Malick

Plaintiff Laura Malick (appellant) appeals from a judgment that dismissed her petition for a writ of mandate to command the Department of Transportation; James W. van Loben Seis, Director; and Preston Kelley, Director, District #4 (respondents), to cease building sound walls on Scenic Highway Interstate 680 and to remove those already installed. A demurrer to the petition had been sustained without leave to amend.

Appellant contends: (1) “The decision that no law prohibits sound walls on scenic highways is refuted by the mandate for scenic conservation in the Scenic Highway Act” (italics added); (2) “Sound walls permitted on freeways are impermissible visual barriers on the scenic highway portions of freeways.” These contentions lack merit.

“The complex legislative scheme for construction of freeway and expressway systems in California is set out in exhaustive detail in the Streets and Highways Code. [All references in this quotation and in this opinion are to this code.] In general, it is the intent of the Legislature that highways be created only after a planned and coordinated effort by all state and local agencies with full exchange of information by all concerned.…