Interstate 80 Business (I-80 Bus), called the Capital City Freeway in its entirety and also known as Business 80, is a business loop of Interstate 80 (I-80) through Sacramento, California, United States, and one of the two business routes of I-80 in California. The entire route is a freeway and the only business route in California to be one.
It originally carried mainline I-80 through Sacramento until the early 1980s. The eastern half, originally known as the Elvas Freeway, was initially grandfathered into the Interstate Highway System; however, plans to upgrade or realign this portion to meet Interstate Highway standards were canceled. As such, the I-80 designation through Sacramento was moved to a northern bypass of the city that had previously been signed I-880, and the former routing was then designated as Business 80.
I-80 Bus then consisted of two connected segments. The western segment ran concurrently signed with US Route 50 (US 50) and also carried the unsigned designation of I-305.<!--The redirect for I-305 goes to U.S. Route 50 in California.--> The eastern segment was assigned the unsigned designation of State Route 51 (SR 51). After travelers complained that I-80 Bus was difficult to follow, it was named the Capital City Freeway in 1996. As part of a resigning project which commenced in 2016, references to I-80 Bus on the western segment were being removed, subsequently leaving that portion only signed as US 50. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) however still lists the entire route under one I-80 Bus exit list. Currently, I-80 Bus is the only Interstate business route in California to exist as a freeway.
US Route 50/Interstate 305 segment
The western section of I-80 Bus begins in West Sacramento at I-80, where I-80 leaves the West Sacramento Freeway onto the Beltline Freeway, which travels north of the Bryte neighborhood, over the Sacramento River, and into the Natomas area. This interchange in West Sacramento is also the current west end of US 50, The I-80 Bus/US 50/unsigned I-305 segment then runs approximately from I-80 west to SR 99 southeast of Downtown Sacramento, though only US 50 is signed in this portion.
Beginning in 2016, signs along the western segment were being updated to remove references to I-80 Bus and instead sign the route only as US 50. <!--Based on the current edition of the Caltrans District 3 Bridgelog, we can't say that the sign update is complete.--> However, Caltrans still lists this segment under the I-80 Bus exit list instead of the US 50 one, and mapmakers to this day may continue to sign both the eastern and western sections as part of I-80 Bus.
State Route 51
The unsigned State Route 51 (SR 51) is defined as follows in sections 351 and 351.1 of the California Streets and Highways Code:
<blockquote>351. Route 51 is from Route 50 in Sacramento to Route 80 east of Sacramento.
351.1. Notwithstanding Section 640, Route 51 shall be signed Interstate Business Loop 80.
</blockquote>
Despite the legal definition, exit numbers assigned along SR 51 start at 6 instead of 1 or 0, treating I-80 Bus as one continuous route. The Sacramento River Viaduct was completed in 1966, the Southside Park Viaduct was completed in 1967, and the rest of the W-X Freeway was completed in 1968. The Sacramento City Council voted in September 1979 to delete the I-80 bypass freeway from the Interstate System. In 1980 California submitted to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) proposals to relocate I-80 in Sacramento onto then I-880, extend US 50 west to cover the west half of old I-80, and to assign I-305 to the west half of old I-80, and delete I-880 in the Sacramento area. I-880 would eventually be relocated to then SR 17 from I-280 in San Jose to I-80 and I-580 (now at the MacArthur Maze) in Oakland in 1982–1984. AASHTO approved these proposals. The next year, the California State Legislature extended US 50 west to cover the western half of old I-80, and the eastern half was assigned the new SR 51 number and designated as I-80 Bus. This name appears on overhead signs at prominent interchanges. The route is referred to as Business 80, Biz 80, Capital City Freeway, Cap City Freeway, and US 50 (western section only) by residents and mapmakers. Caltrans does not normally use the I-80 Bus designation, except for signage and other related concepts like Cal-NExUS exit numbers (which are continuous along the business loop). Caltrans refers to the western half as US 50 and the eastern half as SR 51 for traffic condition reporting.
Under section 351.1 of the California Streets and Highways Code, "Route 51 shall be signed Interstate Business Loop 80. thus Caltrans was able to start removing references to I-80 Bus on signage in the US 50 segment. Caltrans considers the Capital City Freeway to be from the interchange with US 50/SR 99 to I-80. Meanwhile, a separate legislative designation for I-305 has never been added to the Streets and Highways Code, and that Interstate remains unsigned to this day.
Despite Caltrans's official signage and reporting practices, mapmakers may still show the I-305 and SR 51 designations, as well as the I-80 Bus/US 50 concurrency on the western segment. The SR 99 concurrency, running along US 50 and I-5 to northern Sacramento, is also not officially designated by Caltrans, but mapmakers will still also often show it as such.
An earlier SR 51 was defined on July 1, 1964, on a section of pre-1964 Legislative Route 2, providing a loop east of I-5 (pre-1964 Legislative Route 174 there) through Orange via Main Street, around the Orange Crush interchange (where I-5 intersects with SR 22 and SR 57), and west back to I-5 in Anaheim via Orangewood Avenue. It was removed from the state highway system in 1965.
The proposed Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements Project would add high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes along the segment of US 50/Business 80 between I-80 in West Sacramento and I-5 in Sacramento by the end of the 2020s.
Exit list
Under the official exit list by Caltrans, mileage is measured along I-80 BL as one continuous route, instead of unsigned SR 51 having its own separate set of mileage and exit numbers.
See also
- Transportation in the Sacramento metropolitan area
References
External links
- California @ AARoads.com - Business Loop I-80 Sacramento
- The Highwayman's Road Reports - Elvas Freeway, North Sacramento Freeway and West Sacramento Freeway