The Abridged version:
Caltrans says it is wrapping up construction on Highway 50 this weekend, causing what it hopes to be the last major disruption.
The left lanes on Highway 50 through Midtown will be closed for 27 hours starting at 9 p.m. Friday night.
Caltrans said the closure will allow crews to prepare the surface of the lanes for final striping.
Caltrans will be putting the “final touches of the main construction” on Highway 50 this weekend, causing what it hopes to be the last major disruption in the long-running project.
Both directions through Midtown Sacramento will be down a lane for 27 hours starting Friday at 9 p.m. The closure will be in effect for the left lanes between 15th St. and 26th St. until 12 a.m. Sunday.
Wrapping up construction
Sergio Ochoa Sanchez, spokesperson for Caltrans, said that crews will be removing 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 weekend 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 weekend 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.