Is Fix50 finally finished? Here's what drivers can expect

Workers labor on Highway 50 at night. After years of closures and congestion, Sacramento’s largest freeway projects are entering their final stretch.

I was leaving a downtown event and taking the usual route home to the suburbs by driving down to X Street to then hop on Highway 50. But the entrance to the freeway was closed for the night. So was the next entrance I drove to. I had to navigate miles through East Sacramento to finally find an open entrance to get home. It was just one of many obstacles and inconveniences myself and 80,000 other commuters faced during the five years of Caltrans’ Fix50 project.

Another night, while driving home on eastbound 50 and surrounded by bright, blinding construction lights, the highway suddenly split. But wait! There is no split on Highway 50. That night there was, due to construction. Terrified, I almost crashed into that makeshift center divider that hasn’t been there in my 25 years as a Sacramento commuter. And let’s not talk about driving westbound on 50 toward downtown when the lanes were so squeezed together with claustrophobic barriers installed on each side that there was no wiggle room should that big rig veer slightly left or right.

There were nights I had to search for open freeway entrances after teaching a night class at Sac State. And many times, the newly split freeway had me drive right past the exit for Howe Avenue and Comstock’s office, forcing me to turn around and reroute back. I was amazed there weren’t more accidents during that time.

Caltrans said the Fix50 project was the most complex in 50 years. To give credit, I now notice the freeway flowing freer. The lane that suddenly ended at Watt Avenue has been extended. Read more about the amenities Caltrans added to the road in our featured transportation story.

– Judy Farah, editor

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Is Fix50 finally finished? Here’s what drivers can expect