Sacramento’s first freeway toll lanes proposed for this busy commuter corridor
The Sacramento region is getting closer to its first major freeway toll lane.
Caltrans, the state of California’s highway authority, is seeking public input on a proposed $465 million express toll lane project for stretches of Interstate 80 and the Highway 50 portion of the Capital City Freeway.
The proposed toll lanes would run on I-80 between the Solano-Yolo county line to West El Camino Avenue in Sacramento County, a stretch of about 20 miles. A toll lane would also be added on Highway 50 between its junction with I-80 and Interstate 5 in downtown Sacramento.
The project would also add new electronic highway message signs, improvements to the Yolo Causeway bike path and a 300-space park-and-ride lot in West Sacramento.
The federal Department of Transportation issued an $86 million grant for the project in 2021. However, that funding will expire if construction isn’t approved by the end of September 2024, Caltrans officials said.
If construction is approved, Caltrans expects to begin work in October 2024 and finish about three years later. The agency is hosting two public meetings on the project: Nov. 28 at the Community Center, 1075 W. Capitol Ave. in West Sacramento, and Dec. 13 at the Mary L. Stephens Branch Library, 315 E. 14th St. in Davis. Both forums are scheduled to run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The Sacramento region is already in the midst of a major freeway construction boom.
A $370 million project recently added carpool lanes and extended offramps to Interstate 5 between downtown Sacramento to Elk Grove. And, for the past two years, crews have turned miles of Highway 50 in Sacramento into a gridlocked construction zone to fix crumbling pavement and add sound walls along the aging highway.
