The city of West Sacramento is moving forward with a plan that would ultimately connect Southport Parkway to Interstate 80.City council approved a contract to conduct a comprehensive study for the Enterprise Bridge Project on Wednesday.”Right now the only way to get from the place the bridge will land to the freeway in the northern side of the channel is to go Southport Parkway, sort of a roundabout way,” said Arron Laurel, City Manager and Port CEO.The city says the Enterprise Bridge is a significant step forward in enhancing economic growth and mobility in the area.”The bridge has been planned for many years, decades, in fact. At this stage, we made the decision to move ahead and move aggressively ahead. Get all the planning work done so that we can tee it up for construction,” Laurel said.The project is currently being funded by city economic development funds and by the port.”Right now it’s being funded 100% locally, but eventually we plan to apply for federal funding and the bulk of the funding will come from, hopefully, the federal government,” Laurel said.The city is now in the research phase of the project weighing environmental impacts and three design options.”A bridge that lifts that will accommodate all the existing shipping uses around it. We’re also looking at an elevated bridge that’s very high to allow shipping and then also a fixed band bridge that would be a lower bridge,” Laurel said. The goal is to provide a direct route from the Southport Industrial Park to I-80.”It is a key connector for traffic relief, getting a big portion of traffic that comes from the Southport area both industrial trucks coming from warehouses that exist down there, also homes that are in South Port,” Laurel said. This first phase of the project is expected to take at least two years before construction can begin.”It takes time to build. Bridges especially take a little longer. It could be ultimately a 10-year process before we actually have a bridge that’s functional, however we’re hoping to move as quickly as possible,” Laurel said.
The city of West Sacramento is moving forward with a plan that would ultimately connect Southport Parkway to Interstate 80.
City council approved a contract to conduct a comprehensive study for the Enterprise Bridge Project on Wednesday.
“Right now the only way to get from the place the bridge will land to the freeway in the northern side of the channel is to go Southport Parkway, sort of a roundabout way,” said Arron Laurel, City Manager and Port CEO.
The city says the Enterprise Bridge is a significant step forward in enhancing economic growth and mobility in the area.
“The bridge has been planned for many years, decades, in fact. At this stage, we made the decision to move ahead and move aggressively ahead. Get all the planning work done so that we can tee it up for construction,” Laurel said.
The project is currently being funded by city economic development funds and by the port.
“Right now it’s being funded 100% locally, but eventually we plan to apply for federal funding and the bulk of the funding will come from, hopefully, the federal government,” Laurel said.
The city is now in the research phase of the project weighing environmental impacts and three design options.
“A bridge that lifts that will accommodate all the existing shipping uses around it. We’re also looking at an elevated bridge that’s very high to allow shipping and then also a fixed band bridge that would be a lower bridge,” Laurel said.
The goal is to provide a direct route from the Southport Industrial Park to I-80.
“It is a key connector for traffic relief, getting a big portion of traffic that comes from the Southport area both industrial trucks coming from warehouses that exist down there, also homes that are in South Port,” Laurel said.
This first phase of the project is expected to take at least two years before construction can begin.
“It takes time to build. Bridges especially take a little longer. It could be ultimately a 10-year process before we actually have a bridge that’s functional, however we’re hoping to move as quickly as possible,” Laurel said.
