Highway 50’s $511 million makeover is almost done — but the orange cones aren’t

The more than $500 million Highway 50 renovation project remains on pace to be completed by the end of summer, with only minor work remaining, though nighttime lane closures are expected to continue for at least a few weeks, a California Department of Transportation official said Friday.

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Planning began on the 14-mile, $511.1 million freeway project in 2016, and road work began in 2021. The project was initially scheduled for completion in 2025 but was pushed back to July 2026 to July 2026 last year before being delayed again to the end of summer.

Sergio Ochoa Sanchez, a spokesperson for Caltrans District 3, did not give a specific completion date for the project known formally as the Highway 50 Multimodal Corridor Enhancement and Rehabilitation Project but said it would be “sometime around” the end of August or in September. He said the timeline was extended because the contract is based on work days rather than a specific completion date.

The project’s delays and an approximately $100 million price increase from the initial estimate have drawn criticism from locals, including The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial Board. The project will add new carpool lanes in each direction from Watt Avenue to the intersection with Interstate 5 in downtown, replace pavement, add retaining walls and widen parts of the frreeway, among other changes, according to previous Bee reporting.

“We appreciate and value very much their patience with this project,” Sanchez said. “There is light at the end of the tunnel, and this is going to be completed pretty soon.”

What do the lanes close for?

Sanchez said nighttime lane closures will continue for weeks or more as workers replace bridge joint seals, which prevent sections of concrete from striking one another as they expand in hot weather.

Most of the replacements are between Highway 50’s interchange with Interstate 5 and the Highway 50-99 interchange near midtown.

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Bridge joint seals typically make some noise when drivers cross them, but those needing replacement often make louder noises, which drivers may have noticed in the area, Sanchez said.

“You know sometimes when you ride on the highway and you hear like those small bumps on the road, like ‘tootun,’ ‘tootun,’” Sanchez said. “Those are the seals that need to be installed there.”

Sanchez said because the lane closures have occurred only at night, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., and at least some lanes have remained open, there have not been any “major disturbances” for drivers.

What else needs to be done?

Besides replacing the bridge joint seals, Sanchez said the remaining work consists of final “punch-list” items.

That includes the following, according to Sanchez:

• Final striping, especially on on- and off-ramps
• Drainage and electrical work
• Installing overhead, roadside and HOV signs
• Landscaping, including completing a parking area between 15th and 25th streets

Sanchez said the project marks the first major rehabilitation of Highway 50 since it was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, making it a significant infrastructure improvement for the region.

“It’s the most complex and major project in the Sacramento area in the last 60 or 70 years,” Sanchez said. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

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