Pioneer Bluff Bridge

[andy3175]

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/18/6083638/west-sacramento-sees-new-bridge.html

By fall, the city hopes to open a new Pioneer Bluff Bridge that will provide speedy access to the freeway and the Raley Field area. In future years, leaders hope a streetcar will travel from Southport to the Tower Bridge and connect to another rail line into downtown Sacramento.

City officials have seen the growth in the south end of the city for years as development has transformed the area from agricultural fields to rooftops. Nearly 4,200 residential units have been built in the area since 2000, said community development officials. Of those, nearly 3,500 were single-family homes. New schools followed new homeowners, as did large retail stores such as Lowe's, Target and Nugget Market.

The suburban pocket is separated from the rest of the city by a dormant barge canal that decades ago served traffic heading to and from the city's port. Southport residents have long relied on Jefferson Boulevard as their main thoroughfare to the rest of West Sacramento and freeways leading to jobs elsewhere in the region.

Consider that more than 30,000 cars travel Jefferson each day between Gateway Drive and Highway 50, according to city traffic figures.

The Pioneer Bluff Bridge, just east of Jefferson Boulevard, will span the barge canal and connect broken segments of South River Road. The city has fast-tracked the project, and crews have been at work on the 615-foot span since summer 2013, with plans to complete construction this fall. It has been bankrolled largely by $10 million in state funds.

A second phase will extend Village Parkway, which runs through Southport residential areas, to the new Pioneer Bluff Bridge.

The span, with wide 6-foot walkways separated from auto traffic, is also designed to be friendly to bike and foot traffic.

Regards,
Andy