. The executive director of Scenic Missouri said the state will maintain ownership of the bridge until 2017.
Until preservationists intervened, the state had planned to tear down the dilapidated bridge. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The dismantling of the bridge started less than a week after soil tests in the state park revealed that dioxin levels had been lowered to safe levels for visitors and park rangers. Times Beach was evacuated about 30 years ago because of dioxin contamination. After the contaminated soil was incinerated, Route 66 State Park was established on the site.
Light-rail bridge takes part of its inspiration from Route 66 November 14, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Art, Bridges.add a comment
The Gold Line Bridge that goes over Interstate 210 near Arcadia, Calif., is on schedule to be finished sometime in December, according to a news release and several media reports.
The 584-foot Gold Line Bridge, shown in an artist’s rendering above, is the largest single public art transit infrastructure project in California, says Jennifer Wonnacott of the Fiona Hutton & Associates media relations firm.
Wonnacott said:
Anchored by two 25-foot tall concrete baskets that pay tribute to the indigenous peoples of the San Gabriel Valley and the oversize iconic roadside traditions of nearby Route 66, the Gold Line Bridge over the I-210 freeway northeast of Los Angeles, in Arcadia, will be the new Gateway to the San Gabriel Valley when it is completed next month.
The Gold Line Bridge is the first element of the 11.5-mile Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light-rail project from Pasadena, Calif., to Azusa, Calif. The bridge cost $18.6 million, and is on-time and on-budget.
Artist Andrew Leicester designed the bridge. In an article in the Pasadena Star-News, he said:
“Caltrans wanted a maintenance-free bridge, so gradually there was a simplification of concepts until I finally came up with the final one you see today,” Leicester said. “I looked at Native American basket-making almost from the get-go, but I wanted to include color into the cement and use tiles to create colored patterns on the columns – that was immediately squelched by Caltrans. They worried that tiles would pop off in an earthquake and land on windshields.”
The simpler, monochromatic and more abstract solution – using concrete with added quartz and mica crsytals and mirrored glass for sparkle – worked out better, he said.
“Funnily enough, a lot of people looked at it and said it looks like a space ship – something from `Star Trek’ that’s come down and is crouching astride the freeway,” Leicester said, laughing. “It has a slightly mechanistic look to it.”
More about the bridge and its designer can be found here:
Route 66 Trailhead Park dedicated October 13, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Events, History, Railroad.add a comment
The Route 66 Trailhead Park, which includes a new, Route 66-themed overpass for pedestrians and cyclists on the Pacific Electric Trail, was dedicated Wednesday on Foothill Boulevard (aka Route 66) in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
The event also marked the completion of widening that road from four to six lanes.
David Allen, in a report for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, described the park as a “history grab bag”:
The park has portions of the abutments from the P.E. bridge that crossed Foothill until 2010, when it was removed to make way for the road to be widened to its current six lanes.
It’s got faux railroad ties running through the abutment toward a wall with both the Pacific Electric logo and the names of local stops along the line, including such obscure names as Carillo, Las Uvas, Milligan, Los Minos and Grapeland.
It’s got freshly planted vines of Mission grapes, the first species planted in Cucamonga in 1838.
And it’s got a short, walkable segment of the original Route 66. [...] A piece of the original alignment remained as part of the right of way north of Foothill and now has been incorporated into the park.
Not only the original alignment, but the original pavement. The concrete dates to 1914, the macadam overlay to the 1920s.
Darin Kuna of the Upland Historical Society provided historical context about the Pacific Electric Railroad bridge. First, here’s an image of the bridge being built in 1914, when the roadway was just 18 feet wide.
Kuna also provided this 1936 photo of eastbound Route 66, just after Baker Avenue:
In an email, he explained relevance of the photo to the chunk of old Route 66 now in the Trailhead Park:
This vividly shows the original 1929 realignment with three lanes, just before construction started in 1937 on widening out the road to 4-lanes. In the background you can see the plateau of the old road with young eucalyptus trees planted alongside it. Above that, you can see the posts that carried the electric cables for the red car.
Kuna also found old maps that uncovered some history of that road, which was called San Bernardino Avenue:
[...] Prior to the 1913-14 road construction, it went straight along the present-day San Bernardino Avenue and sharply turned just west of where the bridge was constructed. This, I believe, was the old Butterfield Stagecoach Road because the county had no other maps of the general area going back before 1913, and they have records going back to the 1800s. You can also see that in the 1913 plans call for the highway to bypass and curve NW from where the present-day portion of San Bernardino Avenue that exists today. So, somewhere farther west of what this map shows, Foothill must have made a jog or two down to San Bernardino Avenue and continued east. I’ll have to research that farther. I’m assuming that San Bernardino Ave. was changed to Foothill Blvd. east of where the curve at Sycamore Inn was during this time. [...]
The portion of Foothill that you are going to save is of the original 1914 pavement over the old Butterfield Stagecoach Road. Since it was bypassed in 1929, it officially served as Highway 66 from the time it was given the route designation in 1926 until its bypass in 1929 … almost four years. The asphalt over the cement must have been put on there over the years between 1914 and 1929, but the cement underneath is the original road. Hopefully, they can remove the old blacktop without damaging the cement, being it’s so old.
For modern context that shows San Bernardino Avenue, see this Google Map:
Another interesting thing: Joan Andreas Miller attended the dedication of the 1938 widening of Route 66 in that area. She was about 5 years old, and she appeared in a newspaper photograph of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Allen reported:
Does she remember that day? Not really. Too young.
Her grandfather, Godfrey Andreas, was a state assemblyman, which is how she got into the picture.
Seventy-four years later, she was invited to the ribbon-cutting Wednesday at the park. Here she is now:
(Photos courtesy of Darin Kuna and Curt Billings; hat tip to Scott Piotrowski)