Sacramento, California – A train ride begins before a passenger reaches the platform. At Sacramento Valley Station, plans for the future focus on those connections: getting people from buses, bicycles, cars and downtown streets to the trains that carry them across the region.
The 17-acre site at 4th and I streets is being developed as a broader transportation gateway, with a five-block cycle track, improved freeway access and a historic tunnel opening into a modern downtown plaza among the planned features.
The Sacramento Transportation Authority is partnering with the City of Sacramento to support the work through voter-approved Measure A funds. The development will unfold in multiple phases, bringing rail, bus, vehicle and nonmotorized travel facilities into a more connected network.
The station already serves as the region’s primary stop for Amtrak long-distance trains and state-supported intercity services linking northern and central California with the Bay Area. The city owns both the station building and the surrounding 17-acre property and is leading the expansion program. City of Sacramento
For passengers, several goals are practical and direct. The city plans to accommodate regional bus agencies, expand bicycle access and improve passenger access closer to the train platforms. Together, those changes are intended to make the station easier to reach and navigate, whether someone arrives on two wheels, on foot or aboard another transit service.
The broader project also calls for better access to Interstate 5. Meanwhile, the planned cycle track would extend bicycle connections across five blocks, giving cycling a defined place in the station’s transportation network.
The historic tunnel and new plaza would connect an older feature of the site with its next chapter. Their inclusion puts access to downtown alongside the movement of passengers through the station.
Sustainability is another part of the vision. The development aims to generate net positive energy, making energy production a goal alongside mobility and accessibility.
As the phases move forward, the central purpose remains straightforward: help the station’s different transportation services work together, connecting regional journeys with the streets and destinations around them.
More information is available on the city’s Sacramento Valley Station project page.