Sacramento is planning a new bridge across the river. If planned correctly, the new addition has the potential to boost traffic between the Bridge District and West Sacramento as well as enhance riverfront development by drawing cyclists and pedestrians.

The Sacramento community is going to be directly involved in the process, and the public has been invited to a meeting to participate in the discussion. The new bridge will redirect most of the traffic from the old I Street Bridge, which is over a century old and too narrow for many vehicles. The old bridge will remain available to carry commuter and freight train, and the viaducts will be demolished to open up the riverfront on both sides.

According to the Sacramento Bee, “The new span is planned just north and would be the first linking Sacramento and West Sacramento since the Tower Bridge was built in 1934.”

Plans are for it be used by “vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians and a possible future streetcar line. It would be a direct route from the railyard, where a Kaiser Permanente hospital and a Major League Soccer stadium are planned, to the mixed-use Bridge District, which is already developing.”