In 2001, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution 98, declaring that a monument be placed to commemorate the Historic Ridge Route. This monument, in the form of a plaque, was placed at the I-5 / State 126 interchange at the southeast corner. We hope to expand this declaration by having them declare the entire roadway as historic, not just for a plaque at the south end.
BILL NUMBER: ACR 98 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 150
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 2, 2001
ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 14, 2001
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Runner
JULY 20, 2001
Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 98--Relative to the 1915 Ridge
Route Highway Historical Monument.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 98, Runner. 1915 Ridge Route Highway Historical Monument.
This measure would request the Department of Transportation to
grant, without charge, an encroachment permit authorizing an
appropriate historical monument and plaque to commemorate the 1915
Ridge Route Highway, to be placed within the rights-of-way of State
Highway Route 126 and Interstate Highway 5, where those highways
converge.
WHEREAS, Begun in 1914 and completed in late 1915, the Ridge Route
Highway, officially named the "Castaic-Tejon Route," connected
Castaic Junction in Los Angeles County to Bakersfield; and
WHEREAS, The 1915 Ridge Route Highway was one of the first
products of the newly formed State Bureau of Highways, paid for
through the passage of a 1910 bond act; and
WHEREAS, The 1915 Ridge Route Highway was considered an
engineering marvel of its day and was the first mountain highway
built in California; and
WHEREAS, Many credit the 1915 Ridge Route Highway, which opened up
travel and commerce between the Los Angeles basin and the San
Joaquin Valley, with having prevented California from separating into
two separate states; and
WHEREAS, Workers carved out the original 20-foot wide roadway by
using horse and mule drawn scrapers and graders, going from ridge top
to ridge top across the western San Gabriel mountains; and
WHEREAS, Originally completed as an oiled, graded gravel road, the
1915 Ridge Route Highway was paved in 1919; and
WHEREAS, The 1915 Ridge Route Highway was well known for its 697
curves, the most notorious of which was Deadman's Curve near Tejon,
that if added together, would make 110 complete circles; and
WHEREAS, The 1915 Ridge Route Highway was replaced in 1933, by a
straighter, three-lane highway, which was later widened and became
State Highway 99; and
WHEREAS, On September 25, 1997, 17.6 miles of the 1915 Ridge Route
Highway south of Gorman, was accepted into the National Registry of
Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus has
proposed to construct and dedicate, at no cost to the public, a
monument and plaque in honor of the historical significance of the
1915 Ridge Route Highway; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
concurring, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
grant, without charge, the necessary encroachment permit authorizing
an appropriate historical monument and plaque dedicated to
commemorate the 1915 Ridge Route Highway, to be placed within the
rights-of-way of State Highway Route 126 and Interstate Highway 5,
where those highways converge; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit a copy of
this resolution to the Director of Transportation, the Director of
Parks and Recreation, the Ridge Route Preservation Organization, and
to the Platrix Chapter No. 2, Queen of the Cow Counties of the
Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus.
