Isn't this an argument *against* mass transit via trains? When a road becomes unusable drivers can either drive other routes or go take some other kind of transit. When a train track gets taken out the whole line shuts down and users are SOL -- and if they don't own cars they can't shift to driving easily. It's never going to be cheaper to setup train service as a backup for roads than to just build out some extra roads. The train has to replace the whole journey while the roads merely need to let you route around the problem. I'm a big fan of mass transit via trains but I just don't think this is a good argument for them (the trick with trains is you have fewer routes to maintain so you can spend more to make it overall more reliable ..but that's the opposite strategy).
Let’s not forget that LA RUNS a lot of their light rail transit and BRT routes on the freeways. Freeway gets damaged, so does the transit. Not a good situation to be in.
@@petergerdes1094 Increased service on other train lines and beefed up bus routes were used as alternatives during the Canarsie Tunnel reconstruction in NYC.
Just hire the contractor who fixed EB580 about 10 years ago in the Bay Area. His bid was a laughable $850k or something (on a multi-million dollar project), but he made bank on getting it done WAY before the deadline, thereby taking advantage of like 30 days of bonus pay. A very intelligent contractor. Oh and it hasn't fallen down yet!
The sad part is that the Los Angeles Transit Authority took only weeks(!) to update all signalling and tracks on the train line parallel to that I-10 because of its closure. And now they wonder why ridership went up already 20%..... (Trains are now much faster than before to DTLA).
@@karlkoehler341 Yes. The sad part what I meant is that they started that modernization because of the I-10 closure and not before. The MTA in NYC spends a huge amount on track repairs right now, especially on my line - I wish other Transit Associations would do that not to just have a positive news headline because of a catastrophic road closure.
Yes and this is a problem.@@julm7744 . Seeing to be stuck in the traffic jam in a Ford F-150 as "status symbol" is bollocks. On my daily commute from Queens to Manhattan I see many bankers with Brooks Brothers Suits and their leather attaché case - we all use the train. This is how it should be.
And if you take the MTA Express buses (extra fare required, and they are coach buses) you see the really well clothed people. Still - it is $7 fare and $2.90 is counted towards the weekly cap....
Totally! There is so much misinformation and misunderstanding out there, while this report is informative, thorough and unbiased. Here I learned why they can open to traffic in a week, even if the full repair takes months. Thanks!!
@@ddebenedictis - I suppose a product of internet-driven social media is that a significant proportion of the population refuses to accept that experts like civil engineers are good at their jobs. In this case, civil engineers are proving that they are very experienced with safely and efficiently rebuilding bridges while traffic is going over them.
@@ozmond Why do you ask? Do my credentials matter to you? It's my personal opinion as someone who has seen a lot of videos with a wide range of production quality.
If I had a nickel for every interstate bridge closure in 2023 for structural concerns after a fire, I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Law of large numbers: no matter how unlikely an event, with enough opportunities it is nearly certain to happen. Counter-intuitive because one person can't extrapolate from personal experience to a nation of over 300 million people.
People vastly underestimate how common that is. You can calculate it with a binomial distribution. If an event happens on average once every year, then the odds of it happening n times in a year are: 0 = 0.3679 (for the mathematically inclined, this is 1/e) 1 = 0.3679 2 = 0.1839 (i.e. 18.39%) 3 = 0.0613 4 = 0.0153 5 = 0.0031 If it happens on average once every two years, then the odds are: 0 = 0.6065 1 = 0.3033 2 = 0.0758 (7.58%) 3 = 0.0126 4 = 0.0016 5 = 0.0002 If it happens on average once every 5 years, then the odds are: 0 = 0.8187 1 = 0.1638 2 = 0.0164 (1.64%) 3 = 0.0011 4 = 0.00005 5 = 0.000002 So even with a once-in-5-years event, the odds of it happening twice in a year is still pretty high at 1.64%. This applies to all sorts of other rare phenomena. e.g. major earthquakes, plane crashes, etc.
God, as someone who lives in the greater Philly metro area and wants to see more investment in mass transit, the I-95 incident was so frustrating. We were told it could take months before that stretch of freeway was operational again, which would've been a godsend for the city's extensive but underutilized transit network. Instead they threw so much money at the highway that they were able to reopen all lanes in like a week.
@@IndustrialParrot2816 I think you accidentally double posted but I absolutely agree. Modern 25kV electrification should be the standard, not this third rail stuff like LIRR or diesel stuff like GO Transit.
This proves we need more alternatives to freeways for long distance, high-speed travel. 1. For the convenience of getting places without being stuck in traffic 2. Just in case something happens to the highway. Nice video Rob. I Enjoy your content.
More mixed-use projects, so that more people can live close to their work. I once had a job that was a walkable distance from my apartment at the time. Zero fuel to get to work, didn't get stuck in traffic jams, and my commute walking was, perhaps, 10 minutes.
For I-85 in Atlanta, the rebuild contract promissed big bonuses if the road was repaired by a certain date, and big penalties if they missed the deadline. It reopened with time to spare.
This has always been standard practice for all highway construction. Give a big carrot for the contractor to get it done quicker and under budget with an equally big penalty if it’s late or severely over budget. High risk, high reward business.
The Governor announced today, 11/17/2023, that the 10 will be open to traffic on 11/21/2023. The column work will be ongoing with the freeway in use. Neither he nor the mayor mentioned any traffic restrictions. Cool that you covered this. Keep us up on the repairs.
Back in '94 the section of the 10 that collapsed was the exit I used near where I lived. They worked (loudly) 24/7 to get the 10 up and running. Didn't make trying to sleep easy, but they got it done quickly. But to this day, I still hate getting stuck stopped under a freeway when the light is red.
i wouldn't mind hearing more about the I-10 repairs... or other california highway projects, such as the repairs of various desert highways which were flooded this past year.
At the moment, I don't dare bug Caltrans - District 7 is sooooo swamped at the moment, dealing with this emergency. Hopefully in a few weeks/months, I can learn more from them about the plan for the permanent repairs.
Road Guy Rob on the spot at the roasting of I-10. Seems he didn't bring any marshmallows....so the engineering crew will have to do that on their own. Absolutely I'd love for you to follow up here as our local guy on the case Rob! Feel free to follow up on what's going on with Highway 1 between Ragged Point and Limekiln State Park if you have time too. Highway 1 is always fun....I try to visit every year for a charity event in San Simeon, where we drive up to somewhere off Highway 1 in the Big Sur/Carmel area. It's a fun 100 mi each way drive that takes up a Saturday in October.
The traffic was already bad in LA and this will just make it so so so much worse. I would hope they would get it open as soon as possible just for that reason alone
Driving into the area (lunchtime) didn't seem too bad compared to normally. But leaving at sunset (5 PM)? Woof! Had to hunker down at King Taco for awhile and let traffic thin out.
For temporary closures like this you can affect some behaviour change, people will cancel unnecessary journeys, work from home where possible, move meetings and shift working hours. But those effects can only last so long before it becomes a problem for the city economy. So time is of the essence.
My wife lived in Northridge when the ‘94 earthquake happened. The whole of the LA area was surprised at how fast they were able to get life back up and running normally after that massive earthquake quake. I’m sure LA will be well within the time frame on this one as well.
You’re GOOD at what you do better then any news anchors and reporters I’ve ever seen on live TV. Never sell out to any media company and make them richer. Create your own and channel your creativity and enthusiasm for journalism.
Philadelphia had a similar incident under I-95, about a year ago(I forget the date). A fuel truck exploded directly under I-95, on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning. I don't remember any explanation of the explosion. There was video from a car that experienced the drop in road level when it happened. The resulting traffic snarl was brutal, but the roadway was fixed quickly.
It also didn't "explode". It caught on fire after it tipped over on its side and slid. Don't make things more than they are. An explosion involves a bang.
Okay Rob, I just finished watching. Yes! Please do follow-ups on this! I've been starved for sufficiently informed news. You know what you're talking about. Please, ask questions, keep filming, and share! You're the best!
I’m still gonna hold my breath every time I go over this stretch of freeway once it’s reopen😅 One of those things where even when you know it’s been fixed, you saw the initial damage play out and always have that in your head haha
Fascinating, alot of stuff burning below our interstates lately. Makes me wonder if having a below grade interstate is better than an above grade interstate.
You can admit why there was junk under the freeway and how it caught fire, we all know what really happened… As to using the space under the freeways, it worked for decades right up until they changed their “camping policy.” Definitely want to see progress videos for both the repair and investigation. And lastly, a video on what the implications of EV fire policy of let them burn out could mean to our infrastructure.
I adore your appreciation for the skyways. I definitely feel the same way in, loving them, and appreciating them for how they do make a highway better and satisfying.
MA has a couple of nice examples of above-the-road air rights. There's a Star Market supermarket over I-90 in Newton, and Fall River city hall is over I-195.
Thanks Rob for the ad hoc video! It would be nice if you can do another video about it when it is fixed. Tell us how they fixed it and show you drive on it !
This is what happens when you think about it too much. The amount spent "thinking" about what to do including temporary structures probably cost more than just tearing it down and rebuilding that section.
From the LA Times 4 hours ago. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the fire-damaged 10 Freeway would reopen sooner than expected - Tuesday “at the latest.” “Five lanes in both directions,” Newsom said at a news conference Thursday evening at the site of the fire in downtown Los Angeles. More than 100 columns along the swath of the freeway were damaged - nine or 10 of them severely, officials said. Construction crews have erected wooden structures to shore up the overpass while the repair work gets underway.
Sounds typical Caltrans- underpromise then overdeliver. Need a week? Tell people it'll take three. Then they'll be surprised when you only need 9 days.
In Baltimore, I-83 is raised throughout pretty much the whole city. You can look up something like “raised portion Jones Falls Expressway” to find out more
The 10 Viaduct is also very important if you are headed for the south side of downtown L.A. For example, I often go to the Southpark Center on Hill Street, and I drive the 10 Freeway to get to the 5 Freeway to go home to San Diego County.
I would guess that after the deck superstructure (determined to be sound?) is shored temporarily with timber so you can get traffic going again, they would approach repairing the columns like a seismic retrofit. Remove any spalled & heat damaged concrete, hang some new rebar around the outside, encase the column with a steel jacket and fill the void space with injectable grout. Do several columns at a time each week and you're done by the deadline.
I'm looking forward to your upcoming video on Bakersfield's new connection, the Centennial Corridor. I've been watching its construction for the last few years and even enjoy the drone flyovers i've seen on youtube. You have always been entertaining and informative. Thanks
Been following that entire project since about 2015. The hwy 58 realignment near kramer junction. The Bakersfield connection. Pretty exciting stuff. Although I have now moved out of California, one day I’ll take a trip out there just to see it all completed.
Got an alert on my phone last night that they’re planning on reopening on Tuesday the 21st. 🎉 but like you said… probably won’t be fully finished for months!
@@RoadGuyRob Its probably less fun than it seems. Tom Scott didn't seem all that thrilled when he got to drive one but I still can't help but think it would be lots of fun.
You didn't mention the mountain of tires that Philadelphia let a 'tire recycler' store under I-95 after giving them citations for a year and a half ... and the arsonist that lit it on fire in 1996.
It’s not just the incentives. It’s the extra cost involved in trying to do it faster. Renting more equipment, running three shifts, double overtime on the weekends.
Just saw on your website that you have a Master's degree in CE from BYU. I speak with the utmost sincerity when I say that I don't take it for granted that someone with relatively high education is able to present him or herself in such an accessible and down-to-Earth way. 🙏
I lived in Atlanta when 85 fell, that was a wild time. It's a good thing I lived west of downtown, otherwise my dad would've had a far worse committee. Would also love to see a video about the I-55 closure in Louisiana, I could see it make a great case study for transportation engineering on how to deal with worst case scenarios.
Yes. There is part 1, where they work to get it reopened. Then a longer part 2, where they fix it permanently. Part 2 must be done within 180 days to get 100% federal aid.
My dad was a civil. engineer for The California Division of Highways and then CalTrans, it switched when he worked there. He worked 1955-1975. My dad was a freeway snob and often critical of freeway design when we drove on a particular section. He often worked out the quarry where the Chowchilla kidnappers buried that moving van with the kids in it. I always enjoy your videos and try to catch them they remind me of listening to my dad tell us all about freeways.
I'm curious to find out if other cities are paying attention to improving their under-highway storage best practices... Also, cRaZy tHoUgHt: if the homeless tend to take sheter under freeways/overpasses, why don't we pay a little extra to offer managed shelters and/or reduced cost housing? I imagine such a scenario would require very stringent fire codes...
America's inability to build sufficient moderate-income housing (let alone affordable housing and shelters) is our nation's biggest crisis - one 60 years in the making.
Wait, so if I understand this correctly, California can put the freeway at risk by renting out the space to sketchy tenets and then have the feds pick up all the cost of fixing the problem.That seems like seriously misaligned incentives. It was already a case where the incentivizes for elected officials weren't great because damage occurs relatively rarely but the money appears now so current officials always have an incentive to get the cash now and let whoever's in office when things finally go bad deal with the fallout (same incentives to time shift costs got Chicago in trouble with parking enforcement). If the feds pick up the bill I'm even less convinced of an efficient outcome.
I found this in my suggestions and I am glad I found this video and channel! 👍🏽🔔I am willing to bet this video was more informative than the other news channels out there shooting for their stories 😅 great job! Keep up the great work!
It’s been fixed now. You can now take down the lame panic video, and stop bashing L.A. workers who - in record time - fixed a business owner’s slimy arson crime.
I'm all in for a follow-up vid on this! I've had to pass by this a few times on my way through LA county this past week, and I'm super interested in how the City and public transit responded to this emergency to keep LA working hard.
For an a infrastructure job I'm surprised it getting done in such a sort period of time but this video was very informative on how its getting the I-10 completed quicker. Honestly would love a update on this project in the future and Rob nice hardhat bud
I didn't see a comment, so I have to add, the edit on the Cali flag was GREAT. Gave me a good laugh. Amazing quality even in a short turn around. Thanks for all the informative videos, whether they be thought out or made in a day!
When I first starting watching this channel I did not know how much I care about our infrastructure. Road Guy Rob you are my favorite youtuber hands down. Please never stop making content! 👏👏👏
The traffic this is created was crazy. I went to my grandparents house the other day. They live off of I-10. The twist is were in Tucson AZ. And there were just so many cars.
Where I live, a few years back, a collision directly under an overpass (over the freeway) took several lives and caused a similar closure -- albeit of a bridge that handled a fraction of the traffic this one handles. The next nearest crossings were a mile east and a mile west, so it was a huge inconvenience for many in an area that has lousy north-south connections anyway. The collision involved a tanker truck hauling gasoline, which was ignited, and the resultant fire was so hot that engineers were not confident the bridge would be safe to use after that.
A few decades ago, the same thing happened on the Long Island Expressway. Under a major overpass, which knocked out two highways. Fortunately, for us, it only destroyed the overpass in one direction. So they were able to reroute both directions onto the remaining overpass. It took them a couple of days to show up the overpass so that it wasn’t dropping concrete onto the expressway. In this case, they had to demolish it the entire thing and rebuild it.
I believe that was on the 118 freeway near Chatsworth. I remember that and the 94 quake, and I knew the streets well enough to have my own alternate routes.
Lots of practice getting things done quickly. I am writing this from my seat on the bullet train from the bay area to Los Angeles. Wait it is no where near being finish if it ever does get finished. Way to go Newsom!
Thanks for the great report! This is only an hour from me (in the middle of the night, when people aren't stopping on the freeway all of the time). I was actually out on the road all day that day, and didn't even hear about it until I got home. Thankfully, I had been out to the east!!
Rob you need to learn the Cali handshake (bribe). Its a California tradition. Fold up a $20 in the palm of your hand and go right in for it before you ask for a favor. The bigger the favor, the larger the “handshake “. That would have gained you easy access to that roof deck
There is nothing wrong with using or leasing the space under the highway. It's a great use of an otherwise useless space. But there should be some rules to keep it same. That's not where hazardous material should be stored.
for comparison, there's a bridge in my town that's barely long enough for two cars to bump into each other. it took years to do a seismic upgrade and resurface it.
A similar incident happened in Newark, NJ back in 1989 when an illegal garbage dump caught fire under I-78. NJDOT doesn't generally lease space under freeways.
It was only a throw-away mention, but the ability for transit to provide redundancy in disasters like this is massively underrated!
That is absolutely a topic warranting its own 10 minutes. Yes.
Isn't this an argument *against* mass transit via trains?
When a road becomes unusable drivers can either drive other routes or go take some other kind of transit. When a train track gets taken out the whole line shuts down and users are SOL -- and if they don't own cars they can't shift to driving easily.
It's never going to be cheaper to setup train service as a backup for roads than to just build out some extra roads. The train has to replace the whole journey while the roads merely need to let you route around the problem.
I'm a big fan of mass transit via trains but I just don't think this is a good argument for them (the trick with trains is you have fewer routes to maintain so you can spend more to make it overall more reliable ..but that's the opposite strategy).
Let’s not forget that LA RUNS a lot of their light rail transit and BRT routes on the freeways. Freeway gets damaged, so does the transit. Not a good situation to be in.
Not necessarily, a lot of the intercity lines in SoCal have been increasingly double tracked since the mid 2010's.@@petergerdes1094
@@petergerdes1094 Increased service on other train lines and beefed up bus routes were used as alternatives during the Canarsie Tunnel reconstruction in NYC.
Just hire the contractor who fixed EB580 about 10 years ago in the Bay Area. His bid was a laughable $850k or something (on a multi-million dollar project), but he made bank on getting it done WAY before the deadline, thereby taking advantage of like 30 days of bonus pay. A very intelligent contractor. Oh and it hasn't fallen down yet!
Say more
I actually had that example, but cut it for time. Fantastic example of incentive-disincentive contracts!
I think it was cc Meyers. He no longer has anything to do with his former company so I dont know if they still have the ability to do this
The sad part is that the Los Angeles Transit Authority took only weeks(!) to update all signalling and tracks on the train line parallel to that I-10 because of its closure. And now they wonder why ridership went up already 20%..... (Trains are now much faster than before to DTLA).
Good to hear, last time we were there the trains along that corridor were sadly slow.
@@karlkoehler341 Yes. The sad part what I meant is that they started that modernization because of the I-10 closure and not before.
The MTA in NYC spends a huge amount on track repairs right now, especially on my line - I wish other Transit Associations would do that not to just have a positive news headline because of a catastrophic road closure.
Sounds like there needs to be a few more fires to improve things...
Yes and this is a problem.@@julm7744 . Seeing to be stuck in the traffic jam in a Ford F-150 as "status symbol" is bollocks.
On my daily commute from Queens to Manhattan I see many bankers with Brooks Brothers Suits and their leather attaché case - we all use the train.
This is how it should be.
And if you take the MTA Express buses (extra fare required, and they are coach buses) you see the really well clothed people. Still - it is $7 fare and $2.90 is counted towards the weekly cap....
Rob this is fantastic public journalism. CalTrans should give you an award.
100%
cal-trans is a useless joke of an org
They DO give me some nice freeways to use. Which seems like a pretty nice prize.
Totally! There is so much misinformation and misunderstanding out there, while this report is informative, thorough and unbiased. Here I learned why they can open to traffic in a week, even if the full repair takes months. Thanks!!
@@ddebenedictis - I suppose a product of internet-driven social media is that a significant proportion of the population refuses to accept that experts like civil engineers are good at their jobs.
In this case, civil engineers are proving that they are very experienced with safely and efficiently rebuilding bridges while traffic is going over them.
The video production is great even on such short notice.
Thanks. There are a million little errors that bug me -- but hopefully few people notice.
@@RoadGuyRobhonestly, it’s no biggie;
just like an actor making a mishap, the show must go on
What do you know about video production?
@@RoadGuyRob***I*** NOTICED!! (not)
That's the thing with art: It will never be perfect and that in itself is perfection. We don't need perfect. ❤
@@ozmond Why do you ask? Do my credentials matter to you?
It's my personal opinion as someone who has seen a lot of videos with a wide range of production quality.
If I had a nickel for every interstate bridge closure in 2023 for structural concerns after a fire, I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
Doom
Law of large numbers: no matter how unlikely an event, with enough opportunities it is nearly certain to happen. Counter-intuitive because one person can't extrapolate from personal experience to a nation of over 300 million people.
People vastly underestimate how common that is. You can calculate it with a binomial distribution. If an event happens on average once every year, then the odds of it happening n times in a year are:
0 = 0.3679 (for the mathematically inclined, this is 1/e)
1 = 0.3679
2 = 0.1839 (i.e. 18.39%)
3 = 0.0613
4 = 0.0153
5 = 0.0031
If it happens on average once every two years, then the odds are:
0 = 0.6065
1 = 0.3033
2 = 0.0758 (7.58%)
3 = 0.0126
4 = 0.0016
5 = 0.0002
If it happens on average once every 5 years, then the odds are:
0 = 0.8187
1 = 0.1638
2 = 0.0164 (1.64%)
3 = 0.0011
4 = 0.00005
5 = 0.000002
So even with a once-in-5-years event, the odds of it happening twice in a year is still pretty high at 1.64%. This applies to all sorts of other rare phenomena. e.g. major earthquakes, plane crashes, etc.
God, as someone who lives in the greater Philly metro area and wants to see more investment in mass transit, the I-95 incident was so frustrating. We were told it could take months before that stretch of freeway was operational again, which would've been a godsend for the city's extensive but underutilized transit network. Instead they threw so much money at the highway that they were able to reopen all lanes in like a week.
@@Sammie1053yeah the speed with which they fixed that just further supported my belief that we live in a simulation 😂
This was put together so fast, Rob definitely started the fire 😂
I don't even own a lighter. LOL
@@gy5rffg5rf That is an urban myth. We can however reflect sunlight off our skin strongly enough to start a fire.
This is why we need better public transit. Improve LA metro!
Yep they need to hurry up with the D line subway extension to UCLA and Electrify Metrolink just like Caltrain is doing
Yep they need to hurry up with the D line subway extension to UCLA and Electrify Metrolink just like Caltrain is doing
No doubt better than '94. Wonder what the network will look like in 2052?
@@RoadGuyRob there are plans to make it a mega system. If it gets implemented then transit will be the main way to move around LA.
@@IndustrialParrot2816 I think you accidentally double posted but I absolutely agree. Modern 25kV electrification should be the standard, not this third rail stuff like LIRR or diesel stuff like GO Transit.
This proves we need more alternatives to freeways for long distance, high-speed travel. 1. For the convenience of getting places without being stuck in traffic 2. Just in case something happens to the highway. Nice video Rob. I Enjoy your content.
Induced Demand. It would not only not solve the problem, it would compound it.
@@dudeonbike800that’s what adding lanes does
More mixed-use projects, so that more people can live close to their work. I once had a job that was a walkable distance from my apartment at the time. Zero fuel to get to work, didn't get stuck in traffic jams, and my commute walking was, perhaps, 10 minutes.
Dreamer, you're getting locked into a 15 minute city and you'll love it
@@janeblogs324what is wrong with having grocery stores, your work, and your gym all within 15 minutes walking of your house?
For I-85 in Atlanta, the rebuild contract promissed big bonuses if the road was repaired by a certain date, and big penalties if they missed the deadline. It reopened with time to spare.
This has always been standard practice for all highway construction. Give a big carrot for the contractor to get it done quicker and under budget with an equally big penalty if it’s late or severely over budget. High risk, high reward business.
The Governor announced today, 11/17/2023, that the 10 will be open to traffic on 11/21/2023. The column work will be ongoing with the freeway in use. Neither he nor the mayor mentioned any traffic restrictions. Cool that you covered this. Keep us up on the repairs.
Back in '94 the section of the 10 that collapsed was the exit I used near where I lived. They worked (loudly) 24/7 to get the 10 up and running. Didn't make trying to sleep easy, but they got it done quickly. But to this day, I still hate getting stuck stopped under a freeway when the light is red.
This is one of the few channels I’ll give a thumbs up to videos before viewing. Guaranteed quality content from Rob!
i wouldn't mind hearing more about the I-10 repairs... or other california highway projects, such as the repairs of various desert highways which were flooded this past year.
At the moment, I don't dare bug Caltrans - District 7 is sooooo swamped at the moment, dealing with this emergency. Hopefully in a few weeks/months, I can learn more from them about the plan for the permanent repairs.
Road Guy Rob on the spot at the roasting of I-10. Seems he didn't bring any marshmallows....so the engineering crew will have to do that on their own.
Absolutely I'd love for you to follow up here as our local guy on the case Rob!
Feel free to follow up on what's going on with Highway 1 between Ragged Point and Limekiln State Park if you have time too. Highway 1 is always fun....I try to visit every year for a charity event in San Simeon, where we drive up to somewhere off Highway 1 in the Big Sur/Carmel area. It's a fun 100 mi each way drive that takes up a Saturday in October.
For a “low polish” video, the polish is crazy!
You know you're in for a good day when your morning has a new Road Guy Rob upload.
Excellent video as always Rob!
You must live halfway around the world.
these videos are just so fkin ridiculously high quality its criminal
Thanks 👍 😁
The traffic was already bad in LA and this will just make it so so so much worse.
I would hope they would get it open as soon as possible just for that reason alone
Driving into the area (lunchtime) didn't seem too bad compared to normally.
But leaving at sunset (5 PM)? Woof! Had to hunker down at King Taco for awhile and let traffic thin out.
@@RoadGuyRob Lol King Taco. Sounds like a great place to wait for traffic haha
@@RoadGuyRob There goes this month's Patreon funds! LOL
For temporary closures like this you can affect some behaviour change, people will cancel unnecessary journeys, work from home where possible, move meetings and shift working hours. But those effects can only last so long before it becomes a problem for the city economy. So time is of the essence.
My wife lived in Northridge when the ‘94 earthquake happened. The whole of the LA area was surprised at how fast they were able to get life back up and running normally after that massive earthquake quake. I’m sure LA will be well within the time frame on this one as well.
It's already open
@@elitestar it’s only open because of the supports put in place. It’s not permanently fixed yet. That’s what I was referring to above.
Really timely and well put together, Rob.
You’re GOOD at what you do better then any news anchors and reporters I’ve ever seen on live TV. Never sell out to any media company and make them richer. Create your own and channel your creativity and enthusiasm for journalism.
I'm so glad you're covering this!
You make roads actually interesting. Love your video's.
Thank you!
Philadelphia had a similar incident under I-95, about a year ago(I forget the date). A fuel truck exploded directly under I-95, on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning. I don't remember any explanation of the explosion. There was video from a car that experienced the drop in road level when it happened. The resulting traffic snarl was brutal, but the roadway was fixed quickly.
It was actually June 2023, so relatively recent.
Rob did a video about that. ruclips.net/video/LJ249N1aW_8/видео.html
That was definitely not a year ago and they got it open pretty quick
Not even close to a year ago lol. That was this past summer.
It also didn't "explode". It caught on fire after it tipped over on its side and slid.
Don't make things more than they are. An explosion involves a bang.
I’m really confused. This video was funny as hell, but at the same time extremely well done and put together, and extremely informative. Awesome!!
Okay Rob, I just finished watching. Yes! Please do follow-ups on this! I've been starved for sufficiently informed news. You know what you're talking about. Please, ask questions, keep filming, and share! You're the best!
Lived in Reno my whole life and never knew the Nugget was one the first to occupy highway airspace! Thanks for the nugget of knowledge Rob!
It's the earliest *COOL* project I can find. There are earlier examples of parking lots and stuff.
I’m still gonna hold my breath every time I go over this stretch of freeway once it’s reopen😅 One of those things where even when you know it’s been fixed, you saw the initial damage play out and always have that in your head haha
Like the 737-Max?
@@kenmore01 exactly
The Northridge Quake destroyed a huge stretch of the 405 and you probably drive over the replacement all the time.
@@jayrenner1053 no doubt! Not saying any of these portions of freeway are unsafe, it’s just human nature to be cautious after witnessing it!
@@kenmore01 Ironically the 737 Max is probably the safest plane in the world now because of that debacle.
“While it’s still hot” joke had me 🤣😂💀
Fascinating, alot of stuff burning below our interstates lately. Makes me wonder if having a below grade interstate is better than an above grade interstate.
@OmarRodriguez-vl2tq very true. So there is really no true best way
I love this channel, can’t believe I haven’t been subscribed. It’s like American local news but actually informative.
I'd enjoy seeing your update on this. Your reporting is more informative and enjoyable than the news bites that get created.
What a great opportunity for you to cover for a big story in your state, maybe you can even do a live stream from there once the repair work begins.
You can admit why there was junk under the freeway and how it caught fire, we all know what really happened… As to using the space under the freeways, it worked for decades right up until they changed their “camping policy.” Definitely want to see progress videos for both the repair and investigation. And lastly, a video on what the implications of EV fire policy of let them burn out could mean to our infrastructure.
Homeless storage unit
I adore your appreciation for the skyways. I definitely feel the same way in, loving them, and appreciating them for how they do make a highway better and satisfying.
MA has a couple of nice examples of above-the-road air rights. There's a Star Market supermarket over I-90 in Newton, and Fall River city hall is over I-195.
Thanks Rob for the ad hoc video! It would be nice if you can do another video about it when it is fixed. Tell us how they fixed it and show you drive on it !
This is what happens when you think about it too much. The amount spent "thinking" about what to do including temporary structures probably cost more than just tearing it down and rebuilding that section.
From the LA Times 4 hours ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the fire-damaged 10 Freeway would reopen sooner than expected - Tuesday “at the latest.”
“Five lanes in both directions,” Newsom said at a news conference Thursday evening at the site of the fire in downtown Los Angeles.
More than 100 columns along the swath of the freeway were damaged - nine or 10 of them severely, officials said. Construction crews have erected wooden structures to shore up the overpass while the repair work gets underway.
Sounds typical Caltrans- underpromise then overdeliver.
Need a week? Tell people it'll take three. Then they'll be surprised when you only need 9 days.
@@RoadGuyRob Buffer Time isn't something that just happens on Starfleet ships.
In Baltimore, I-83 is raised throughout pretty much the whole city. You can look up something like “raised portion Jones Falls Expressway” to find out more
The 10 Viaduct is also very important if you are headed for the south side of downtown L.A. For example, I often go to the Southpark Center on Hill Street, and I drive the 10 Freeway to get to the 5 Freeway to go home to San Diego County.
All those members of the traditional media, and I guarantee not one of them knows as much as you. This was amazing reporting!
I would guess that after the deck superstructure (determined to be sound?) is shored temporarily with timber so you can get traffic going again, they would approach repairing the columns like a seismic retrofit. Remove any spalled & heat damaged concrete, hang some new rebar around the outside, encase the column with a steel jacket and fill the void space with injectable grout. Do several columns at a time each week and you're done by the deadline.
I'm looking forward to your upcoming video on Bakersfield's new connection, the Centennial Corridor. I've been watching its construction for the last few years and even enjoy the drone flyovers i've seen on youtube. You have always been entertaining and informative. Thanks
Been following that entire project since about 2015. The hwy 58 realignment near kramer junction. The Bakersfield connection.
Pretty exciting stuff. Although I have now moved out of California, one day I’ll take a trip out there just to see it all completed.
You made this in 24 hours? As impressed as I can be RGR. Always enjoy your stuff and keep 'em comming.
Turned out more like 48, but still... I ate a LOT of candy to keep awake!
Got an alert on my phone last night that they’re planning on reopening on Tuesday the 21st. 🎉 but like you said… probably won’t be fully finished for months!
Great video but you **really** underrate the appeal of driving a monorail!
Maybe I'll get to drive one someday
@@RoadGuyRob Its probably less fun than it seems. Tom Scott didn't seem all that thrilled when he got to drive one but I still can't help but think it would be lots of fun.
You didn't mention the mountain of tires that Philadelphia let a 'tire recycler' store under I-95 after giving them citations for a year and a half ... and the arsonist that lit it on fire in 1996.
Crazy how we CAN build fast and efficiently when the incentives lineup :/
Incentives work! 😅
It’s not just the incentives. It’s the extra cost involved in trying to do it faster. Renting more equipment, running three shifts, double overtime on the weekends.
Just saw on your website that you have a Master's degree in CE from BYU.
I speak with the utmost sincerity when I say that I don't take it for granted that someone with relatively high education is able to present him or herself in such an accessible and down-to-Earth way. 🙏
I would be interested in seeing updates on this since it kinda has to be very fast and eventful
Definitely looking forward to updates!
I lived in Atlanta when 85 fell, that was a wild time. It's a good thing I lived west of downtown, otherwise my dad would've had a far worse committee.
Would also love to see a video about the I-55 closure in Louisiana, I could see it make a great case study for transportation engineering on how to deal with worst case scenarios.
I never thought about how much work it is to build a highway flyover. The falsework and everything.. wow
will it ever truly be fixed though?
Yes. There is part 1, where they work to get it reopened. Then a longer part 2, where they fix it permanently.
Part 2 must be done within 180 days to get 100% federal aid.
My dad was a civil. engineer for The California Division of Highways and then CalTrans, it switched when he worked there. He worked 1955-1975. My dad was a freeway snob and often critical of freeway design when we drove on a particular section. He often worked out the quarry where the Chowchilla kidnappers buried that moving van with the kids in it. I always enjoy your videos and try to catch them they remind me of listening to my dad tell us all about freeways.
I'm curious to find out if other cities are paying attention to improving their under-highway storage best practices...
Also, cRaZy tHoUgHt: if the homeless tend to take sheter under freeways/overpasses, why don't we pay a little extra to offer managed shelters and/or reduced cost housing? I imagine such a scenario would require very stringent fire codes...
America's inability to build sufficient moderate-income housing (let alone affordable housing and shelters) is our nation's biggest crisis - one 60 years in the making.
I enjoyed the way you covered this. Fun yet with a level of professionalism ☺️
This aged like milk. It already opened about a week or so after the fire. Great video none the less. Feb 1st huh?
Thanks Rob. You are truly the man for this. Nobody does it better.
Wait, so if I understand this correctly, California can put the freeway at risk by renting out the space to sketchy tenets and then have the feds pick up all the cost of fixing the problem.That seems like seriously misaligned incentives.
It was already a case where the incentivizes for elected officials weren't great because damage occurs relatively rarely but the money appears now so current officials always have an incentive to get the cash now and let whoever's in office when things finally go bad deal with the fallout (same incentives to time shift costs got Chicago in trouble with parking enforcement). If the feds pick up the bill I'm even less convinced of an efficient outcome.
To be fair California probably pays into the federal government more than any other state 🤷
Nope you didn't understand this correctly.
I wouldn't wanna get this news from anyone else. You go Road Guy Rob!
it's already open...
Damnit rob, I expected you to bring me in while the fire was still hot, then you'd have had the story was it was still atomizing.
El Fuego 🔥🚒
I found this in my suggestions and I am glad I found this video and channel! 👍🏽🔔I am willing to bet this video was more informative than the other news channels out there shooting for their stories 😅 great job! Keep up the great work!
It’s open 😭
Love all the info you provide, Rob! Until I found your channel I never thought roads and traffic could be so interesting.
It’s been fixed now. You can now take down the lame panic video, and stop bashing L.A. workers who - in record time - fixed a business owner’s slimy arson crime.
"The story! Not the fire, ahuhuhuh..." - you crack us up Rob! Again, not like the beams!
You can thank the effing homeless and California’s politics for the junk under the freeways.
Clearly, you didn't watch the video or have any clue what happened here
I really wish that the metro had the kind of priorities as these freeways do! 95 and now 10, it’s been a bad year for fires under freeways
I'm all in for a follow-up vid on this! I've had to pass by this a few times on my way through LA county this past week, and I'm super interested in how the City and public transit responded to this emergency to keep LA working hard.
imagine watching this from the perspective of a native american
For an a infrastructure job I'm surprised it getting done in such a sort period of time but this video was very informative on how its getting the I-10 completed quicker. Honestly would love a update on this project in the future and Rob nice hardhat bud
Babe wake up!! A new Road Guy Rob just dropped!
I didn't see a comment, so I have to add, the edit on the Cali flag was GREAT. Gave me a good laugh. Amazing quality even in a short turn around. Thanks for all the informative videos, whether they be thought out or made in a day!
YES!!! I WANT UPDATES, I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS AND YOU GAVE ME EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOE
When I first starting watching this channel I did not know how much I care about our infrastructure. Road Guy Rob you are my favorite youtuber hands down. Please never stop making content! 👏👏👏
Good to see you did a video on this
Look at you being a real reporter.
The traffic this is created was crazy. I went to my grandparents house the other day. They live off of I-10. The twist is were in Tucson AZ. And there were just so many cars.
This was more informative and higher quality then all the news coverage I have seen of this. Love the content!
Where I live, a few years back, a collision directly under an overpass (over the freeway) took several lives and caused a similar closure -- albeit of a bridge that handled a fraction of the traffic this one handles. The next nearest crossings were a mile east and a mile west, so it was a huge inconvenience for many in an area that has lousy north-south connections anyway. The collision involved a tanker truck hauling gasoline, which was ignited, and the resultant fire was so hot that engineers were not confident the bridge would be safe to use after that.
A few decades ago, the same thing happened on the Long Island Expressway. Under a major overpass, which knocked out two highways.
Fortunately, for us, it only destroyed the overpass in one direction. So they were able to reroute both directions onto the remaining overpass. It took them a couple of days to show up the overpass so that it wasn’t dropping concrete onto the expressway.
In this case, they had to demolish it the entire thing and rebuild it.
I believe that was on the 118 freeway near Chatsworth. I remember that and the 94 quake, and I knew the streets well enough to have my own alternate routes.
I'm a still photographer. I've found that you can often get access for photography just by asking nicely. Then the security guards actively help you.
Thank you for all the research you do for these.
Just stumbled upon this channel and I’m completely hooked.
Lots of practice getting things done quickly. I am writing this from my seat on the bullet train from the bay area to Los Angeles. Wait it is no where near being finish if it ever does get finished. Way to go Newsom!
Thanks for the great report! This is only an hour from me (in the middle of the night, when people aren't stopping on the freeway all of the time). I was actually out on the road all day that day, and didn't even hear about it until I got home. Thankfully, I had been out to the east!!
Being a LA native.... I was unaware of all this information. Thanks!
Rob you need to learn the Cali handshake (bribe). Its a California tradition. Fold up a $20 in the palm of your hand and go right in for it before you ask for a favor. The bigger the favor, the larger the “handshake “. That would have gained you easy access to that roof deck
Shoutout to the Dave and Busters under the freeway in San Diego, I drive past that all the time
Thank you! Please do keep us posted.
Rob got himself to that bridge and starting shooting and reporting fast! Rob, you are awesome! Love your passion and commitment to being The Road Guy!
Brother as soon as I heard about the 10 freeway I thought about you doing an episode about it and my wish came true :)
i love how excited you are
There is nothing wrong with using or leasing the space under the highway. It's a great use of an otherwise useless space. But there should be some rules to keep it same. That's not where hazardous material should be stored.
for comparison, there's a bridge in my town that's barely long enough for two cars to bump into each other. it took years to do a seismic upgrade and resurface it.
Great report as always!
A similar incident happened in Newark, NJ back in 1989 when an illegal garbage dump caught fire under I-78. NJDOT doesn't generally lease space under freeways.
I've seen some of your vids before, but this made me sub. Stay awesome, sir!