Officials seek input on $164M streetcar project between downtown, West Sacramento
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- Sacramento seeks community input on a $164 million Downtown Riverfront Streetcar Project.
- Project will add 1.8 miles of track, three new stations and travel over Tower Bridge.
- Construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and finish by late 2029 or early 2030.
Over the next three weeks, Sacramento transportation officials will seek community input on the $164 million Downtown Riverfront Streetcar Project, which would connect existing light rail lines to Sutter Health Park and Old Sacramento.
The project would include the first local rail traveling over the Tower Bridge, three new stations and 1.8 miles of track, according to Sacramento Regional Transit’s website.
RT expects the project to begin construction in early 2027 and be completed by the end of 2029 or the beginning of 2030, the agency said in a news release Tuesday.
What would the project do?
The three new stations would be located at West Sacramento’s temporary home of the MLB’s Athletics Sutter Health Park, 2nd Street and Capitol Mall Boulevard — near Old Sacramento — and N Street near the intersection with 5th Street, before the planned track converges with existing light rail lines to hit six other stations, officials said.
The six preexisting stations will be “modernized,” as a part of the project, officials said, and will connect the new line to major landmarks like Golden 1 Center, the Crocker Art Museum, the Railyards Development and the State Capitol.
The new streetcar will travel north on both 7th and 8th Streets after the to-be-built N Street station and also hit the Sacramento Valley Station, near the Railyards Development. Double tracks will be installed on N Street to connect the new line to the RT stations already on 7th and 8th Streets.
RT said the new line would also connect to Amtrak and RT’s regional bus services, on top of the light rail connections.
The new streetcar will use Siemens S700 streetcars, single car low-floor light rail trains as used on the Gold Line, officials said.
Plan revives failed cross-river streetcar effort
The proposal revives a long-discussed plan to connect Sacramento and West Sacramento by rail across the Tower Bridge. Regional officials spent years pursuing a larger streetcar project before the effort collapsed in 2020 amid rising costs, funding concerns and disagreements among transit board members.
That earlier proposal envisioned a roughly four-mile streetcar line linking Midtown, downtown Sacramento and West Sacramento City Hall. But the project stalled after construction bids exceeded the more than $200 million budget.
Sacramento and West Sacramento officials later proposed a scaled-down version that would have used light rail vehicles instead of streetcars and connected downtown Sacramento to Sutter Health Park. Sacramento Regional Transit’s board ultimately rejected the plan in a divided 5-5 vote, jeopardizing $50 million in federal funding secured by Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento.
At the time, supporters argued the line would spur economic development and improve regional transit connections, while critics questioned ridership projections and warned about long-term operating costs.
How can I voice my input?
RT is hosting three public workshops over the next few weeks to gather community feedback and discuss the project’s history and potential impact on the region, the release said.
The first session will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the RT Auditorium, 1102 Q St.
A second session is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 3 at the auditorium and on Zoom.
The third and final session will be held in person from 6 to 7 p.m. June 10 at the West Sacramento Community Center, 1071 W. Capitol Ave.
More information is available at sacrt.com/downtown-riverfront-streetcar-project.
