SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A ribbon cutting Monday marked the completion of the I-5 Corridor Enhancement project that's been under construction since July 2019.
The project repaired 67 lane miles of I-5 between Elk Grove and Sacramento, and added over 20 miles of carpool lanes.
The roadway saw major fixes for potholes, lighting, and extended ramps.
There's also new striping deterring wrong-way drivers, and the fiber-optic lines turn red if a person is going the wrong way.
Dennis Keaton, spokesperson for Caltrans District 3, says these fixes were necessary as the stretch of Interstate 5 hadn't been worked on since the 70s.
"The biggest problem with I-5 and the reason this came about was because of the condition of its surface, and how it was kind of outdated. It hadn’t been significantly changed or worked on since it was first done, for that stretch of highway," said Keaton.
Keaton says the project was streamlined when fewer people were on the roads at the height of the COVID pandemic and Caltrans employees could work around the clock versus only at night on the roadway.
