Yolo Causeway

The Yolo Causeway is a adj=on3.2 long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain, connecting the cities of West Sacramento, California and Davis, California. It is officially named the Blecher-Freeman Memorial Causeway after two California Highway Patrol officers who were killed in the line of duty on the causeway.HistoryBefore a causeway was built, motor travelers between Davis and Sacramento were forced to detour south through Tracy and Stockton when seasonal flooding left the Yolo Bypass basin under water. Once the ground was sufficiently dry to support vehicle traffic, the first vehicle to make it across the Yolo Bypass established the seasonal "Tule Jake" Road, which was typically passable only during the summer months.1916 causewayThe original Yolo Causeway opened on 18 March 1916 as a two-lane structure 21ft wide and 16538ft long, connecting what is now the city of West Sacramento with Davis, California. Initially, the causeway was composed of a 2470ft timber trestle section on the west and the remainder concrete trestle section, with a 113ft plate girder bascule span, which was opened to permit passage of levee maintenance barges. The causeway width was doubled in 1933 when a new all-timber viaduct was added just south of the 1916 reinforced concrete structure, and lights were added in 1950.Initially, the Lincoln Highway association declined to shift the route to take advantage of the Yolo Causeway, but in 1928, following the completion of the Carquinez Bridge, it was made a part of the re-routed Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. Later, the causeway became a part of US Highways 40 and 99W.