Sacramento holds community workshop to choose proposed new Truxel bridge design
SACRAMENTO — Plans have been underway for more than a decade to build a new bridge crossing the American River, connecting downtown Sacramento and Natomas.
The City of Sacramento looked at eight different sites, and the alignment along Truxel Road has been selected as the best location.
On Wednesday, the city held a community workshop to ask people what the half-billion-dollar bridge should look like.
"The price tag is going to be pretty massive," said Fedolia Harris with Sacramento's public works department. "We want to make sure we do it right the first time."
Each design being considered includes a dedicated lane for bikes and pedestrians. Plans also show a path for light rail trains which could continue north toward Sacramento International Airport.
People currently have to take Interstate 5 to get between the two parts of town and the airport, and it's a freeway that's already bumper to bumper at times with up to 200,000 cars a day.
"As Sacramento grows, especially in downtown Sacramento, we need more options for people to be able to make those shorter trips between neighborhoods," said Devin Strecker, executive director of the city's river district.
The bridge will have to be built across the American River Parkway nature area, and some people have concerns over the disruption to wildlife.
"The habitat that exists is supporting a lot of critters that are out in the parkway, and so that would be gone, five acres of it," said Warren Truitt, president of the Save the American River Association.
However, supporters say that having more people use the bridge could also help revitalize the river district and the railyards — where a proposed new Sacramento Republic FC soccer stadium and an entertainment venue are inching closer to being built. A term sheet for the stadium development was unanimously approved by the city council this week.
"It's kind of an untapped area that we really want to take advantage of and see some new development that's really thoughtful and respectful of the river," Strecker said.
The city says it will still be more than a decade before construction begins on the bridge, and it won't open until 2037 at the earliest.
Money is expected to come from federal infrastructure funding and the state gas tax.