How your Sacramento commute is suddenly harder: Construction, congestion and crashes
MAY 24, 2021 05:00 AM
Caltrans works demolish the inner edges of W-X freeway bridges on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Thursday night, May 20, 2021, as part of a project that will fill the gap between the elevated sections to add new HOV lanes. BY DANIEL KIM
Motorists, be warned: The dreaded three C’s – congestion, construction and collisions – have returned to Sacramento roadways.
As the coronavirus pandemic recedes in the rear-view mirror, Sacramento freeways are again filling up, leading to fender-benders and serious crashes as drivers struggle to re-acclimate to the old normal of stop-and-go commute traffic.
To add to the degree of difficulty, the state last week launched a historic and highly visible demolition project on the elevated W-X section of the Capital City Freeway, which has required crews to temporarily reduce the width of freeway lanes by one foot.
The state has imposed a 55 mph speed zone on Highway 50 through central Sacramento, and it has marked off several awkward sections of the freeway with solid white lines between lanes, instructing drivers to stay in their lanes through that section.
Despite that, some drivers have not slowed, the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans report. “We’re seeing people speeding and that is a problem,” Caltrans spokeswoman Angela DaPrato said. “We’ll monitor the situation and make adjustments as needed.”
It’s prompting the CHP to warn drivers to put aside distractions and knock the rust off their urban driving skills.
Drivers had gotten used to light traffic during the pandemic, which prompted more speeding, highway patrol officials said. Now, Sacramento CHP spokesman Jim Young said, the agency is seeing an uptick in congestion-related collisions such as rear-end crashes. It’s a result of drivers not paying attention, he said.
Traffic moves along Highway 50 on Thursday night, May 20, 2021, as workers demolish the inner edges of the freeway’s W-X section. Caltrans has shifted traffic lanes in both directions to the right and reduced widths from 12 feet to 11 feet to make room along the median for crews to cut off three-foot slices of the inside edge before the gap between the bridges is closed for new lanes. Daniel Kim DKIM@SACBEE.COM
Two fatalities have been recorded along Highway 50 in central Sacramento in the last month, one of them a collision involving a motorcycle near 59th Street. In the other, a driver was killed when he veered into the center divider near 16th Street. Earlier this month, a driver traveling 90 miles per hour crashed on the Capital City Freeway. A crash three weeks ago on Highway 99 north of Sacramento caused three deaths.
The spring season means more highway construction as well, with projects currently underway on a handful of local freeways. The most dramatic of those is taking place on Highway 50 in central Sacramento.
There, on the elevated portion of the freeway, known as the W-X section, Caltrans has shifted traffic lanes in both directions to the right and reduced widths from 12 feet to 11 feet to make room along the median for crews to cut off a three-foot slice of the inside edge.
That demolition work will take two months, Flatiron Construction project manager Robert Ferrouge said. It will include lane closures in both directions, most likely at night, as crews remove the rubble from the deconstruction.
Currently, crews have been shutting down two lanes in the eastbound direction each night to make room for the demolition crews.
When the demo is done, Caltrans’ construction contractors will add a new bridge section connecting the two existing bridges, widening them both to make room for a new carpool/high-occupancy lane in both directions. That new Highway 50 lane will run from Watt Avenue to Interstate 5.
FREEWAY EXPANSION
The Highway 50 construction project will include new columns in the center of the freeway to support filling an 18-foot gap that exists in sections of the W-X segment between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
The project requires large equipment to be stationed on the freeway, separated from traffic by temporary concrete barriers. As well, several streets underneath the freeway will be closed intermittently as crews drop rubble from the elevated freeway into a temporary construction zone below.
Caltrans spokeswoman DaPrato asked drivers both on the freeway and below to give workers space and courtesy.
“Motorists are definitely going to see a big increase in activity,” she said. “We don’t want lookie-loos. It is going to be challenging for folks because of curiosity.”
Caltrans workers start to demolish the guiderails between the westbound and eastbound bridges carrying the W-X freeway through Sacramento between 23rd and 24th streets on Tuesday May 18, 2021. The project will fill in the gap between the two structures as it adds HOV lanes to Highway 50. RENÉE C. BYER RBYER@SACBEE.COM
Workers demolish the inside edges of two W-X freeway bridges on Highway 50 in Sacramento on Thursday, May 20, 2021. They will fill in the gap between the elevated sections as part of the biggest freeway reconstruction in Sacramento history. The project is expected to be completed by late 2024 or early 2025. DANIEL KIM DKIM@SACBEE.COM
Workers demolish an elevated W/X section of Highway 50 in Sacramento on Thursday, May 20, 2021. They will construct a third freeway bridge between the two existing elevated sections through downtown. It’s the biggest freeway reconstruction in Sacramento history. DANIEL KIM DKIM@SACBEE.COM
Caltrans workers start to demolish the inner edges of the W-X freeway bridges between 23rd and 24th streets on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in Sacramento. The gap between the bridges will be filled in to create new HOV lanes on Highway 50. RENÉE C. BYER RBYER@SACBEE.COM
Caltrans workers spray water while demolishing an area of the elevated W-X section of Highway 50 in Sacramento on Thursday, May 20, 2021. They will fill in the gap between the elevated sections of the freeway through downtown, between W and X streets, to create new HOV lanes. DANIEL KIM DKIM@SACBEE.COM
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/back-seat-driver/article251529138.html