CalTrans announces month long roadwork on I-5 near Sacramento

Caltrans is alerting commuters to potential delays on northbound Interstate 5 heading toward Sacramento with roadwork planned during Memorial Day weekend. 

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Crews will limit a roughly 5-mile stretch of northbound I-5 to only one lane beginning Thursday night and lasting weekdays through June 30, according to a news release Thursday. The closures, part of an $1.5 million emergency pavement repair project, start near Mokelumne City, a ghost town in San Joaquin County, and stretch to Lambert Road, south of Elk Grove.

Caltrans spokesperson Dennis Keaton told SFGATE by phone that the road closure will start Thursday from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. and will last through June 30, with roadwork expected on weekdays. During the expected road closures, the speed limit will be reduced to 55 miles per hour, per Caltrans. Keaton said the project was required to repair the roadway.

“In some areas, there are 10-by-20-foot sections of concrete that need to be saw-cut and excavated,” Keaton said. “This has to be done so there is less damage to vehicles going down this route and for safety.” 

Keaton said that Caltrans plans to do overnight work to avoid traffic backup during the emergency project, which targets 19 locations on an overall 20-mile stretch of I-5 north. 

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About 65,000 commuters drive through this section of I-5 north, according to Keaton. He couldn’t say how many cars are expected to drive through this section during the holiday weekend rush, but added that no road closures were expected this weekend.