Caltrans says Highway 50 needs ‘final touches,’ postpones weekend closure in Sacramento

The Abridged version:

• Caltrans on Friday said it was wrapping up construction on Highway 50 with a weekend closure, causing what it hopes to be the last major disruption. 
• Hours before the closure was set to begin, the department postponed the work due to low temperatures and visibility.
• Caltrans did not say when work would be completed. Previously, a spokesperson said after this weekend, closures would be confined to on and off ramps instead of the main section of the highway.

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Caltrans planned to put the “final touches of the main construction” on Highway 50 over the weekend, but low temperatures and visibility have delayed the work.

Officials hoped that a 27-hour closure of the left lanes through Midtown would be the last major traffic disruption in the long-running project. As it stands, Caltrans does not have new dates for the closure.

Wrapping up construction

Sergio Ochoa Sanchez, spokesperson for Caltrans, said that crews need to remove 2 to 2.5 inches of surface on the HOV lanes and shoulders to prepare the stretch for striping. Once that happens and weather improves, Caltrans will be able to stripe all lanes together.

Ochoa Sanchez said that the rest of the work after this closure should not be disruptive to traffic and that future closures will be confined to on and off ramps instead of the main section of the highway.

Work such as landscaping, electrical, paintwork, graffiti removal and drainage will be ongoing, with all construction on schedule to be completed by this summer, he said.

A long road

If this work is the final major disruption, it will be the last in a long line of closures and traffic snarls through the Fix 50 project. In December, an Abridged investigation found that rejected concrete contributed to months of delays for the project, which has gone more than two years beyond its initial timeline.

Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County. 

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Friday, Jan. 23, at 4 p.m. after Caltrans postponed the construction timeline.