California Department of Public Works

“ I have also hoped that we may be able to change the attitude of the motorist toward the traffic officer.
My observation has been that some men, who are normally courteous and considerate, lose every sense of obligation toward their fellow men when they get behind the steering wheel of an automobile. Happily again this does not apply to all drivers, but rather to a small minority. Their attitude seems to be that they are not only the sworn enemies of the traffic officer but also that they owe no obligation to show consideration for the other fellow’s rights and the other fellow’s welfare. ”

“ The problem of controlling traffic, however, is by no means, unsolvable. An assisting force in the fight for better highways is the fact that an overwhelming majority of motorists desire to be careful and to do the right and fair thing by fellow motorists. The problem these drivers present is to bring to them a realization of the great, everpresent and immediate danger that lurks behind the least act in careless driving. The traffic officer becomes here a professor in the College of Safe Driving, the students of which extend over the world and are literally numbered by the millions. ”

“ THE purpose of highways is to serve travel.
This being so, the safety, the convenience and the comfort of traffic must ever be uppermost in the minds of highway builders. The highway must be planned to make its use safe. It must be designed to make travel economical. And with these factors of safety and economy, there must always be included the additional factors of comfort and enjoyment in highway use. ”

“ California law permits a driver of an automobile to travel, under favorable conditions, at a rate of 582⁄3 feet a second. The automobile manufacturers and distributors have seen to it that a large portion of the machines on the highway are capable of traveling easily at the rate of 75 or even 90 feet a second. The hand and eye and mind of man can be coordinated by education to a marvelous degree but a 3000-pound automobile, traveling at a lawful speed of nearly 60 feet a second, or 40 miles an hour, is a force to be reckoned with at any time. ”

“ Oregon and California took the lead in the experimental use of petroleum oils by various methods. Later the bureau joined with the California highway department in an investigation of the various methods that had been tried with a view to ascertaining what methods or combination of methods and materials would afford the greatest relief. At about the same time the bureau was cooperating with the highway commission of South Carolina in similar experiments of topsoil roads.
“A task without a vision is drudgery, A vision without a task is a dream. ”

“ Pyrotechnically considered, it is the fireworks of the soul. If a man can’t laugh, there is some mistake made in putting him together, and if he won’t laugh he wants as much keeping away from as a bear-trap when it is set.”—Josh Billings. ”

“ In fixing the grade lines, attention should be given to the crossing of the spur with the proposed track of the Western Pacific California Railroad Company.
If the area proposed to be developed as an industrial area does reach the full development of which it is capable, the cost of a separation of grades will be very nominal when compared to the revenue derived from freight or the increased value it will give the land to be served. On the other hand, the moving factor in this grade separation is the greater convenience and safety for the automobile using public. ”

“ But with all the care, the thought and the money road engineers and road builders can put into the highway, their entire effort will fail, if travel using the road is careless and reckless in such use.
The careless motorist can make the safest highway dangerous. In a moment’s time a reckless motorist can undo all the months of effort and time and can bring to naught the millions of dollars that have been expended in the attempt to make our highways safe. ”

“ All of the states should enact statutes requiring the railroads to participate in the cost of grade separation structures and in line with well established precedent, the share of the railroad companies in the total cost of such grade separations, including all necessary approaches and drainage structures, should not be less than no per cent; and that all wigwag or flashing signals be installed on the right side of the highway approaching the grade crossing, and that center installation of such signals be used only when side installation is utterly impracticable. ”

“ The new highway will be built to modern standards of construction with low maintenance cost and capable of meeting present and future traffic requirements. Engineers of the Department of Public Works state that its alignment for mountain construction will be unsurpassed by any in the United States. This remarkable character of the new alignment is evidenced by the fact that it will have a total of 7500 degrees of curvature against a total of 35,140 degrees on the present route. ”

“ THE State of California has materially increased its direct interest and activity in the maintenance of flood control works in the Sacramento Valley, where, in a large region of the state, a comprehensive system of flood protection is an accomplished fact. ”

“ The roadbed is to be graded to a width of 36 feet and the paving will be 20 feet in width, thus providing for two 10-foot travel paths. The grade of the road is being raised and wide drainage ditches constructed on each side of the highway to eliminate flooding of the roadside from irrigation overflow. The new concrete pavement is to be laid on a sand cushion over the present oil-trealed gravel surfacing, thus affording a more adequate roadway for the heavy produce trucking that this artery is called upon to carry. ”

“ The Chief of the Bureau of Public Roads, Thomas H. MacDonald, in his last statement of views before a congressional committee, told of the demand for cooperation in road building reaching his Bureau. “There is an insistent and growing demand for an increase in the federal support of the annual road-building program" he told the House Committee on Appropriations in urging the appropriation for the current fiscal year 1930. "For about eight years the country as a whole has been spending from $1,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000 annually for highway purposes. ”

“ The road is a marked example of the impossibility of adequately modernizing a location in a heavy mountain district with maximum grade on tortuous alignment. The condition of the road makes it unnecessarily detrimental to the proper flow of travel between northern California and the San Joaquin Valley on the one hand and Los Angeles and Southern California on the other. ”

“ Private financial interests are still undertaking to commercialize and exploit the traffic on the roads of the state and Federal Aid highway systems by the construction and operation of toll bridges at points where traffic is concentrated as a result of the vast expenditure of public funds on the construction of these free highways ”

“ There is a growing realization of the fact that in the best highway development there is found, in addition to construction and maintenance, a recognition of the asthetic values present on or near every highway and that it is a proper function of the state highway departments to engage in highway beautitication and in the preservation and development of natural and scenic attractions and aesthetic values made available by the highways ”

“ The heavy cuts on the contract just north of San Rafael have been opened and much material moved. This work does not interfere with through travel as most of it is on an extensive line change and the old road is open to traffic with no obstructions. It is expected that a contract will soon be let to construct an overhead crossing over the tracks of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at Forbes and that the completion of roadway will coincide with the completion of the overhead crossing and allow the section to be opened about the middle of the year. ”

“ This work is created by a government unit (including state, county, city, and municipal government agencies) that derives its powers from the laws of the State of California and is subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Government Code § 6250 et seq.) . It is a public record that was not created by an agency which state law has allowed to claim copyright and is therefore in the public domain in the United States. ”

“ Normally, road work is hampered by stormy weather early in October. In higher altitudes it is necessary to close down most jobs on account of snow. However, with the exception of the stormy period between December 8 and 17, the weather has been warm and dry and ideal for highway construction.
SISKIYOU COUNTY
The contract of T. M. Morgan Paving Company, contractors, between Shasta River and Gazelle, is nearing completion. The 7-mile stretch of pavement which was under construction on this job was completed last month and was opened to traffic on December 10. ”

“ While the capacity of the present road is overstressed by 1500 vehicles daily, due to its numerous grades, its almost continuous and sharp curvature, the large volume of slow moving heavy hauling traffic that uses it, the new road will have a safe and comfortable capacity of 12,000 or more a day, and its alignment standard will be such that when traffic justifies increased width it can be done without distorting that standard. ”

“ It seems to me that a great many things come before safety first for ourselves. Honor should come first, and consideration for the safety and the wellbeing of the other fellow. Then safety for all would follow. A motorist should not feel angry when stopped by a traffic officer. ”

“ For example, a state agency may post images online of the final appearance of a building under construction; while the images may have to be released by such agency since they are public records, their creator (e.g. architecture/construction firm) retains copyright rights to the image unless the contract with the agency says otherwise. See: Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual: To what extent does federal law preempt state law regarding public inspection of records?.
Disclaimer: The information provided, especially the list of agencies permitted to claim copyright, may not be complete. ”

“ There is considerable variation in the practice of licensing motor vehicles in the several states, some states having an adequate fee which is in lieu of all other taxes, while others have a nominal fee supplemented by a personal property tax;
It is recommended that—
Such states as are issuing such licenses and license plates upon the payment of a nominal fee, that the applicant for a license be compelled to submit a tax receipt showing that all additional taxes contemplated by the laws of the states have been paid, before such licenses and license plates are issued. ”

“ The asphalt concrete surfacing has commenced and a large portion of the base course has been laid. The placing of the surfacing course is now under way and the contract should, in a very short time, present a nearly complete appearance. A considerable portion of the grading of shoulders is yet to be done, together with the construction of side road approaches, before the road can be thrown open to full use of traffic. All structures are completed; which include the widening of a number of concrete structures and the widening of corrugated pipe culverts. ”

“ The railroads of the country, in their great work to reduce accidents, have succeeded in every phase of the problem but grade crossing collisions. It takes an average of seven seconds for a train to pass any given spot. Yet every year thousands of people, unwilling to wait the seven seconds, lose their lives. Accident reduction is mainly a matter of teaching drivers when to step on the brake instead of the accelerator.—Pillager Herald. ”

“ The grades on the alternate route are far more uniform and will have 1280 feet less elevation in rise and fall than the existing highway. The grade rates will be satisfactory for high gear operation. The minimum radius of curvature will be 1000 feet, a sweeping alignment satisfactory for legal speed limits. This curvature gives long distance with consequent safety and relief from the strain of guarding against surprises on the sharp curves that characterize the present road, on which a number of curves are built with a radius as sharp as 70 feet. ”

“ A fall of 11 inches was reported from Buck’s Valley on the Feather River on the 11th.
On the North Pacific coast fairly heavy rains fell, but not out of the ordinary. The maximum at Eureka was 1.35 inches on December 14th. The heaviest rain at Santa Rosa was 3.32 inches on December 10th. There was no rain at Bakersfield, Los Angeles nor San Diego. December storms in the past have usually been more general, with some rain in southern California, and also have usually been spread out more evenly throughout the month. ”

“ We are envisaging the federal aid system as a national program of import to the country as a whole.
“Good roads mean advantages to American citizens and to American business—no matter what their particular state may be. ”

“ He must be patient, even where impatience would seemingly be justified; he must be courteous, even to those who may not be courteous to him. He must be kindly without sacrifice of firmness. He must be both a teacher and an officer, his attitude instructive toward those who desire to be instructed, and his control courteous but immediate and certain, toward those who refuse instruction. ”

“ The great increase in the wealth of the country and consequent astounding increase in volume and speed of vehicular traffic has occasioned a demand for good roads. The volume of expenditures and importance of the work justifies a thorough investigation and study of improved methods of construction to the end that greater ultimate value may be received for each dollar expended. ”

“ A serious traffic hazard on a heavily traveled highway has been eliminated by the completion of the grading and asphalt macadam surfacing of the stretch of road from the Napa County line easterly through The Jameson Canyon. This is the highway connecting the Napa Valley and Redwood Highway country with the Sacramento Valley. ”

“ To accomplish this would mean that a traffic officer would patrol the highways, always in sight, and distinguishable to the traveling public by the color of his car and uniform. Color of car and uniform, however, will not of themselves accomplish the transformation. The attitude of some of our officers, although I am happy to say, not all of them, toward the motorist would have to change. ”

“ People differ on all the essentials to success except one, and on that one they all agree—it is HARD WORK.
State Highway Progress Reports
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Hanrahan Company of San Francisco, contractors, have the 8.8 miles of state highway reconstruction between Hayward and Niles well under way. The concrete shoulder and asphalt surfacing, including a small portion of 30-foot concrete pavement, is rapidly progressing, a considerable portion of the Portland cement concrete having already been placed. ”