re highway 17: SR 17's combination of narrow shoulders, dense traffic, sharp turns, blind curves, wandering fauna such as deer and mountain lions, and sudden changes in traffic speeds have led to driving conditions that result in a number of accidents and fatalities, leading to the reputation of Highway 17 as one of the most dangerous highways in the state. In the winter months, because Highway 17 crosses a high precipitation area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the roadway can become slippery from rain, snow or ice, especially at the summit itself.
Some sections of 17 are so dangerous that they have been nicknamed. The first long sweeping turn North of Summit Road with its sharp angle and steep entering downhill slope is called "The Valley Surprise" for the fact that so many strike the median shortly after having entered the Santa Clara Valley. The most infamous is called "Big Moody Curve". This curve is named after Big Moody Creek below, slightly greater than a 180 degree turn, and bracketed by additional 90 degree turns. The inside surfaces of the median barriers in both of these turns are normally chipped up and black with tire rubber. --snip-- Route 17 in Santa Cruz County is named after California Highway Patrol Lieutenant Michael Walker. Walker was setting flares to direct traffic around an auto accident on News Years Eve 2005 when he was struck and killed[6]. Partly in response to this accident near the Glenwood Road intersection, Caltrans began work in 2008 to widen the shoulder to eight feet[7]. The cost of improving the treacherous expressway segment to modern freeway standards has been estimated to be at least $200 million. ====== I say: smoke em if you got em, especially if it improves this kind of stuff On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Cameron Childress <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 1:22 PM, Dana <[email protected]> wrote: >> really? California is a very strange place. > > Yes it is. In good ways and in bad ways. > > -Cameron > > ... > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:318755 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
