>>>>:>If you want scenery,
>
>>>>I think 99 runs thru some cities.
In article ,
Don Kirkman wrote:
>It seems to me I heard somewhere that Calif Bill wrote in article
>:
>>"Don Kirkman" wrote in message
>>> Quite a few, but it's been many years since that interfered with
>>> traffic; CA 99 is freeway speed through the cities because it's a
>>> limited access highway. Back when it was two-lane and three-lane
>>> highway it went through most of the cities on local streets, but of
>>> course the cities were much smaller then, too.
>
>>> CA 99 is not much for scenery, either, though it does beat I-5 pretty
>>> handily; it passes through mostly agricultural areas and lies much
>>> closer to the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east of the valley, which
>>> are pretty on a crisp clear day.
Let's see, numerous farm/ag museums and stores like where you can buy
D-8s.
>>99 was non-stop, mostly 2 lanes each way from Bakersfield to Turlock, where
>>the only stop light(s) on the highway were until you reached Sacramento.
>>The light(s) were removed about 30 years ago when the Turlock bypass was
>>constructed. Have not driven South of Turlock for years, but the road has
>>probably been upgraded a lot because of the cities like Madera that have
>>grown. And having grandparents on Turlock area, I found the scenery rather
>>boring as a kid traveling the highway. . . Except for the Giant Orange
>>stops!
There are still quite a few of the Giant Oranges. I know one on I80 at
Dixon, and quite a number off 99, one S of CA 152 and elsewhere.
>Ah, perhaps so 30 years ago, but IIRC not 40 or 50 years ago when I
>traveled it more, noting of course that I didn't say there were stop
>lights but that 99 went through on local streets.
Well this is why many of those Central Valley cities had archways over
what was 99 in the middles of towns.
Some of them got reused and sold to other towns as 99 got widened which
is why Willits has one on 101.
>The two lanes each way came about because of the number of head on
>crashes in the middle lane in the three-lane days; the third lane was
>intended to be a two-directional passing lane used with caution. It was
>deadly in the winter tule fog. Two of my school mates at Berkeley went
>to work for what is now Caltrans when they graduated, and were involved
>in some of the redesign, rerouting, and reconstruction of CA99.
>
>Kids find most scenery boring most of the time, even the fruit orchards
>or the alfalfa fields in full bloom in the spring. :-)
You have to know where to pick you own.
That helps.
-- |