The Highway 50 off-ramp to Hornet Drive is expected to be open Monday morning, according to Caltrans, however, Sacramento State recommends students plan ahead and give themselves extra time to commute.

According to Dennis Keaton, public information officer for Caltrans District 3, Caltrans will be merging northbound traffic on Hornet Drive to the left lane and keep the right lane open for traffic coming onto Hornet Drive from the off-ramp and towards Sac State during construction.

The press release from Caltrans recommended that drivers take Power Inn Road to Folsom Boulevard to Hornet Drive and head to the campus from there as an alternate route.

Caltrans said the $2.9 million project plans on adding street lights, traffic signals and an extra lane to increase traffic flow at the ramp.

Keaton says they expect the project to be done by October but said there is a possibility it will be sooner as they are waiting for the equipment to be shipped to them.

Caltrans said further construction is planned to be done at night to prevent closures during school hours.

Tony Lucas, University Transportation and Parking Services’ senior director, said the ramp was very popular with students and that he expected some congestion to happen due to the change.

“The first two weeks of school are always a little chaotic so I recommend students try public transit during that time,” Lucas said.

Due to Caltrans’ construction on the Hornet Drive off-ramp from Highway 50, please plan ahead and give yourself additional time during the morning commute or to use alternative transportation.
Check out alternative transport choices here: website here: https://t.co/Wx0WmbejxL pic.twitter.com/ZnS2TbjQUL

— Sac State UTAPS (@sacstateutaps) August 23, 2019

Criminal justice major Jacob Rodas said he agrees that the construction could cause problems.

“Especially the first week of school,” Rodas said. “It’s gonna impact people who don’t even go to Sac State or are new here.”

Rodas said he felt long-term students won’t be bothered as much because they’ll already know the “ins-and-outs.”

Long Vang, a sociology major, said that students rerouting was part of the problem. His route to school doesn’t use the Sac State off-ramp but he expects it to impact traffic elsewhere.

“When there’s traffic it tends to affect around the school,” Vang said. “If there’s a traffic jam then students need to find different routes.”

This post was corrected on Monday, August 26.