PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Yolo Causeway
Yolo Causeway
	Yolo Causeway from the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (2014)
Coordinates	38°33′49″N 121°38′18″W / 38.563494°N 121.638392°W
Carries	6 lanes of I-80, ; pedestrians and bicycles
Crosses	Yolo Bypass
Locale	Yolo County, California
Official name	Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway
Maintained by	Caltrans
NBI	22 0044 & 22 0045
Characteristics
Design	prestressed concrete tee beam
Total length	3.2 miles (5.1 km), divided into 877.8-metre (2,880 ft) western segment and 2,682.2-metre (8,800 ft) eastern segment
Width	35.7 metres (117 ft)
No. of spans	72 (western segment); 127 (eastern segment)
History
Opened	1916 (original), 1962 (current)
Statistics
Daily traffic	150,000 (2010)
Location

The Yolo Causeway is a 3.2-mile (5.1 km) long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain, connecting the cities of West Sacramento, California and Davis, California. It is officially named the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway after two California Highway Patrol officers who were killed in the line of duty just east of the causeway.

History

Ferry service was usually required to cross the Yolo Bypass basin during seasonal flooding; the first county seat of Yolo County was the town of Fremont, built near the ferry crossing near the confluence of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers. Fremont was wiped out during the floods of 1851.^[1]^: 3.6-5 As an alternative, settlers established the Yolo Plankroad, which was a 4.5-mile-long (7.2 km) route that ended close to present-day Woodland, California.^[1]^: 3.6-6

Before a causeway was built, wheeled vehicles between Davis and Sacramento were forced to detour south through Tracy and Stockton during seasonal flooding.^[2] Once the ground was sufficiently dry to support vehicle traffic, the first vehicle to make it across the Yolo Bypass established the seasonal "Tule Jake" Road, which was typically passable only during the summer months.^[3]

1916 causeway

The original Yolo Causeway opened on March 18, 1916^[4] as a two-lane structure 21 feet (6.4 m) wide and 16,538 feet (5,041 m; 3.1322 mi) long,^[5] connecting what is now the city of West Sacramento with Davis, California.^[2] Residents celebrated with the three day-long Causeway Celebration, held from May 11–14, 1916.^[1]^: 3.6–7

Initially, the causeway was composed of a timber trestle section (2,470 ft or 750 m long on the west) and a concrete trestle section (remaining length), with a 113-foot (34 m) plate girder bascule span, which was opened to permit passage of levee maintenance barges.^[5] The causeway width was doubled in 1933 when a new all-timber viaduct was added just south of the 1916 reinforced concrete structure; lights were added in 1950.^[2]

The Lincoln Highway association initially declined to shift its route to take advantage of the Yolo Causeway,^[6] but in 1928, following the completion of the Carquinez Bridge, it was made a part of the re-routed Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. Later, the causeway became a part of US Highways 40 and 99W.

1962 causeway

The current causeway was built in 1962.^[4] From west to east, the causeway is composed of twinned 2,880-foot-long (880 m) concrete trestles, a 4,700-foot-long (1,400 m) earth fill segment, and twinned 8,800-foot-long (2,700 m) concrete trestles. The easternmost of the two bridges is the longer of the two and traffic reporters will sometimes refer to the two structures as the "long bridge" and the "short bridge". Each trestle carries a 46-foot-wide (14 m), three-lane roadway.

It was renamed the "Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway" in 1994,^[7] after two California Highway Patrol officers who were shot to death in 1978 after a highway stop near the causeway.^[8]

8km
5miles

6

5

4

3

2

1

Vicinity of Yolo Causeway & Bypass

1

Fremont Weir Wildlife Area

2

Yolo Causeway (western segment/"short" bridge)

3

Yolo Causeway (earthen fill)

4

Yolo Causeway (eastern segment/"long" bridge)

5

Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area

6

Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area

Proposed improvements

In 2018, Caltrans announced plans to extend the carpool lane along I-80 from Solano County to Sacramento County, which includes plans to widen the causeway to four lanes in each direction. The proposed widening would not start until at least 2024, and the project is estimated to cost $800 million. One proposed alternative would use the extra lane as a toll lane.^[9]

Environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club are suing Caltrans citing a flawed environmental impact report that underestimates the impacts to traffic volumes, greenhouse gas emissions, and air quality.^[10] There are also concerns that the construction activities could impact the colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the causeway, as well as the Swainson's hawks and Tricolored blackbirds that inhabit the area.^[11]

Under a 2013 amendment to the California Environmental Quality Act, Caltrans is required to mitigate environmental impact of additional traffic induced by any projects. However, the district director for Caltrans has stated that it is not feasible to fully mitigate the impacts of this project.^[11]

Bypass

The 25,500-acre (10,300 ha) Yolo Bypass protects Sacramento and other California Central Valley communities from flooding. During wet seasons, it can be full of water. It contains the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area, the largest ecological restoration project west of the Everglades. Other nature preserves in it include the Fremont Weir Wildlife Area and Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area.

The Yolo Bypass begins at the Fremont Weir Wildlife Area, located approximately 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Sacramento and lying south of the Sacramento River, upstream from its confluence with the Feather River. When seasonal rains cause the river to rise, water is diverted via the concrete Fremont Weir into the Yolo Bypass floodplain. The Yolo Bypass can carry up to five times the capacity of the Sacramento River, preventing it from flooding Sacramento. The diverted water re-enters the Sacramento River delta near Rio Vista.^[12] A 2002 study showed that water begins to flow from the Sacramento into the Fremont Weir when the flow reaches approximately 2,000 cubic metres per second (4,200,000 cu ft/min); for comparison, the capacity of the Yolo Bypass is 14,000 to 15,000 cubic metres per second (30,000,000 to 32,000,000 cu ft/min).^[13]

Approximately 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats migrate to the Yolo Causeway every June. They roost in the expansion joints between the causeway segments, and feed on the insects that live in the wetlands formed by the Yolo Bypass.^[14]

Causeway Classic

The Causeway Classic, an annual college football game between the Aggies of the University of California, Davis and the Hornets of California State University, Sacramento, is named after the causeway.^[15] A trophy made from a concrete core sample taken from the causeway is awarded to the winner.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b ^c EDAW, Inc. (June 2008). "3.6 Cultural Resources". Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Land Management Plan (Report). California Department of Fish and Game. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Meyer, J.G.; Hart, Alan S. (September–October 1961). "Progress on US 40 – Carquinez to Sacramento" (PDF). California Highways and Public Works. 40 (9–10). California Department of Transportation: 6–10. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ "There's No Way to Get There From Here" (PDF). The Traveler. 13 (3). Lincoln Highway Association – California Chapter. July 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Colley, R.F.; Chapman, M. (May–June 1962). "Yolo Causeway: New Crossing Is Scheduled for Early 1963 Completion" (PDF). California Highways and Public Works. 41 (5–6). California Department of Transportation: 44–49. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Sutton, W.E. (June 1940). "Redecking the Yolo Causeway" (PDF). California Highways and Public Works. 18 (6). California Department of Transportation: 16, 32. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ "Causeway Not On Lincoln Highway". The Lodi Sentinel. June 17, 1916.
^ Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 119 (ACR 119). April 11, 1994. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ Faigin, Daniel. "California Highways - Interstate 80". Retrieved December 2, 2008.
^ Resnik, Max; Cummings, Brandi (June 6, 2018). "Caltrans ready to expand Yolo Causeway, seeks public's input". KCRA-TV. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ "Environmental Groups Challenge Highway Expansion Project in Court". www.nrdc.org. May 30, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "It's one of California's worst freeway bottlenecks. Will fixing it ruin the planet?". Los Angeles Times. June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
^ "Yolo Bypass quietly keeps Sacramento on dry ground". KXTV. December 14, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ Schemel, L.E.; Cox, M.H.; Hager, S.W.; Sommer, T.R. (September 2002). Hydrology and chemistry of floodwaters in the Yolo Bypass, Sacramento River system, California, during 2000; Water Resources Investigations Report 02-4202 (PDF) (Report). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
^ Costabile, Dominick (August 12, 2012). "Going batty: Migrants roost under causeway". Davis Enterprise. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
^ "Journal: 50 Years – Hooray for Causeway". Capital University Journal. Fall 2003. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2017.

External links

Yolo Causeway - Davis Wiki
Caltrans timeline
CHP Memorial: Blecher-Freeman
Blow, Ben (1920). "XI. Division III – The building of the Sacramento-Yolo Causeway". California highways: a descriptive record of road development by the state and by such counties as have paved highways. San Francisco: H.S. Crocker Co. pp. 71–75. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
"The Yolo Basin Concrete Trestle". The Architect and Engineer. 47 (1): 97–100. October 1916. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
"Yolo 80 Corridor Improvement Project". Caltrans.