West Sacramento family fights to stop I Street bridge construction from tearing down century-old house
WEST SACRAMENTO — Plans to build a new I Street bridge in Sacramento have been in the works for more than a decade.
Funding has been set aside and a design approved, but now there are some last-minute changes taking place. And a West Sacramento family is now fighting to stop their century-old home from being torn down during bridge construction.
It's long been said that you can't fight city hall, but that didn't stop Mike Sanchez from trying.
"Our goal was can we save our house?" homeowner Mike Sanchez said.
He is the fourth generation of his family to live in the Victorian home on 3rd Street that was built in 1888.
"There's a lot of history here," he said.
But the home is just a block away from where a new $300 million I Street bridge is being built across the Sacramento River.
"There's a lot of money involved in this project. We want to make sure we're doing it right," said Jason McCoy, the West Sacramento transportation manager.
The current bridge is 110 years old, and the new bridge design included an alleyway across Sanchez's property.
"It was going to come right through the middle of the right side of our house," he said.
Plans were approved in 2019, but Sanchez just found out this summer his home was slated for demolition.
"We were stressed. We were feeling worried, waking up thinking 'Is my house going to be gone one day?' " he said.
So the family began lobbying the West Sacramento City Council for a last-minute reprieve.
And the efforts appear to have worked. In a public meeting on Monday, bridge planners announced they have changed the recommended route and Sanchez's home is no longer in the demolition zone.
"To hear no homes will be affected is absolutely huge. For me personally, I'm very emotional thinking about it," Sanchez said.
"Obviously, the city council asked us to take a look at this and see if there were ways we could avoid any potential acquisition in this case. I think that we were able to do that," McCoy said.
"the city council heard us. They heard our concerns and they heard our history. I feel like they listened to us. I can't be more grateful," Sanchez said.
The West Sacramento City Council is expected to vote on the proposed changes on Wednesday. Construction on the new bridge is now set to begin sometime in the next three years.
