The Arcade Creek Bridge is a small span located on Bridge Road in Del Paso Park of Sacramento. This bridge was constructed in 1935 as part of the original main entrance road from the former surface alignment of US Routes 40 and 99E along Auburn Boulevard. Del Paso Park was later severed by the Watt Avenue interchange along the Ben Ali-Roseville freeway when the corridor was being converted to Interstate standards.
The history of the Arcade Creek Bridge
What is now Del Paso Park was part of the 44,371-acre Rancho Del Paso. Said Rancho was granted by Mexican Alta California Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Elijah Grimes in 1844. Elijah Grimes would die in 1848 and pass his holdings onto nephew Hiram.
Hiram Grimes would continue to hold ownership of Rancho Del Paso after California became an American state. He would later sell the lands to Samuel Norris in 1852 who in turn filed a claim of ownership with the Public Land Commission. Norris's claim would be patented in 1858, but he would soon face numerous legal issues. Norris would sell Rancho Del Paso in 1862 to his lawyer James Ben-Ali Haggin.
During the Haggin years much of Rancho Del Paso would be spun off into new communities such as Del Paso Heights and Ben Ali which were later annexed into Sacramento. Some portions of the Rancho were used for horse breeding until 1905. The Rancho Del Paso Land Company which had incorporated in 1891 would sell the remaining parcels to the Sacramento Valley Colonization Company in 1910.
In 1915 the city of Sacramento would commission Del Paso Park in the style of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The project faced numerous financial issues which didn't see the park golf course breaking ground until 1932. The original main park entrance via what is now Bridge Road was completed by 1935. Bridge Road connected Auburn Boulevard (then US Routes 40 and 99E) to Park Road via the Arcade Creek Bridge.
The relocation of US Routes 40 and 99E from the end of the North Sacramento Freeway via a bypass of Roseville was announced as being authorized by the California Highway Commission in the September/October 1947 California Highways & Public Works. The new freeway extension from the North Sacramento Freeway to Roseville is stated to be in the design stages. The project map shows the planned freeway corridor bisecting Del Paso Park near a proposed interchange with Watt Avenue.
The July/August 1950 California Highways & Public Works notes the planned freeway extension from the North Sacramento Freeway to Roseville was upheld by the California Supreme Court. The proposed realignment of US Routes 40 and 99E was challenged in Holloway vs. Purcell under the pretense that the California Highway Commission and Department of Public Works did not have the authority to relocate an existing highway which was authorized under provisions of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.
The May/June 1956 California Highways & Public Works announced the opening of the Ben Ali-Roseville Freeway as the new alignment US Routes 40 and 99E on April 24, 1956.
The Watt Avenue freeway interchange originally did not severe Park Road in Del Paso Park. The corridor of the Ben Ali-Freeway would become part of original alignment Interstate 80 following the passage 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act. The interchange was later widened to accommodate all movements to/from Watt Avenue. This widening severed Park Road at Interstate 80 into two halves. The eastern half remained signed as Park Road whereas the western segment became Longview Drive.
The severed Park Road in Del Paso Park can be seen on the 1967 United States Geological Survey map. The blue pin indicates where the Arcade Creek Bridge along Bridge Road is located.
The original alignment of Interstate 80 became California State Route 51 (signed as Interstate 80 Business) in 1981. Interstate 80 was relocated onto what was Interstate 880 due to planned improvements along the original corridor falling through.
Despite Del Paso Park now being functionally severed the Arcade Creek Bridge can still be found along Bridge Road. The structure is now mainly used by those accessing Harry Renfree Field.
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