Can a Highway 17 memorial be dedicated to Bobby Gill?
Q I commute over Highway 17 and have appreciated the efforts of Caltrans and Graniterock to clean up the roadways and make them safe. The tragedy of Bobby Gill’s death while helping to clear a mudslide in Scotts Valley will not be forgotten. It would be a great gesture of the state to name the should-be-coming retaining wall “The Bobby Gill Wall” to acknowledge his sacrifice. Beach Dude A That’s a great idea. Another reader suggested a “Slow down for Bobby Gill” sign.
A local legislator or an agency like Caltrans would have to push such a plan, but the worst rain in so many years has caused such havoc that hundreds of workers like Gill have been needed to keep lanes open here and throughout the mountains. I’ve passed this idea along to the “Safe on 17” committee that has done yeoman work to make this highway safer. The panel meets next month.
Several stretches of 17 have memorials. There’s the Gillian Cichowski Memorial Bridge at Lexington Reservoir. She was killed in an accident at this location in 1992 and her family led the effort to build the bridge.
In 2005 on New Year’s Eve, California Highway Patrol Lt. Michael Walker was struck and killed while responding to an accident near Glenwood Road, and that stretch is named after him.
And at the Summit, there is a sign for Matt Klotzbach, a Naval Academy student from Livermore who was killed by a drunken driver while returning with his family from a day in Santa Cruz in 2001. Q If the bill to raise bridge tolls to $8 gets on the ballot, it will surely pass. Every voter who does not use a bridge will vote for it because it won’t affect them. Kent Lue Fremont A A survey years ago showed the greatest support for a toll increase was in Santa Clara County, which, of course, has no bridges that span the bay. A vote would be required in all nine Bay Area counties. Q In San Leandro, there is graffiti of what appears to be a growling Pepe the Frog, the racist mascot of the “alt-right,” on the foundations of the abandoned construction project near the south Interstate 880 entrance from Marina Boulevard. Who’s responsible for cleaning this up? I’m sick of staring at this every morning. David Saracino Alameda A Caltrans has been alerted. Q Lately I have noticed that when there is graffiti on freeway walls, someone (assuming Caltrans) runs a paint line across the middle of the graffiti. Why? Daniel Chapman Santa Clara A Caltrans officials say the line through some tags is not their work. They speculate that this is a rival making a statement. QA
heads up for those traveling east on Interstate 580 through Castro Valley. Freeway traffic tends to exit on Eden Canyon and go left on Dublin Canyon Road. There are now “No Right Turn” signs at Laurel Creek Road for those who cut through to connect with 680. Tickets were being handed out the other day for those making a right turn from the shoulder. Catherine Wong Castro Valley A Scofflaws, you have been warned.