Short Items

• OC-Is-Insane Dept: Back in February, I mentioned how certain insane people were so freeway-mad, they were seriously proposing to extend the 57 Freeway on top of the Santa Ana River. I meant to say this with a look-at-those-nuts-that'll-never-happen scoff — but now, OCTA, Orange County's transportation agency, is seriously considering extending the 57 Freeway above the Santa Ana River. (LA Times article — use BugMeNot if you need a password.) The Santa Ana River in its current concrete-channeled state is no ecological treasure, but something seems seriously wrong with this idea — wrong in a "what happens when the next 100-year flood comes?" or "what happens if Prado Dam bursts?" kind of way.


• Extra Bonus "Damnit!" From That Article: At the same OCTA meeting, board members also voted to increase the service frequency of Metrolink trains running from Fullerton to Mission Viejo to every thirty minutes, running from 5 AM to midnight. Yes, that would be the train line separated from our house by a street, a (narrow) park, and a soundwall. There go our property values! The trains wouldn't be bad at all if they weren't required by federal law to sound their horns at every single intersection — which is a lot in an old neighborhood with close-together blocks. (The actual rumble of the train lasts just a few seconds; they're travelling pretty quickly.)


• Another Google Maps mashup: It's too bad that the people behind Trulia Real Estate Search didn't do this a year ago, when we were looking ... or back when they could've made the big money. They've gone beta just in time for the real-estate slowdown!