A decade later, Rancho Cordova’s long-promised Highway 50 interchange is finally moving forward.

A decade after Gold River residents packed City Hall to protest it, the long-planned U.S. 50/Rancho Cordova Parkway Interchange is finally moving forward — this time with renewed funding, final design work underway, and a city that looks very different from when the project was first approved.

Back in March 2015, Rancho Cordova’s City Council voted 5–0 to certify the project’s environmental report and select a “south-only” interchange connecting U.S. 50 to a new four-lane roadway extending toward White Rock Road. The approval followed nearly three hours of public testimony, most of it in opposition. Residents of nearby Gold River worried about pollution, noise, and the project’s proximity to their neighborhood.

City officials argued the interchange was essential — not just for easing gridlock on Sunrise Boulevard and Hazel Avenue, but for accommodating the thousands of homes and jobs planned south of the freeway.

The project’s environmental review acknowledged short-term air-quality and noise impacts but concluded that the long-term benefits outweighed them. The council adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations, allowing construction to move forward despite unresolved impacts.

The final design calls for a tight-diamond interchange with auxiliary lanes in both directions of U.S. 50, an overcrossing spanning Folsom Boulevard and the light-rail tracks, and an eight-foot sound wall along the ramps. A planned bike and pedestrian connection to Gold River was ultimately dropped after community pushback.

Now, ten years later, the project is back in motion.

On October 6, 2025, the City Council approved a resolution authorizing a new public-road connection at Rancho Cordova Parkway to U.S. 50 — a step required by the California Transportation Commission before construction can proceed.

According to the staff report, engineers have been finalizing design and environmental re-validation work since 2022. Right-of-way certification is expected by summer 2026, with final plans completed by year’s end. Staff will return to the council with subsequent freeway, access-control, and maintenance agreements once the design is finalized in late 2026. The construction schedule will be developed as final design advances and funding is finalized.

The project is now valued at about $117 million, funded through a mix of traffic-impact fees, community-facility districts, and federal grants — with no cost to the city’s general fund.

When complete, the Rancho Cordova Parkway Interchange will serve as a new gateway into the city’s southern corridor — connecting the Sunrise-Douglas/Sunridge Specific Plan area and the Westborough development, while providing long-awaited relief for drivers along the Highway 50 corridor between Sunrise and Hazel.