So far 2023 has been an excellent year for Sacramento County transportation efforts as many area projects have found needed funding to keep moving forward. This year, nearly $100 million is earmarked to improve roads, provide neighborhoods access for those who walk and bike, and build electric vehicle charging stations at Sacramento International Airport.
The 2023 funding from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) will help pay for parts of ten different projects within the County. The awards were given to a mixture of individual projects and joint efforts between agencies.
California Transportation Commission Awards - $70,038,000
- Local Partnership Program – US 50 Gold Line Corridor Enhancement Project - $25M – SacDOT joint grant with SacRT. Project Summary - SacDOT will receive $15 million to go toward making improvements at the Hazel Avenue and Aerojet Road interchanges with Highway 50. Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) will receive $10 million for improvements along the Light Rail’s Gold Line.
- Trade Corridor Enhancement Program – Sacramento County WattEV Innovative Freight Terminal Project - $33.6M – Airport. Project Summary – The largest award in the area will allow the Sacramento County WattEV Innovative Freight Terminal (SWIFT) to build a publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging facility on a 118-acre parcel of land in south of Interstate 5 and immediately south of Sacramento International Airport.
- Trade Corridor Enhancement Program – Grant Line Road Safety and Freight Mobility Project - $3M - Capital SouthEast Connector JPA. Project Summary - The Grant Line Road Safety and Freight Mobility Project (Project) is a rural freight improvement project in eastern Sacramento County. The funds will go toward the ultimate transformation of 2.6-miles of Grant Line Road from a narrow, two-lane rural road into to a divided four-lane roadway with a separated multi-use path from Douglas Road to White Rock Road. The Project modifies the existing signals at the Grant Line Road intersections with White Rock Road and Douglas Road and adds a new signalized intersection at Raymer Way.
- Active Transportation Program – Stockton Boulevard Bicycle and Pedestrian Project -$363,000 – SacDOT. Project Summary - The County requested funding for Project Approval and Environmental Document to evaluate the feasibility of a Class IV separated bikeway, sidewalk infill, and signalization of one intersection along Stockton Boulevard between Florin Road and Mack Road/Elsie Avenue in South Sacramento County.
- Active Transportation Program – Elkhorn Boulevard Complete Streets – $8.075M – SacDOT. Project Summary - Construct a Class IV separated bikeway on Elkhorn Boulevard from Watt Avenue to Don Julio Boulevard, sidewalk infill, ADA improvements, and implement Safe Routes to Schools and community education and encouragement programs in the North Highlands neighborhood.
SACOG Awards -_$24,876,000
- Revolving Match – US 50 Gold Line Corridor Enhancement Project - $4M contingent on receiving CTC award above – SacDOT joint grant with SacRT.
- Community Design – Arden Way Phase 1 and 2 - $1M plus a $458,000 SGIP match – SacDOT. Project Summary -In Sacramento County, on Alta Arden Expressway from Howe Avenue to Fulton Avenue. The project will include sidewalk gap closures, buffered bike lanes, and pavement resurfacing.
- Maintenance and Modernization – Alta Arden Expressway Phase 1 - $4M – SacDOT. Project Summary - In Sacramento County, on Alta Arden Expressway from Howe Avenue to Fulton Avenue. The project will include sidewalk gap closures, buffered bike lanes, and pavement resurfacing.
- Transformative – Jackson and Bradshaw Safe and Rural Connections - $3M – SacDOT – Project Summary - The Project is intended to provide operational and safety improvements at the intersection of Jackson Road and Bradshaw Road in Sacramento County. The project would add a travel lane and turn lanes at the intersection.
- Transformative – Stockton Boulevard Multimodal Partnership and BRT Corridor - $5.2M – Joint grant with City of Sacramento, SacDOT, and SacRT. Project Summary - In Sacramento (City and County), on Stockton Boulevard, from Florin Road to Alhambra Boulevard: Multi-modal and safety improvements, including bus lanes and/or other transit enhancements, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian upgrades. The project will also include an alternatives analysis phase for the bus rapid transit (BRT) and BRT-lite treatments along the longer Sacramento Regional Transit District's Route 51 alignment between South Sacramento and the Sacramento Valley Station, which includes Stockton Boulevard (between Florin Road and Broadway), Broadway (between Stockton Boulevard and 8th Street), and segments of 7th, 8th and 9th Streets.
- Regional Active Transportation Program – Bell Street Safe Routes to School - $8.676M – SacDOT. Project Summary - Construction of approximately 12,500 linear feet of sidewalk infill along various segments of Bell Street between Edison Avenue and Hurley Way in the West Arden community, including a segment on 2419 Wyda Way. Construction and reconstruction of new curb ramps and extensions, traffic signal modifications, a new pedestrian signal, a new Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon, striping and re-striping bicycle lanes, and new bicycle detectors will also be implemented at four intersections along Bell Street where they do not currently exist. The non-infrastructure element includes education and outreach to students and parents of the nearby schools on pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorist safety.
The funding windfall will not only boost local transportation projects but help pave the way for future housing and building projects, which rely on roads being built before that construction can begin. The Building Industry Association and construction community are expected to benefit from these projects with more job opportunities in the future.
Construction of these projects will start to come to life over the next few years. Each grant will not pay for the entire project, as many funding sources are sought to offset the construction, but these dollars are expected to push the projects forward to allow a much-needed boost to improving the County’s transportation infrastructure.