SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A major traffic project is set to get underway to modernize Highway 50 in Sacramento, adding a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane and restoring pavement that is more than 50 years old.
From the Interstate 5 interchange to Watt Avenue, the U.S. Highway 50 Multimodal Corridor Enhancement and Rehabilitation Project will take approximately four years to complete, with construction expected to end in December 2024, according to Caltrans.
The current pavement was built between 1967 and 1971 and is at the end of its service life, Caltrans wrote in a press release about the project. The damage to the road is such that it requires repairs every year. According to Caltrans, a recent survey found “severe slab cracking and faulting in the no. 3 and 4 lanes in both directions and minor slab cracking in the no.1 and 2 lanes in both directions.”
Construction will affect people living in the Elm Hurst & Tahoe Park area. Caltrans Project Manager Jim Rogers told ABC10 a 14-foot sound wall will be built within a year.
"We are building the sound wall -- it’s going to be one of the first things we do. We are starting construction on the sound wall so that will shield the neighborhood from the freeway," Rogers said.
When it comes to traffic, Rogers said drivers will still have all four lanes during the day. Only at night will detours be needed to get around the construction.
"Lanes closed on the freeway to accommodate the work during the nighttime hours and then during the day, other than the lanes pushed over, it will be the same," Rogers said.
The new highway project means the farmer's market will not come back until at least December 2021. Those living under the highway will have to move, too.
"We are putting 72-hour notices asking them to relocate to a shelter and providing them with resources," Caltrans Spokesperson Angela Daprato said.
