Sacramento Del Rio Trail construction continues. Here’s what to expect.

Construction crews are shaping the long-planned Del Rio Trail running from the Sacramento “Farm-to-Fork” water tower along Interstate 5 to William Land Park. 

With the city working to complete the biking and walking trail in March 2024, this summer residents can expect to see construction continue throughout the 4.8-mile abandoned railroad corridor. 

As of last week, crews have almost finished moving dirt from the southern end to just north of Florin Road, said Adam Randolph, the project manager and senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. Once crews complete shaping dirt for the rest of the trail, Randolph said they will start paving and putting down asphalt. 

Grade setter Cristian Martinez works on the Del Rio Trail in South Sacramento on Thursday, June 8, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Last steps will include finishing two bridges along the trail and installing traffic signals for where it crosses streets, Randolph said. One bridge will go over I-5 and Riverside Boulevard, while another will be added over a creek called Willow Slough near Freeport Boulevard. The trail crosses eight intersections marked on a map that can be found on the project website. 

The project is designed to link with trails such as the Sacramento River Trail along the levee in the Pocket neighborhood, Randolph added. 

“It essentially connects all the way from the southern city limits at the water tower to Old Town and downtown Sacramento, through the existing trails north of where we finish,” Randolph said. “Which means that every community between here and there [will have] a straight shot for alternative transportation, be it biking, jogging, walking all the way from one city limit to the city core.”

The Del Rio Trail under construction at Edwin L. Z'berg Park in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, June 8, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Neighborhoods the trail runs through include parts of Land Park, South Land Park, Freeport Manor, Pocket and Meadowview. 

Sacramento began planning and holding public meetings about the trail in 2017. The City Council approved the project plan in 2019, but it was delayed after the Sacramento Rail Preservation Action Group filed a lawsuit to prevent construction along the former Sacramento Southern Railroad’s Walnut Grove Branch line. A county judge ruled in the city’s favor and construction began in December 2022. 

The wet winter delayed construction by about a month, Randolph said. But the contractor began working on the I-5 bridge, the most challenging part of the construction project, in early winter and is ahead of schedule. 

The $23 million project includes $5 million in funding from the state’s Clean California initiative and $10.9 million from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Sacramento also got grant money from the federal Active Transportation Program for the trail. 

Construction updates can be found on the trail’s website. People can sign up for monthly newsletters, which include any anticipated traffic delays.