The cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento revealed the final architecture design for the I Street Bridge Replacement Project on Friday, Feb. 21, culminating more than a year’s long design phase.

Renderings courtesy of: TYLin International

“This is an exciting step for the city as we move on to the next stage of building the new I Street Bridge,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “This strikingly modern design will make the new bridge an instant landmark and an important piece of redesigned waterfront.”

The year-long design process included participation from the community, an ad hoc design advisory group, project team and selection committee. The final design was narrowed down from nine designs. More than 700 community members provided feedback and suggestions at various community meetings in person and more than 3,000 people participated in the process online.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui unveiled a 3D model of the new bridge design at the news conference. “This bridge is truly one of a kind,” she said.

The vertical-lift bridge would be this first of its kind with this type of design, officials said. It is projected to hold a daily traffic volume of more than 25,000 vehicles. It will feature 6-foot bike lanes and 12-foot shared paths for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“This bridge will be a connection between two cities that are transforming themselves,” said Sacramento Vice Mayor Jeff Harris. “The design will be unique in the world, and flow seamlessly across our magnificent river.”

The new bridge will be a connection between the Sacramento Railyards and West Sacramento’s Washington Neighborhood planned developments. The existing I Street Bridge’s lower deck will continue to serve as a railroad crossing. City of Sacramento, West Sacramento, Caltrans and Union Pacific Railroad recently studied the feasibility of converting the upper deck to pedestrian and bicycle use. Next, project managers will explore preliminary designs.

The bridge is just one project in the works surrounding the Sacramento River including the Railyards development, the Powerhouse Science Center, the Downtown Riverfront Streetcar, and the redesign of the historic Old Sacramento district. In West Sacramento, the North Riverwalk Trail Extension project will complete a missing portion of pedestrian and bike paths along the riverfront. West Sacramento is constructing a new boat dock that will be open to the public this summer. It is also developing a vacant lot along the river into a mixed-use development.

The I Street Bridge Replacement Project is estimated to cost about $200 million of state, local and federal funding.