On Tuesday, December 1st, 2020 WTS Sacramento virtually welcomed Sacramento County's Kent Craney, P.E., Principal Civil Engineer with Economic Development and Melissa Wright, P.E., T.E., Principal Civil Engineer Department of Transportation who discussed the I-5/Metro Air Park Interchange Project.
The project is located on Interstate 5, just east of the Sacramento International Airport and west of State Route 99. This new interchange will extend Metro Air Parkway south to and over Interstate 5. The interchange will be Metro Air Park’s front door and is a natural jumping off point for transporting of goods. The I-5 interchange will help foster that transportation access to Metro Air Park.
The project has been in the works for many years, Project Approval and Environmental Document phase was conducted from 2001 to 2008. The design was completed and construction contract awards in 2019. Construction is anticipated to be completed in spring 2021. The construction cost was about $18 million and total project cost is about $30.6 million.
The project required a lot of coordination and stakeholders outreach efforts. Those coordination efforts included, Caltrans, RD-1000 Metro Air Park Owners Association, City of Sacramento, SMUD, AT&T, Consolidated Communications, and many Sacramento County departments including, economic development, department of transportation, water agency, and airports.
Under construction right now is Phase 1, which includes the construction of an L-7 Interchange, northbound off and on ramps, southbound off ramp and loop on ramp, the I-5 overcrossing a cast in place prestressed Concrete Box Girder. Phase 1 also includes the realignment of Bayou Way, relocation of a water main and RD-1000 canal, and the permanent closure of North Bayou Road
The future Phase 2 will be constructed when traffic triggers the improvements. The Phase 2 improvements include an additional northbound loop on ramp and an additional southbound on ramp, as well as widen the I-5 overcrossing on the west side.
There were some sensitive environmental habitats within the project including the Giant Garter Snake habitat and Swainson's Hawk habitat. During construction, the project experienced fluctuating groundwater table, so wick drains were used to alleviate the issue. Another issue that arose during construction was the road closures and detours, in particular one vehicle disregard the road closures and ended up getting stuck in the construction site.
WTS Sacramento is excited to see the completion of the interchange! Thank you so much to Melissa and Kent for your presentation on the I-5 Metro Air Parkway Interchange Project!