It’s really annoying when the first thing you see just before entering Crestline is a row of concrete K-rails adorned with chain-link fencing to keep the ever-crumbling hillside from tumbling onto Highway 138. Oh, sure, something is needed to prevent rocks and boulders from cascading onto the roadway or tumbling onto your vehicle, but why this? Folks in Lake Arrowhead would never put up with this kind of foolishness, so why should the people of Crestline?
Why can’t we have a nice decorative barrier like the one along Highway 173 near Lake Arrowhead Dam, or the ones in the Narrows segment of Highway 18 or Highway 330, south of Running Springs? In short, a concrete wall that mountain folks could be proud of.
I don’t need no arms around me. I don’t need no drugs to calm me down. I have seen the writing on the wall… All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall. (“Another Brick in the Wall” – Pink Floyd – 1980)
A few years back, on a trek through the central and northern regions of California. I noticed some beautiful examples of retaining wall excellence that we could be proud of here in the nether regions of the “Golden State.” The first example was a sculptured rock retaining wall holding back a rocky hillside along Highway 395 as it descends into the Walker River Valley between Bridgeport, Calif., and Minden, Nev. Next was a concrete median divider on US 50 as it ascends into the Lake Tahoe area. Despite the fact that this was not a Caltrans creation (it was in Nevada), it sure looked more aesthetically pleasing than the steel guardrails we have on our mountain highways, although they do serve to reduce the number of head-on collisions on our own little “Blood Alley.”
The next decorative wall was noticed on Highway 20 between Donner Summit and Grass Valley. Again, it was an aesthetically pleasing, rock-sculpted retaining wall, a little different from the ones we see on the 18 or 330. I suspect Caltrans has a template sort of book with renderings of the various officially approved designs that can be used throughout the state. It would be cool if a local resident who is a gifted artist could create some truly unique designs for use on our own roadways.
It’s too bad we don’t have some restrooms on our larger turnouts (Mormon Road turnout comes to mind) for those who can’t hold it before getting to their destination. To conform with the Caltrans restrooms that you see in the turnouts on the way to Las Vegas or anywhere else in California, they should have water faucets you don’t have to touch to wash your hands (you never know what the previous user’s hands have touched- Yuck!).
All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
0 Comments