What are the orange cones under Highway 50 in Sacramento? This is their unsuspected purpose
Clinging to the underbelly of Highway 50 in Sacramento, orange cones hang like bats, serving an unsuspected and important purpose.
A reader recently asked Bee Curious, The Sacramento Bee’s community-driven series: “What are the upside down cones under the X street bridges”?
The Bee answered this question in December 2020 — and it involves bats.
What are the cones there for?
The California Department of Transportation bolted the cones onto the underside of the W-X freeways in downtown Sacramento to ward off the thousands of birds and bats, and some owls, that find refuge in the nooks and crannies of the freeway.
This is a part of the Highway 50 widening project, also known as the Fix50 Enhancement project. The cones help prevent the birds and bats from getting in the way of construction.
Former Bee reporter Tony Bizjak wrote about the cones, which are also called exclusion devices:
Each cone covers one of the structure’s “weep holes,” the holes that allow moisture to drain out of the bridge deck during the rainy season. Those weep holes have been serving another, informal, purpose: Birds and bats use them as entrances to hideaways in the structure where the bats roost and the birds build nests.
Workers screwed a short plastic tube to the narrow end of each cone, then they duct-taped a short plastic sheath to the end of the tube. Bats and birds who are inside the structure can exit the bridge through the center of the cone, the tube and the plastic sheath. But they cannot get back in because the sheaths’ sides press back together, closing up.
By removing the birds and bats from the area, a Caltrans biologist told The Bee in 2020, they won’t be able to nest and breed during construction. Otherwise, if they do, they might abandon their young.
Once the project concludes, they can return and make their homes under the bridge.
This tactic isn’t new. Cones were also used in 2019 during widening of Highway 65 in Placer County near Interstate 80.
Fix50 Enhancement project
The Fix50 Enhancement project, considered one of the most expensive and ambitious highway reconstructions in Sacramento history, has been underway since 2020.
It entails building carpool lanes in both directions on Highway 50, from the I-5 Interchange to Watt Avenue, in an effort to cut back on emissions. The project also includes widening ramps and connector ramps, adding new sound walls along south side of Highway 50 from Stockton Boulevard to 65th Street and replacing freeway pavement with continuously reinforced concrete.
The project totals an estimate of $433 million — with $388.6 million coming from Senate Bill 1 funds, legislation that invests in fixing transportation.
Residents can stay updated with the project schedule and any road closures or changes online. According to CalTrans, the project is expected to be complete by December 2024 or early 2025.
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This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 8:00 AM.