As West Village continues to expand, the university is hard at work to connect residents with access to core campus, academic facilities, recreational amenities and downtown Davis. This summer, contractors break ground on a project to improve the Hutchison Drive/Highway 113 interchange with new bike lanes, sidewalks, traffic lights and ramps.

 “The Green—a nearly completed West Village expansion — is the largest student housing project the university has ever undertaken,” said Matt Dulcich, director of environmental planning for UC Davis. “When completed this fall, it will add space for 3,300 more residents.”

More residents means more pedestrians and bicyclists crossing Highway 113 using the pedestrian bridge, the Russell Boulevard overpass and the Hutchison Drive overpass — the largest of the three connection routes.

“Our main goal for the Hutchison Drive Improvement Project is user ease and convenience,” said Maryanne Ranasinghe, DCM project manager. “We want to make this crossing very friendly for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.”

As part of the improvements, new sidewalks and bike lanes will be added to both sides of the overpass on Hutchison Drive, including a 14-foot, two-way bike lane. (See rendering shown here.)

The project will also add traffic signals and marked crosswalks at the Highway 113 on-ramps and off-ramps.

 “The traffic signals will create more controlled turning movements, and increase the appeal for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers alike.” Ranasinghe said.

Highway 113 on-ramps and off-ramps will be “squared up” to align with the new signals. The clover-shaped onramps will be straightened out to intersect with the overpass at a right angle, improving sight lines and aligning with the added traffic signals. The diagonal northbound and southbound onramps will be removed altogether.

These improvements follow a traffic projection and analysis completed as part of the 2018 Long Range Development Plan Environmental Impact Report.

“As our campus community grows and traffic of all kinds increases, we have to adapt our infrastructure to support it and encourage sustainable commuting options,” Dulcich said.

“Making it more convenient for residents to get from their homes to the rest of campus and to downtown Davis will help them engage while enriching our campus community and the City of Davis in the process.”  

Construction breaks down into three phases. Throughout construction, at least one lane of traffic in each direction will be open. Below are projected construction timeframes and detour information for each phase of construction. For up-to-date information, check the DCM road closures page as construction approaches.