Title
Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation (SacAdapt) Plan
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00701
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution approving the Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation (SacAdapt) Plan.
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Contact
Contact: Sarah Kolarik, Sustainability Specialist, (916) 808-1421, skolarik@cityofsacramento.org; Rachel Patten, Sustainability Manager, (916) 808-5016, rpatten@cityofsacramento.org; Jennifer Donlon Wyant, Mobility and Sustainability Division Manager, (916) 808-5913, jdonlonwyant@cityofsacramento.org; Department of Public Works
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Presenter
Presenter: None
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
3-Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Plan (SacAdapt)
4-SacAdapt Appendix A: Literature Review and Existing Conditions Report
5-SacAdapt Appendix B: Vulnerability Assessment
6-SacAdapt Appendix C: Risk Assessment
7-SacAdapt Appendix D: Implementation Guidance
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: The Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation (SacAdapt) Plan is a collaborative planning effort between the City of Sacramento (City) and Sacramento Regional Transit Agency (SacRT) to analyze current and anticipated future extreme weather risks to the City’s transportation system, and to identify prioritized recommendations to improve resilience of the transportation system. SacAdapt is funded by a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Adaptation Planning Grant.
The SacAdapt planning process evaluated existing and projected climate hazards (e.g., flooding, heat, wind, fire) and critical transportation infrastructure (e.g., roadways, signals, bikeways, sidewalks, light rail lines, etc.) to perform a risk assessment, generate possible adaptation solutions, and develop a prioritized list of adaptation strategies. SacAdapt recommends a total of 59 strategies, across ten categories, to adapt the city’s multi-modal transportation network and public transportation system to four primary climate hazard types. See the Background section for an overview and the SacAdapt Plan for a full strategy list.
Council approval of this plan will support staff to initiate work on proposed adaptation strategies. For example, integration of SacAdapt recommendations into key policy documents (e.g., the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and Climate Action and Adaptation Plan), internal coordination to incorporate SacAdapt recommendations into operating procedures, and the ongoing pursuit of competitive grants and other sources of funding to advance adopted priorities. A Council approved plan positions the City to be eligible for competitive grant funding for strategy implementation, including preliminary engineering design, environmental clearance, final design and construction, and program development and implementation.
This is an action item to pass a Resolution approving the Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Plan as the City’s guide for climate adaptation strategies for the City’s transportation infrastructure.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: The SacAdapt Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Plan is consistent with the goals and policies of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (Resolution No. 2024-0067), including implementing actions:
A-1-3: Climate Informed Infrastructure Planning - “to establish guidance and procedures for the consideration of climate impacts in all City infrastructure and capital projects, including minimum levels of preparation as applicable”; and
A-5-21: Resilient Transportation Infrastructure - “Conduct an assessment of infrastructure at risk from flooding and climate impacts and prioritize improvements to those facilities that are most critical and at greatest risk.”
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: The action requested is review of a citywide planning study to be used as guidance for future engineering, design, and analysis. The informational update in this report is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), because it is an administrative activity that does not involve any commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment, as contemplated by Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Sections 15378(b)(5) and is, therefore, not subject to CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3). Projects consistent with the Plan will be subject to review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act during the project-specific Preliminary Design and Environmental phase.
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Sustainability
Sustainability: This Plan will prepare the City to improve the adaptive capacity of the City’s transportation network in the face of extreme weather events that will be exacerbated by climate change. These efforts will advance the City’s commitment to prepare for the effects of climate change (Resolution No. 2019-0433), and support implementation of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP, Resolution No. 2024-0067) Goal A-1-Strengthen City government capacity for integrated, holistic climate adaptive strategies and to reduce climate risks-, and sub-strategies A-1-3-Climate-Informed Infrastructure Planning-and A-1-4-Resilient City Facilities.
Additionally, the Plan will consider mobility for all modes of transportation to reduce dependence on the private automobile, even when the transportation network experiences the negative impacts of climate change. This will support CAAP Measure TR-1-Improve active transportation infrastructure to achieve 6% active transportation mode share by 2030 and 12% by 2045-and CAAP Measure TR-2-Support public transit improvements to achieve 11% public transit mode share by 2030 and maintain through 2045.
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: During Phase 2 SacAdapt engagement, staff presented informational items to the Active Transportation Commission on October 16, 2025 and the Disabilities Advisory Commission on November 5, 2025 to receive feedback on the SacAdapt planning process and engagement approach. Commissioner comments emphasized the importance of equity-focused multi-benefit improvements and maintenance. During Phase 3 SacAdapt engagement, staff presented informational items to the Active Transportation Commission on January 15, 2026 and the Disabilities Advisory Commission on February 4, 2026 to receive feedback on the Draft SacAdapt Plan and adaptation strategies and public engagement approach. Commissioner comments highlighted support for the plan and emphasized the importance of evacuation routes and disaster preparedness and education.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: The action requested is to adopt a Resolution approving the SacAdapt Plan. The SacAdapt Plan is a policy and technical document that will guide staff across multiple departments in their efforts to integrate climate adaptation strategies into policy, projects, operations, and maintenance. SacAdapt will help the city meet its mobility, safety, equity, and climate goals by advancing climate resilience strategies.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: The SacAdapt Plan recommends adaptation strategies that are estimated to cost approximately $20 million in one-time costs, with annual costs ranging between $50 and $200 million depending on the scale of strategy implementation. Approval of this recommendation does not obligate funding for the improvements, and no funding for implementation of SacAdapt has been identified at this time.
No General Funds are involved with this recommendation.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
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Background
Background: The City of Sacramento (City) manages over 3,100 lane miles of streets, over 800 traffic signals, more than two dozen flood gates, over 160 bridges, and over 80 miles of shared-use walking and bicycling paths. As the largest transit provider in the Sacramento region, SacRT operates 53 light rail stations carrying approximately 14,600 passengers per day and manages 3,200 bus stops servicing approximately 21,000 bus passengers per day. Climate change impacts (e.g., extreme heat, flooding, wind, and fire/smoke) are already affecting these transportation assets, and the impacts are projected to worsen in the coming decades.
In 2023, the City and SacRT worked collaboratively on an application for funding from the Caltrans Adaptation Planning Grant Program. This application was successful and is funding the collaborative planning effort to develop the Sacramento Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Plan, or SacAdapt Plan. The City and SacRT are working in partnership on this planning effort because of the interconnected nature of the transportation network assets that each agency manages.
Through this planning effort, the two agencies conducted a multi-hazard risk assessment of their transportation systems and generated recommended adaptation strategies. The resulting SacAdapt Plan provides a long-term implementation plan for adapting Sacramento's transportation network to the increasing impacts of climate change and ensuring the system's long-term resilience. SacAdapt provides the City and SacRT with a prioritized list of policy, maintenance and operations strategies that help achieve the climate adaptation objectives of the City's General Plan 2040 and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan. SacAdapt positions the City and SacRT to secure future funding. By completing this plan together, the agencies can ensure consistency and shared priorities when applying for competitive funding to mitigate climate impacts.
The SacAdapt planning effort was kicked off in Fall of 2024 and the deadline to finalize and submit the plan to Caltrans is April 30, 2026 to fulfill the grant requirements. The SacAdapt planning effort includes five major tasks (Literature and Exiting Conditions Review, Vulnerability Assessment, Resilience Strategy Identification and Prioritization, Community Engagement, and Final Plan Development). These five tasks are divided into three project phases, with each phase including a significant community engagement component. During each community engagement phase, the Project Team leveraged multiple strategies to encourage community participation including a project webpage (cityofsacramento.gov/SacAdapt); a City Express post; City and SacRT social media posts and newsletters; emails to community partners; digital toolkit; and multiple in-person pop-up events, workshops, and presentations.
The three project phases are:
1. Understand current and future risks and needs. Phase 1 took place between late-2024 and mid-2025 and coincided with Task 1 (Literature and Existing Conditions Review) and Task 2 (Vulnerability Assessment). Phase 1 community engagement was conducted between January and February 2025 and focused on gaining insight from the community about how travel around Sacramento is impacted by extreme weather events. Input from the community helped the project team understand the needs and concerns of the community. Community feedback was used in conjunction with feedback from agency experts to identify the climate change impacts that are of highest concern to the transportation system. In total, the Project Team engaged over 280 residents and received 421 survey responses through the following events in Winter 2024-25:
• December 4: City Community Ambassadors Presentation
• January 16: City Connect Mixer
• January 29: Mobile Workshop #1 on the SacRT Gold Line
• January 30: Mobile Workshop #1 on the SacRT Blue Line
• February 10: Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association Presentation
• February 18: La Familia Presentation
• February 20: SacRT Mobility Advisory Council Presentation
• February 20: Workshop #3 at the City Connect Mixer
• February 27: Sacramento State Networking Cafe
2. Identify and prioritize recommendations. Phase 2 took place between mid-2025 and late-2025 and coincided with Task 3 (Resilience Strategy Identification and Prioritization). This phase identified and prioritized recommended adaptation strategies for both the City and SacRT. Phase 2 community engagement was conducted between September and November 2025 and focused on community priorities related to transportation resilience as well as understanding where investments in person-scale comfort (e.g., to mitigate impacts of extreme heat or rain/flooding) can have the biggest impact on mode shift to active and public transportation. Community feedback was used to refine recommended transportation adaptation strategies and inform prioritization of the strategies. In total, the Project Team engaged over 920 residents and received 440 survey responses through the following events in Fall 2025:
• September 3: City Community Ambassadors Presentation
• September 17: Sacramento Transportation Management Association (SacTMA) Transportation Fair
• September 18: SacRT Mobility Advisory Council Presentation
• September 18: Workshop #1 at the City Connect Mixer
• September 20: Sacramento County District 2 Fun Fair
• September 21: Climate Justice Festival
• September 27: Natomas Farmers Market
• October 1: Workshop #2 at 16th Street Light Rail Station
• October 2: Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Connecting Our Communities Resource Expo
• October 4: Salsa and Chilies Festival
• October 9: Workshop #3 at Arden/Del Paso Light Rail Station
• October 12: Meadowview Farmers Market
• October 15: District 2 Town Hall
• October 16: Florin Farmers Market
• October 16: Active Transportation Commission Presentation
• October 18: SMUD Electricity Fair
• October 18: Highwater Jamboree
• October 24: Tahoe Park Food Truck Mania
• October 25: Harvest Festival
• November 1: Water Festival
• November 5: Disabilities Advisory Commission Presentation
3. Finalize the plan. Phase 3 took place between late-2025 and early-2026 and coincides with Task 5 (Final Plan Development). Phase 3 engagement began on January 15, 2026, and concluded on February 12, 2026, and focused on public review of the Draft SacAdapt Plan. During the public comment period, staff received over 150 comments on the online plan review platform, eight emailed responses, and verbal comments from the Active Transportation and Disabilities Advisory Commissioners. Public comments highlighted the importance of expanding urban tree canopy, increasing heat mitigation at bus stops, increased stormwater management for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, evacuation resources for vulnerable communities and individuals without vehicles, and a desire to see funding dedicated to plan implementation. This community input guided finalization of the SacAdapt Plan. In total, the Project Team engaged over 300 residents through the following events in 2026:
• January 15: Active Transportation Commission Presentation
• January 15: Workshop #1 at the City Connect Mixer
• January 28: Light Rail Station Outreach (16th Street Station)
• February 3: Online Workshop #1
• February 4: Light Rail Station Outreach (University/65th Street Station)
• February 4: Disabilities Advisory Commission Presentation
• February 5: Online Workshop #2
• February 7: Chinese New Year Celebration
• February 7: Steps to College Resource Fair
The adaptation strategies for the City address four hazard types with ten total strategy categories:
• Heat:
o Create built environments that reduce exposure to extreme heat and mitigate urban heat island effect.
o Create built environments that are resilient to the impacts of extreme heat.
• Flooding:
o Increase stormwater drainage capacity.
o Invest in infrastructure maintenance.
• All-Hazard:
o Increase community resilience to prepare for climate impacts.
o Reduce the risk of power outages.
o Strengthen City government capacity for climate resilience.
o Support resilience of transit facilities.
• Disaster preparedness:
o Strengthen City government disaster preparedness and capacity for emergency response.
o Consider evacuation needs in planning.
Many of the adaptation strategies are aligned with previously adopted strategies in the 2040 General Plan, Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, Urban Forest Plan, Streets for People Plan, and Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. Within these previously adopted strategies, suggested additions are highlighted as relevant. Additional strategies are identified to address gaps in previously adopted strategies.
The SacAdapt Plan also includes adaptation strategies for SacRT to increase resilience of the public transportation system.
The SacAdapt Plan and technical appendices are available for review on the project website: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/sacadapt.
Council approval of this plan will support staff to initiate work on proposed adaptation strategies. For example, integration of SacAdapt recommendations into key policy documents (e.g., the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and Climate Action and Adaptation Plan), internal coordination to incorporate SacAdapt recommendations into operating procedures, and the ongoing pursuit of competitive grants and other sources of funding to advance adopted priorities.
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