Talk:History of California's state highway system/Archive 1

Archive 1

Departments

• Lake Tahoe Wagon Road Commissioner (1895-1907) [1]
• Bureau of Highways (1895-1897) - coordinated highway improvement by the counties
• Department of Highways (1897-1907) - continued the Bureau's mission and built and maintained roads
• Department of Engineering (1907-1921) - maintained all state highways, including the Lake Tahoe wagon road, Sonora and Mono road, and Mono Lake Basin road; chose the 1909 system; also took care of non-highway engineering matters
• California Highway Commission (1911-1978) - formed as a committee of the DoE to take care of the bond issue highways; assigned all state highways in 1917; [2] became part of the DPW in 1921 and a separate state department in 1923
• Department of Public Works (1921-1972) - replaced the DoE
  • Division of Highways (1921-1973?) - division of the DPW, later DoT, with some overlap with the CHC; no longer exists, with its duties taken over by others including the Divisions of Engineering Services and Maintenance
• California Toll Bridge Authority (1929-1978)
• California Transportation Commission (1978-present) - merger of the CHC, CTBA, and other agencies; basically plans and allocates funds
• Department of Transportation (1972-present) - merger of the DPW with Department of Aeronautics

• 1921 law: DPW created; CHC - former advisory board to DoE - continues with the same powers, with members to be appointed by the governor; it looks like the only relation is that the CHC executive officer is the chief of the DoH, which doesn't seem to have any real powers
• 1923 amendment (p. 596): removed mention of the CHC from section 363e
• 1923 law (p. 615): new section 365 created for the CHC, making it a separate department
• 1927 amendment (c. 252 p. 460): removed section 363f

It appears that the CHC/CTC essentially controls the DoE/DPW/DoT with respect to highways, and that this began in 1917. The latter does the actual maintenance and construction work, while the former plans what the latter will do. --NE2 14:46, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

Other notes

An act to provide for the acquisition of rights of way for and the construction, maintenance and improvement of state highways, classifying the highways in the state system and allocating and directing the expenditure of funds for the construction, maintenance and improvement of state highways.

Approved May 26, 1927, 1927 c. 794 p. 1562, in effect July 29, 1927

1. Classification of state highways.
   • For the purposes of this act the state highways are hereby classified as primary state highways or secondary state highways. The main trunk highways together with the county seat, national park and certain interstate highway connections as hereinafter specifically described are hereby declared to be and classified as primary state highways, the route numbers given being the numbers heretofore given said routes or portions of routes by the California highway commission.
     • [List of highways]
   • together with such additional primary state highways as may hereafter be created in the manner provided in this article. All other highways now or hereafter included within or constituting any part of the state highway system shall be and are hereby classified as secondary state highways.
2. State highway construction fund.
3. Expenditure of funds allocated to primary and secondary state highways.
4. County groups.
5. Allocation of maintenance and improvement funds.

Notable additions:

• 1931 c. 82
• 1933 c. 767
• 1947 ex. sess. c. 11 (Collier-Burns Highway Act of 1947)
• 1959 c. 1062

The 1925 Route 68 law specifically says that the route within San Francisco shall not be a state highway; this presumably changed in 1933 when state highways were allowed in cities. --NE2 07:19, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

An interesting signage practice

[3] --NE2 23:20, 29 November 2007 (UTC)