The Jibboom Street Bridge (former California State Routes 24, 70 and 99 at the American River)

The Jibboom Street Bridge is a swing-span located at the American River in the city of Sacramento. Said structure was originally built to replace a broken portion of the Webster Street Bridge at Oakland Estuary in 1926. Following the opening of the Posey Tube in 1928 the Webster Street Bridge would be dismantled and relocated to the American River in 1931 near Sacramento as an extension of Jibboom Street.

The Jibboom Street Bridge would become part of Legislative Route Number 232 in 1958 and California State Route 24 by June 1959. The span was considered for a time as a new alignment of US Route 99E given it directly connected Sacramento to Marysville. Following the 1964 State Highway Renumbering the bridge would carry both California State Route 99 and 70 for several years until Interstate 5 north of downtown Sacramento was completed.

Since 1969 the swing-span of the Jibboom Street Bridge has been rendered inoperable. The structure now is the primary access drive to Discovery Park and underwent renovations circa 2018-2019.

Part 1; the history of the Jibboom Street Bridge

The Jibboom Street Bridge was not originally located in the city of Sacramento but rather the Oakland Estuary. The structure was erected in January 1926 a component of the Webster Street Bridge between Oakland and Alameda. The then new structure replaced a similar Pratt Truss swing structure which had been damaged by a ship impact in late 1925.

The prior Pratt Truss at Oakland Estuary and the rest of the Webster Street Bridge was constructed in 1898. This structure (and the Harrison Street Bridge) can be seen in the below photos hosted on bridgehunter.com for the Webster Street Drawbridge (1898).

The renovated 1926-era Webster Street Bridge can be seen as it was at Oakland Estuary in the below postcard (courtesy Steve Walker). The swing span here would in several years become the Jibboom Street Bridge.

On October 27, 1928, the Posey Tube (future California State Route 260) would open at Oakland Estuary as a replacement for the bridges located at Webster Street and Harrison Street. Removal of the Webster Street Bridge was reported in the December 11, 1928, Oakland Tribune. The Pratt Truss part of the structure was hauled via barge to Antioch where it would remain until was purchase by Sacamento County.

During August 1929 Sacramento County contracted to have the Webster Street Bridge moved to the American River. The structure would be hauled through the Sacramento River Delta to the confluence of the American River and Sacramento River during March 1930. The structure would open to traffic during 1931 as an extension of Jibboom Street out of the city of Sacramento.

A 1931 plaque on the Jibboom Street Bridge lists the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors who were involved in moving the structure from Oakland Estuary to the American River.

The Jibboom Street Bridge can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Sacramento County as a minor local highway. The structure can be seen connecting Jibboom Street in Sacramento to Garden Highway north of the American River.

1949 Legislative Chapter 1467 defined a duplicate Legislative Route Number 207 as a new State Highway between Sacramento and Marysville. This highway incorporated the Jibboom Street Bridge branching north of the I Street Bridge at the Jibboom Street Overhead. The corridor was originally subject to the provisions of the Collier Burns Act of 1947 regarding maintenance. The duplicate Legislative Route Number 207 would be reassigned as Legislative Route Number 232 by way of 1951 Legislative Chapter 1562. The Collier Burns Act provision the highway was subject to was removed in 1955.

Legislative Route Number 232 first appears as an active State Highway on the 1958 Division of Highways map. The highway is shown to terminate at the I Street Bridge via the Jibboom Street Bridge and Jibboom Street Overhead.

The July/August 1958 California Highways & Public Works referenced the formal addition Legislative Route Number 232 between Sacramento and Marysville. The highway was added to the State Highway Inventory following much of it being resurfaced to Division of Highways standards. The then new State Highway is noted to have been up for consideration as a possible realignment of US Route 99E.

Legislative Route Number 232 first appears as the then new alignment of California State Route 24 on the 1960 Division of Highways map. This realignment left only California State Route 16 crossing the Sacramento River via the I Street Bridge.

The realignment of California State Route 24 onto the Jibboom Street Bridge was announced in the July/August 1959 California Highways & Public Works. The announcement came following the completion of the last segment of Legislative Route Number 232 rebuilt to State Highway standards.

Following the 1964 State Highway Renumbering the routing of California State Route 24 was truncated to the San Francisco Bay Area. California State Routes 99 was defined as running through Sacramento and California State Route 70 was originally signed to terminus at Capitol Mall. California State Routes 99 and 70 would initially use the eastern I Street Bridge and Jibboom Street Overhead to reach the Jibboom Street Bridge. These new highways can be seen in downtown Sacramento on the 1965 Division of Highways map. Despite the 1964 definition of California State Route 99 the corridor of US Route 99 would not be formally truncated out of California until June 1965.

The original alignments of California State Routes 99 and 70 on the Jibboom Street Bridge were intended to be temporary. Following the completion of Interstate 5 north of downtown Sacramento during the late 1960s both State Routes would multiplex the freeway. This multiplex can be seen on the 1970 Division of Highways map.

In 1969 the northern timber trestle on the Jibboom Street Bridge was rebuilt as a concrete structure. This rendered the structure no longer able to utilize turntable span it was originally constructed with. Access from the bridge to Garden Highway was later severed to make way for additional parking in Discovery Park (founded in 1960).The Jibboom Street Bridge was closed from December 2018 through May 2019 so repairs to the structure could be made.

Part 2; a visit to the Jibboom Street Bridge

The Jibboom Street Bridge can be seen below as it was it was days prior to being closed in December 2018. The structure is 959 feet long and has a 24 wide roadway deck.