California is quietly retiring its familiar blue-and-yellow roadside greeting—and swapping it for something built for Instagram. Two new concrete "welcome monuments" now mark the state line with Oregon on Highways 101 and 199, reports SFGate, part of a wider makeover of California's border signage. The 13-foot-plus structures, funded by Gov. Gavin Newsom's $1.2 billion Clean California beautification push, pair an outline of the state with sculpted wildlife: an elk and salmon against ocean hues on 101, and a mother bear with her cub and poppies on 199. "Our hope is that these gateway monuments inspire every resident and visitor ... to take pride in the Golden State while keeping it beautiful and litter-free," Caltrans District 1 Director Matt Brady said in a statement.
Caltrans says the designs came from community input and are meant as both ecological storytelling and "legit photo ops," complete with gravel areas to pull over safely. "Tons of people are just smiling next to these and welcoming themselves into California in the most beautiful way," said Caltrans District 1 rep Myles Cochrane. Built by Redding-based Precast Unlimited, the pieces weigh up to 58,000 pounds and are coated to resist graffiti and sun damage, with a 30- to 40-year lifespan. Similar monuments have gone up at the Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico borders. The old, much-loved metal signs won't be resurfacing as collectibles: Caltrans confirms they've already been hauled away and discarded.
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