The Tower Bridge opened in, yes, 1935, as a combination railroad and highway bridge, which lasted until 1963 when the rail was turned into additional lanes. The architectural style you witness is "Streamline Moderne."


In heading across the Sacramento River, I clinch what's left of CA 275, which previously included the entire downtown approach from Business I-80. Before that, all of this was part of US 40 and the updated Lincoln Highway (which originally went south to Tracy and San Jose to get around the San Francisco Bay before bridges were built).

A look back west.

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Some people call it the J Street Bridge, but the plaque makes very clear what the name should be and when it was built.


Across the American River on the, ahem, Fair Oaks Blvd. Bridge EB, with a look at its 1933 lampposts.


Back west across the bridge and a look south at the 1967 Guy West Bridge, a pedestrian bridge modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge. Like the Golden Gate, it was able to lay claim to being the longest (pedestrian-only) suspension bridge in the USA when it opened.

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I've crossed west, I've crossed east, now let's cross north out of the city on the former Sacramento Northern Railroad bridge over the American River, built circa 1914. It replaced an earlier bridge with wooden components that collapsed under the weight of a laden gravel train. You can see the CA 160 highway bridge to the west in the 6th photo.


Back south toward downtown.


Bonus coverage of the Western Pacific bridge just to the east, dating to about 1909. It's still an active railroad bridge, now for Union Pacific, which absorbed Western Pacific in 1982 and now pairs this with a parallel span farther east. The center 2 photos are a left/right pair.

I-5
I-80
Business I-80
CA 99
CA 160
Secret CA 244
Sacramento Non-Roads
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