San Mateo County Caltrans Update

Safety First on SR-1: New Barrier Installed Along San Mateo Coastside to Protect Drivers

California’s famed State Route 1 is among the most beautiful roadways on earth, garnering starring roles in TV commercials and movies, but it can be treacherous. Hairpin turns and steep embankments coupled with speed, inattention, or impairment can turn deadly in a split second. Caltrans is consistently monitoring safety hot spots and evaluating highway design to make this road as safe as possible while also preserving the views that make it so famous. Caltrans District 4 has recently installed see-through concrete barriers just south of Devil’s Slide between Pacifica and Montara. Crews worked hard for several months to install the barriers which replaced older guardrails. “Balancing safety precautions with the need to preserve coastal views was critical, and I’m proud of what we accomplished with this project. Both tourists and commuters will be safer driving past the stunning views,” said Caltrans principal transportation engineer Joy Cheung.

Project Update: U.S. 101 Upgrades Complete

Caltrans is excited to have completed a medium barrier upgrade and pavement rehabilitation project of U.S. 101 from East Palo Alto to Redwood City ahead of schedule. We had nine weekend lane closures between August and December 2024 during which crews installed rumble strips and stripes, upgraded the median barrier, and replaced signage all while reducing impacts to the traveling public.

Thriving Adopt-A-Highway Program Tackles Trash … and Climate Change

Have you seen highway adopters working to keep our roads beautiful? The Adopt-A-Highway program began in 1989 and has been one of the truly successful government-public partnerships of our time. The program provides an avenue for individuals, organizations, or businesses to help maintain sections of roadside within California’s State Highway System. Groups have the option to participate as volunteers or to hire an approved contractor to perform the work on their behalf. Community organizations such as the Highlands Litter Warriors, Hoogasian Flowers, the San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center, and Friends of Edgewood among many others have proudly partnered with Caltrans beautify the county.

In addition, this work is helping to fight climate change! As well as removing polluting plastic trash before it enters our waterways, taking it off the streets is a key step in reducing greenhouse gases. When sunlight hits plastic, it begins to degrade which releases hydrocarbon gasses into the atmosphere. Caltrans is pleased that Adopt A Highway furthers our commitment to climate action.

To learn more about the program and how you can sign up, contact Michael Jevicky, District 4’s Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator at michael_jevicky.@dot.ca.gov.

Complete Streets Are Coming to the Coast

Caltrans is in the design phase of a roadway rehabilitation project along State Route 1 between Moss Beach and Half Moon Bay. This critical project will not only upgrade roadway features that are nearing the end of their service lives but will incorporate many new safety elements in accordance with Caltrans’ commitment to the “Complete Streets” initiative. Complete Streets is an approach to planning, designing, and building streets that enables safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists of all abilities and ages. Caltrans will be installing curb ramps, crosswalks, a Class I/II bike path, and sidewalks with high visibility markings. This two-year project is expected to begin Summer 2025. More information can be found on our website.

Resources

Available on both desktop and mobile, QuickMap is a tool that lets you view real-time traffic conditions. You can find lane closures, incident reports, maintenance activities, and more.

Planning a trip?

Use QuickMap to find rest areas along your route or check out snapshots from our camera network. Read the FAQs to the get the most out of this tool: Caltrans - Quickmap FAQ

Maintenance Highlights for January 2025

Setting the PACE: Public Affairs Customer Engagement Site is Now Live!

District 4 is proud to announce the launch of our new Customer Service Request (CSR) platform. PACE, the Public Affairs Customer Engagement site, provides a regularly updated breakdown of services requested and rendered across the district.

• The CSR dashboard aims to provide an overview of the responsiveness to maintenance services requested across the nine Bay Area counties.
• The data represented as month-to-date falls within a rolling 30-day Service Level Agreement (SLA) and is updated weekly.
• We strive to close 60% (or more) of all monthly service requests received via the CSR website portal.
• For more information or to leave comments/suggestions, please contact D4CSLTEAM@dot.ca.gov.
• To report a highway issue/problem, please submit a CSR ticket through the Customer Service Request Form.