https://youtu.be/flhd7Jr-3qE
A number of significant changes are probably coming to the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (aka Pasadena Freeway, aka Route 66) in the Los Angeles area, reported LA Curbed.
The proposals come from the California Department of Transportation, so it’s not just idle speculation. A summarized list:
- Reducing the speed limit from 55 to 45 mph.
- Expanded shoulders and auxiliary lanes for easier merging.
- Installing Intelligent Transportation System devices.
- Several reconfigured access ramps.
- Establishing a regional bikeway system.
- More pedestrian-friendly areas adjacent to the parkway.
- Better stormwater management.
- Draft a preservation plan for the parkway, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dropping the speed obviously would improve safety on the old road. But CalTrans also thinks it will help traffic flow (counterintuitive, but works in practice).
And the redesigned ramps and auxiliary lanes would be welcomed by all motorists. The short and tightly curved ramps cause a lot of traffic-flow problems and near-collisions.
UPDATE 8/11/2011: I emailed Scott Piotrowski, an expert on Route 66 in the Los Angeles area, to get his reaction to the CalTrans proposals. His reaction:
[T]he speed reduction and removal of a lane to add better ingress / egress to the Parkway is a definite necessity. I have little faith that CalTrans has much intention of actually DOING this, however. Their track record in preservation is atrocious, their transparency is quite lacking, and their mantra has always been to build more. I have little faith in that department to do what is actually right.
If I would make one suggestion, it would be that the removal of the third lane would be intermittent, to remove it during periods of less congestion and allow for traffic flow in it during periods of high congestion. How that would work, however, I have not been able to figure out. It seems like a good idea, but the signage necessary would be disruptive to the historic and scenic nature of the Parkway.