North Highlands drivers who have spent the last year dodging cones and detours on Watt Avenue are finally seeing the light at the end of the construction zone. A major renovation of the corridor is moving into its final stages, as Sacramento County’s Complete Streets rebuild of the roadway links up with SacRT’s overhaul of the Watt/I-80 transit center. Officials say residents will soon be trading lane shifts, median work and temporary bus stops for new bike lanes, landscaped medians and a rebuilt bus plaza that aim to make the stretch safer for drivers, cyclists and transit riders alike.
What’s Being Built
According to Sacramento County, the Complete Street work between I-80 and Roseville Road will bring buffered bicycle lanes in both directions, new raised landscaped medians, separated sidewalks with landscaped buffers, upgraded traffic signals and street lighting, along with repaving and reconstruction of the roadway. The county’s project timeline lists preliminary and final design work from 2019 through 2024, with construction scheduled for 2025 and 2026.
Transit Center Overhaul
As outlined by SacRT, the Watt/I-80 Transit Center Improvement Project, which broke ground in July 2024, will widen the Watt Avenue bridge, add an open-air stairwell to the transit center, rebuild the upper-level bus and pedestrian plaza and upgrade the I-80 on-ramps and the under-bridge area. The agency says it is investing roughly $26 million in the work and expects the project to wrap up by mid-2026. Southbound lanes and the new west-side stairway reopened in mid-December, and crews have now shifted to the northbound (east) side, with some bus stops temporarily moved to nearby Longview Drive.
What Drivers And Riders Will See
CBS Sacramento notes that the county maintains more than 2,200 miles of roads and has described the Watt Avenue effort as a multi-million-dollar makeover. County planners say the upgrades are designed to calm traffic, improve crossings for people on foot and on bikes, and support economic development along the corridor once the orange cones finally disappear.
Why It Matters Locally
The makeover arrives as Sacramento County pushes ahead on other nearby projects, including a planned Safe Stay campus at 4837 Watt Avenue that county officials say will provide cabins, safe parking and services for people experiencing homelessness, according to KCRA. That mix of new shelter capacity and better transit access is the kind of neighborhood balance planners say the Watt Avenue upgrades are meant to support.
Officials’ Take And What’s Next
“These improvements will not only make the transit center more accessible but also more inviting and capable of handling increased ridership,” SacRT General Manager Henry Li said in a press release. For the latest construction updates or rider detours, SacRT lists a project hotline and email on its project page: 916-566-5221 and [email protected]. Officials are urging drivers and riders to plan extra time, follow posted signage and keep an eye on agency updates while crews push through the final phases of work.
