California commits $25 million to I Street bridge replacement. Is it enough?
Last Friday, the California Transportation Commission announced an additional $25 million in funds to replace the old and narrow I Street Bridge.
The bridge replacement project was initially estimated to be $228 million. Due to delays and rising material costs, it has now grown to $300 million, according to city spokesperson Gabby Miller. With the new funds, the state is now committing a total of $275 million to the project.
The 114-year old I Street Bridge spans the Sacramento River. Since 1911, two rail tracks below deck have shuttled trains coming to and from Sacramento and two car lanes above have enabled traffic between West Sacramento and the Railyards.
But with modern traffic and the city’s stated commitments to multi-modal transportation, the bridge is showing its age. The 9-foot car lanes are too narrow for buses, and traffic often clogs both lanes. There are no bike lanes and the sidewalks are too narrow to meet current accessibility standards.
Designs for a replacement bridge were finalized in 2020. At the time, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the sleek and modern bridge would be “an instant landmark.”
Built upstream of the current one, the new bridge will have 6-foot bike lanes, 12-foot shared paths and three travel lanes. Instead of the historic I Street Bridge’s static truss design that must rotate for boats, the new one can lift vertically to accommodate larger ships underfoot. The current bridge will be converted to serve solely trains, pedestrians and cyclists.
The city is collaborating with West Sacramento, the transportation authority and the area council of governments to scrape together the project’s remaining funds, which would be at least $25 million.
Some Sacramento residents call the bridge “super convenient” but describe it as narrow, congested and stressful to drive on — especially for truck drivers. “I hate going over that bridge when it’s backed up,” one Reddit user wrote. “I’m paranoid thinking it’ll collapse.”
Alana Santos, who works at nearby Teriyaki Madness, said she’s afraid of scratching her wheels on the tight lanes and often hits rush hour traffic. Harjinder Singh, an employee at Lighthouse Market & Deli, said he sees backups during high tide when the bridge rotates for boats, pushing some drivers to detour to the Golden Bridge.
Following several river crossing studies, the City is planning to construct a bridge connecting Broadway and South River Road, which is anticipated to be completed by 2035. Officials have also studied a stretch across the lower American River at Truxel Road as a new bridge location, aiming to connect Natomas with the central city.
Officials have been fielding public opinion and hosting workshops on replacing I Street Bridge since 2014, with plans to begin construction delayed for at least five years now as Sacramento waited for funding from Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration.
“I’ve been in west sac for 8 years, it’s always been about to start next spring since I moved here,” a user wrote on the Sacramento subreddit last week. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
City officials plan to finalize agreements with Caltrans and other funding partners this year and begin construction next spring. In the meantime, the existing bridge will remain open. Barring further delays, construction is anticipated to take four years and end in spring 2030.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 1:40 PM.