City says Del Rio Trail Bridge is set to open, but when? ‘Wait is almost over’
The long-delayed Del Rio Trail Bridge crossing Interstate 5 is getting closer to having an opening date, Sacramento city officials said Thursday.
“Here we are today with some great news,” Mayor Kevin McCarty said standing in front of the bridge in Sacramento’s Land Park neighborhood. “This fall, this bridge will open for the people of Sacramento to connect the Del Rio trail to the Sacramento River.”
The Del Rio Trail Bridge has been closed since the 4.8-mile mixed-use trail opened to the public in May 2024 because of issues with concrete and rebar that failed third-party inspection. McCarty did not provide a specific opening date, which will depend on weather, the installation of fences and lighting and the arrival of materials.
“I want to acknowledge first, that I share in the frustrations with community members that this took so long,” said Sacramento City Councilmember Rick Jennings, whose district includes Land Park. “But I also to let you know that today we bring you good news. ... The wait is almost over.”
City public works engineer Adam Randolph notified Mountain Methods, Inc. — the contractor for the project — in August 2024 that the bridge failed inspection and that Mountain Methods would be responsible for removing the initial structure and replacing it. Randolph said he could not offer more specifics as to why the bridge failed inspection because of ongoing legal proceedings.
“The good news is that we were able to fix this (at) no cost to the taxpayers,” McCarty said. “Through the legal process, we were able to sort it out that the contractor paid for the entire repair.”
In a letter to Mountain Methods, Randolph said the city’s engineer of record, Dokken Engineering, determined that the widening of the bridge was built out of conformance with the plans, specifications and approved concrete mixtures, and could not be accepted.
The path over Interstate 5 was added on to the pre-existing rail bridge formerly used by the Sacramento Southern Railroad which closed in 1978.
The Del Rio Trail runs through the city’s Land Park, South Land Park, Freeport Manor, Z’Berg, Pocket and Meadowview neighborhoods. The bridge portion of the trail runs over I-5 to connect to the Sacramento River Bike trail that runs along the eastern side of the river. The trail project cost $23 million, though the city did not say how much the bridge cost to replace.
Once the bridge is open, it will complete a 14-mile loop that will connect Del Rio Trail with the Sacramento River Bike Trail in two places: near San Mateo Way and Riverside Boulevard, and by the Bill Conlin Youth Sports Complex in Freeport.
Officials planned the trail to work as an alternative for commuters from those neighborhoods who wanted to ride their bikes downtown.
This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 12:40 PM.
