Current Project Activities, Schedule, and Funding
Since the project visioning phase in 2003-2004, the community and City Council had generally expressed an interest in a decking solution to the problem of reconnecting downtown to the riverfront. However, during the recently completed Project Study Report (PSR) for Bridging I-5, the project team began to get a much clearer picture of the real costs and constraints of decking over the freeway. City staff and the project team realized they would now have to identify the best non-decking opportunities for improved circulation, safety, and reconnections to the riverfront.
While the PSR evaluated three alternatives (two decking alternatives and one non-decking option), the non-decking alternative would emerge from the process as the “preferred alternative.” With the high price tag and technical challenges of decking, a bridging solution—featuring both a new bridge and improvements to the existing bridges—makes the most practical and fiscal sense, especially in today’s economic climate. Please note, however, that implementing a bridging solution, as currently recommended, would not preclude a future decking project over I-5.
The draft environmental document was prepared and was circulated for public comment through August 31, 2011. The environmental document was finalized and presented to the City Council for adoption in November 2011.
The City is expected to move forward with the final engineering on Phase I of the project in April 2012, which is anticipated to include the bike and pedestrian improvements to the Capitol Mall structure, the added sidewalk along the south side of the O Street bridge, and the 2nd Street Connection from Capitol Mall to Old Sacramento. Construction for Phase I improvements are anticipated to begin as early as 2015 (depending on available funding).
Subsequent Phase II improvements will include the N Street bridge over I-5 and the realignment of Front Street to create a new intersection at Capitol Mall.
Project Funding
Most of the funding for the planning of Bridging I-5 has come from federal transportation appropriations (secured by former Congressman Robert Matsui and current Congresswoman Doris Matsui) and the Federal Highway Administration’s National Corridor Planning and Development Program:
- About $5 million comes from these federal sources
- About $1 million comes from local funding
- An additional $300,000 comes from a Caltrans community-planning grant
Future financing for design and construction will be sought once the planning and environmental phase has produced a viable alternative. These monies are likely to come from a variety of public and private funding sources.
For the proposed project, planning-level estimates are in the neighborhood of $38 million to implement all four components (see Project Overview). Each of these components can be pursued independently and in phases. By comparison, the decking alternatives were estimated to cost in excess of $250 million.
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