California Roads - Old US 99 - Ridge Rte. - Reservoir Summit-S gate

Ridge Route (former US 99)
Reservoir Summit to southern gate


All photos were taken heading southbound.


That is quite some cutaway of the hillside for the 1910s. That's more what I'd expect from the 1924 straightening.


Newer landslides result in dirt detours instead of asphalt, just enough to keep a through route.


The U.S. Forest Service may not have much of a roads budget, but they're able to afford a lot of these drivable pads.


It looks like someone managed to get a pipeline under the concrete without destroying it. In celebration, I present a westward look at Sierra Pelona. Pardon Harrison Scott's book, which you should read.


Twice in a short span, traffic is detoured onto the original concrete instead of the newer asphalt cutoff. The second one is due to a landslide that caved in on the straightened curve.


The last two photos look west, left and right respectively. You can see I-5 in the cut, much lower and more gently sloped.


Once through Swede's Cut, where the asphalt detours away from... more asphalt, I gain a glimpse of the also-much lower and also-more gently sloped Ridge Route Alternate on Threemile Grade to the west. Imagine what it must have felt like in 1932 to look down from here and see the road that would soon replace the tortuousness you have enjoyed/suffered. From Swede's Cut on, asphalt was laid over the original concrete all the way down to Castaic in 1922, and you will see little bare concrete on the rest of this page for that reason.


Ridge Route Alternate below to the west, pipeline bridge up above.


What have I done to deserve a curb? This is one stretch that is truly on the ridge with dropoffs on both sides.


Without bare concrete, the road is less interesting and photos get sparser down to the southern gate. The landslide has gone cubic!

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