The Tribune from San Luis Obispo, California • 15

Sunday October 12 2003 FROM PAGE ONE SanLuisObjspocom THE TRIBUNE A LIFELINE THROUGH SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY HOW HIGHWAY 101 HAS CHANGED Growth and quality of that both divides and life on the Central Coast are intimately linked unites the communities that dot its path to a roadway A HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF HIGHWAY 101 1850: California becomes the 31st state in the Union 1894: Southern Pacific Railroad reaches San Luis Obispo from the north 1911: California Highway Commission established a district office (District V) opens in San Luis Obispo the following year 1915: State Route 2 improved and opened to traffic in time for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and the Panama California Exposition In San Diego both held to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 1926: State Route becomes Highway 101 one of the original US highways and part of the world's first countrywide system of uniformly numbered highways (north-south routes are odd numbered increasing in number from east-west the east-west routes are even numbered increasing from north to south For example US Highway 1 begins at the Canadian border in Maine and terminates at Key West Florida Highway 101 runs from Olympia Washington to San Ysidro California Highway 40 ran from Atlantic City NJ to San Francisco Highway 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles) 1938: Cuesta Grade widened to four lanes and realigned to make the incline easier for vehicles to navigate 194fc America enters World War lb several military reservations along the Central Coast Including Camp San Luis Obispo Camp Cooke (now Vandenberg AFB) Marine Corps Air Station at Goleta Fort Hunter Liggett and Camp Roberts are all served by the state highway system 1949: Highway 101 realigned and rebuilt between Miles Station and Marsh Street Frederlckson and Kasler contractor 1954: Highway 101 rebuilt and widened through the city of San Luis Obispo from Marsh Street to San Luis Obispo Creek Madonna Construction contractor 1956: Highway 101 rebuilt between Santa Margarita and Atascadero Madonna Construction contractor 1961: Highway 101 rebuilt through city of Pismo Beach Madonna Construction contractor With the exception of some Improvements along the way Highway 101 assumed Its current configuration by the early 1960s 1965-68: Plans to widen the Cuesta Grade call for a full eight-lane freeway through the canyon with one truck climbing lane (northbound direction) The plan was adamantly opposed by some local residents and shelved 1991: Caltrans reconstructs north side of the Grade 1999: Construction begins on the Cuesta Grade widening in October The project wilt add a third lane in each direction of' Highway K)1 over the Grade and widen the median and outside shoulders As well Project Cuesta Grade shores up a spot along the southbound lanes that has been sinking since the 1950s 2003: Crews finish construction on Project Cuesta Grade on Oct 3 and complete final lane striping 4 week later TOP PHOTOS COURTESY CALTRANS BOTTOM PHOTOS BY DAVIO MDOLECAMP AT TOP LEFT can ascend tlw two-lane Highway 101 up the Cuesta Grade In 1)36 AT TOP RIGHT while the old highway meanders by below work to realign and widen the Grade to four lanes Is under way In 1938 AT BOTTOM LEFT longtime county resident Bill Trussler remembers traveling a two-lane Highway 101 from Paso Robles to San Luis Obispo AT BOTTOM RIGHT crumbling asphalt Is all that remains of the original Highway 101 over the Grade CALTRANS SPOKESMAN COLIN JONES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HIGHWAY 101 TO SLO COUNTY: '(San Luis Obispo County) would be a backwater (without Highway 101) We wouldn't have the cultural amenities that we have here Highway 101 helps connect us to the wider world' to maintain the highways but they didn't really expand them" Mora 101 construction After die war life and traffic in San Luis Obispo County started to change By 1950 more than 51000 people called die county home hi 1954 more people flocked to the area for jobs when Atascadero State Hospital and the California Colony opened That same year local contractor Alex Madonna helped expand die twoiane road to four construction firm built a four-lane Highway 101 through die city of San Luis Obispo Over the next decade Madonna would also expand die Pismo and Atascadero stretches to four lanes The highway bypassed Paso Robles and construction was completed there in 1958 "Spring Street was die original 101 but then the highway was shifted over to the east ride of the railroad Pavlik said Flans to widen die Cuesta Grade to an eight-lane freeway started around uniformly numbered highways Pavlik said It was a narrow route In some places the two lanes were less than 8 feet wide At the time Highway 101 passed through all die towns from Paso to Atascadero and San Luis Obispo to Arroyo Grande In the late 1930s around die time Trussler's family traveled to San Luis Obispo for dinner at die only Chinese restaurant reconstruction of the Cuesta Grade was completed to four lanes making it easier for county residents and truck drivers to handle the steep hill The original Cuesta Grade was built around 1915 There was little traffic then Still mishaps occurred from time to time on Cuesta Grade "One truck lost its brakes coming down the Grade and couldn't stop" Trussler said "I remember people talking about iL" Trussler recall what happened then but in 1936 three people died when a produce truck collided with a Greyhound bus near BILL TRUSSLER ON TRAVELING HIGHWAY 101 OVER THE GRADE IN THE 1930s: 'We used to go (from Paso to SLO) every once in a while Back then it took over an hour maybe an hour and a half to get there You didn't drive that fast' They liked it like it Like it or not Highway 101 would have a significant impact on cities in its path In Atascadero's case Highway 101 changed the layout envisioned by the founder EG Lewis Lewis integrated El Camino Real into the street system But when Highway 101 came through it altered foe original landscape and road system 'When die new four-lane Highway 101 was designed it paralleled El Camino but cut through the original city plan The result was a loss of residential housing a disruption in die local traffic patterns and a change in vision of a city beautiful Pavlik said While Highway 101 divided and in many ways altered the character of die community the highway has had its pluses "Many businesses like to have properties visible from the freeway along foe frontage he said "It makes good business sense for them" Trussler remembers the North County in another place in time a time when motorists couldn't bypass downtown Atascadero or Paso Robles "We used to go through all die little he said "We would occasionally stop at the drug store in Atascadero and get an ice cream cone on die way Ritura plans With the Cuesta Grade project complete transportation officials are now contemplating the future The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments a regional transportation planning agency for cities and San Luis Obispo County plans to improve traffic flow including the addition of auxiliary lanes and reconfiguration of on- and off-ramps Awidening of 101 to six lanes may not happen for 15 to 20 years officials say "Ultimately one day well need to have a six-lane facility in our county through the most developed said Steve Devencenzi deputy director of SLOCOG "But right now what doing is looking to maximize the efficiency of foe four-lane facility already here" As for Trussler now a Pismo Beach resident he would like to see changes sooner rather than later Highway 101 has come a long way from die twolane road he knew as a boy think growth is healthy but it can be overdone" he said "Now when leaving San Luis to go to Pismo between 4 and 6 pm almost like Los Angeles" Bt JuLIK thbTk Lynem TUBUNC As a boy rowing up in the late 1930s Bill Trussler occasionally traveled with his family from Paso Robles to dinner in San Luis Obispo He rode in a Hudson Tengdane down a two4ane Highway 101 which meandered from the top of die Cuesta Grade into the heart of San Luis Obispo "We used to go every once in a said Trussler 75 then it took over an hour maybe an hour and a half to get there You didn't drive that fast Highway 101 has changed dramatical since Trmsler's boyhood Today Cuesta Grade is six lanes and the rest of the highway is a four-lane road con- meting six of die seven incorporated rides Each day thousands of commuters tourists and truck drivers zip up and down die 68mile stretch traveling to -work school businesses or popular attractions While the highway is the lifeline carrying people and goods from north to south of the Cuesta Grade if also served as a barometer of growth and development Over time the county has been transformed from an agricultural hub to a coastal retreat with busding towns shopping centers and academic institutions The highway has grown with it "You can't imagine life on die Central Coast die quality of life we have without the 101 corridor" said Caltrans spokesman Colin Jones "Would Cal Poly be as big? Would tourism or die agricultural industry be as big as it is? I don't think those things would be as felly developed today if it weren't for 101" The county would be a more isolated community without it said Bob Pavlik senior environmental planner and historian at the Caltrans District 5 office "It would be a backwater" he arid have the cultural amenities that we have here We wouldn't have die diversity of die population and the same exchange of ideas Highway -101 helps connect us to the wider world" The tally days Before Highway 101 became the main artery locals traveled State Route 2 a two-lane road that opened to traffic in 1915 Eleven years later State Route 2 became US 101 one of the original highways in the country and part of the world's first nationwide system of TRIBUNE PHOTO BY DWnO MNXUCAMP Building the seven retaining walls was the major focus of the Cuesta Grade Project's first phase FOUR PHASES IN FOUR YEARS Phase 1: Oct 1999Jan 2002 Traffic lanes were shifted east toward the hillside so construction crews could build seven retaining walls Bicyclists and pedestrians were directed to Old Stagecoach Road to bypass construction A section of the new southbound lanes was created Phase 2x Jan 2002-Feb 2003 Traffic lanes were shifted west toward the valley Construction included most of the cuts into the hillside and fills on the other side A temporary bridge was set up to transport all the dirt across the top of the highway Work was also undertaken on part of the new lanes Phase 3: Feb 2003-June 2003 Traffic lanes were shifted toward the outside edges of the roadway A temporary concrete barrier was set up and most work took place in the middle of the road Crews built the center portion of the new roadway and a section of the new north- bound lanes Phasa 4: Junt 2003-present Work Included all remaining portions of the new lanes construction of a permanent concrete center divider and final paving and striping die Motel Inn Hie Cuesta Grade was widened to four lanes about two years after the accident In 1941 the attention of county residents turned to something else entry into World War IL During die war Highway 101 was a key route for transporting heavy military trucks to and from Camp San Luis Camp Roberta Fort Hunter Liggett and Camp Cooke now Van-denbeig Air Force Base The war effort also brought a new influx of people soldiers and their families and construction workers to build the military camps At the start of foe war San Luis Obispo had apopulafion of about 8000 residents By the middle of the conflict about 2000 people had moved to the area For the most part highway construction was put on hold it was built for military purposes didn't get done" said local historian Dan Krieger The Army Corps of Engineers and Caltrans (the Division of Highways at foe time) worked 1965 but were scrapped after county residents onnosed it By the mid-1960s the Highway 101 county residents know today had taken shape Pavlik said Growing pains But the decades of construction cm Highway 101 did not come without challenges Segment by segment foe state's Division of Highways now Caltrans planned designed and constructed Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo County And in nearly every town along foe way there was debate about what property would be lost to die expanded road "The growth was die reason why highways were said Krieger "If there wasn't economic activity in your town die highway didn't come through" Most people supported the highway coming through their town said Madonna But there were some who were against the road he sad "Some people had just moved here and didn't want it to he sad I1.