This sign on northbound Interstate 5 in Lathrop is one of five installed recently by Caltrans. (Photo courtesy of Caltrans)
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. (Dec. 27, 2024) – Caltrans District 10 has installed five more “Welcome to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area” signs at key entrances to the Delta.
“We’re grateful to Caltrans for this effort, and pleased to help expand motorists’ awareness of the Delta’s importance and national significance,” said Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the Delta Protection Commission. The Commission coordinates the National Heritage Area, California’s first and only NHA.
The sign locations, shown in a map below, are located on:
- Westbound West Walnut Grove Road at Interstate 5
- Westbound Highway 12 west of Lodi
- Westbound Highway 4 west of Stockton
- Northbound I-5 in Lathrop
- Eastbound Interstate 205 west of I-5 in Tracy
Signs are planned for at least three more new locations (Twin Cities Road west of I-5, Highway 12 at Highway 160, and Highway 4 in Pittsburg). And one sign at the entrance to the eastbound Yolo Causeway on Interstate 80 needs to be replaced.
San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti, a member of the Delta Protection Commission, said, “We are excited to see the Delta get the recognition it deserves. It truly is a special place. We hope the signs will lead more people to explore and enjoy what the region has to offer.”
Ram Bommavaram, Safe System Lead for Caltrans District 10, said his District’s portion of this process was initiated by Dennis Agar, the now-retired District 10 Director who also served on the Delta Protection Commission. Once the plan was in place, the District was able to compress a typical seven-month process into two months, culminating in the installation of the signs in mid-December.
Hood Community Council Chairman Mario Moreno in 2023 in front of a new sign welcoming motorists to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area (PHOTO © Mario Moreno 2023 – used with permission)
Delta residents have shown strong interest in the signs. “It just acknowledges what we’ve known, that the Delta is special place and it deserves recognition,” Mario Moreno, chair of the Hood Community Council, said last year after a sign was installed on Hood Franklin Road. “It’s beautiful, and it should be treasured and taken care of.”
Knowing how much the signs mean to Delta communities is very satisfying, Bommavaram said. “We’re glad the work was done, and we’re glad it’s recognized.”
The Delta Protection Commission’s 2012 Economic Sustainability Plan identified a need for more signage in the Delta, noting that the Delta economy generally, and recreation and tourism specifically, suffer from a lack of branding and marketing.
The welcome signs are a true joint effort, led by the Delta Protection Commission but conceived and carried out in partnership with:
Map: Click on pins to see details and photos of installed signs. Click on the expand icon in the upper right corner to see a full-screen version.
A Yolo County Public Works crew installs the replacement for a sign damaged when it was hit by a car in July. Located on Jefferson Boulevard just outside of West Sacramento, the new sign is a little farther from its original location on the curve where Jefferson goes up on the levee, ideally making it less likely to get hit again.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Dec. 13, 2023) – A Delta National Heritage Area sign on Jefferson Boulevard outside of West Sacramento was replaced Dec. 7 after being destroyed in a non-injury car accident in July, just weeks after it had been installed.
Why does it matter?
Delta communities have warmly welcomed these signs, which are a project of the Delta Protection Commission – the agency coordinating the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area.
Three of eleven planned signs have been installed so far.
Why these signs are important to people?
Signs tell you something important is ahead.
California is filled with internationally renowned destinations that are announced on freeway signs often from hundreds of miles away: San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Los Angeles.
And, typically, the closer you get, the larger those destinations loom as their skyscrapers, mountain peaks, and trees reach for the sky.
But in a place as flat as the Delta, how would a visiting motorist know what lies ahead? By definition, its landmarks are low-profile: a lacework of rivers, 100-year-old bridges, tiny communities built by early settlers from around the globe, and farm stands offering some of the best produce in America.
Signs are the only way a visitor – and many Northern Californians – would know what’s there.
And how often do signs announce you’re entering a rural area worth exploring, making you think twice about just speeding through on your way somewhere else?
Not very often. That’s why the Delta has welcomed these signs.
Whom do we have to thank for these signs?
In addition to the Delta Protection Commission, the following agencies have also been involved in this project: the Delta Stewardship Council; the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy; Caltrans districts 3, 4 and 10; the California Conservation Corps; California Prison Industry, which made the signs; and the Yolo County Public Works crew that installed the replacement sign.
When will the remaining eight signs be installed?
Five signs slated for San Joaquin County will be installed by Caltrans District 10. The signs will be located at Walnut Grove Road at I-5, Highway 12 at I-5, Highway 4 just outside of Stockton, I-5 south of Lathrop, and the I-205/I-580 split.
Two more signs in Sacramento County – one on Twin Cities Road off of I-5 and another on Highway 12 outside of Rio Vista – are targeted for installation by Caltrans District 3 in spring or early summer of 2024.
The Commission is still working to find a partner to install the sign planned for Highway 4 in Pittsburg.
Click here to see a map of current and planned sign locations.
Why does it take so long to install signs?
The process requires several layers of permits, approvals, and contracts for design, fabrication, location, and installation.
The fact that this phase of the sign project spans four counties and three Caltrans districts adds to the complexity.
And even when an installation has been fully approved, delays are common with projects involving work on busy freeways and highways.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 19, 2023) – Rich farmland on the left, the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel and Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area on the right. These iconic Delta scenes form the backdrop for one of the first three signs welcoming motorists to the Delta and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area.
This was one of the first three signs installed in the Delta welcoming motorists to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area. (PHOTO: Delta Protection Commission)
Two signs were installed last week by the California Conservation Corps: one on southbound Jefferson Boulevard just outside of West Sacramento, where the road rises to the Ship Channel levee; the other on Interstate 80 at the eastbound East Chiles Road onramp to the Yolo Causeway. One was installed in late April on Hood Franklin Road just west of the southbound offramp from Interstate 5.
Eight more signs are planned in locations throughout the Delta along I-5, I-580, Highway 12 and Highway 4.
The signs are a highly visible part of the Commission’s efforts to educate the public about the Delta’s value as an agricultural, natural, historic, recreational and cultural resource. And they have been warmly received in Delta communities that welcome recognition of the Delta’s importance.
“It just acknowledges what we’ve known, that the Delta is special place and it deserves recognition,” said Mario Moreno, chair of the Hood Community Council. “It’s beautiful, and it should be treasured and taken care of.”
Hood Community Council Chair Mario Moreno in front of a new sign welcoming motorists to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area (PHOTO: ©Mario Moreno 2023 – used with permission)
The sign installation also marks growing recognition of the Delta National Heritage Area, which Congress designated as California’s first – and so far only – NHA in 2019. The Delta Protection Commission is the local entity coordinating the NHA’s development; it is currently working on a management plan that is due to the Secretary of the Interior next March.
In addition to the welcome sign program, the Commission is working to develop both wayfinding and interpretive signs (PDF) to be placed throughout the Delta, using a grant from Caltrans’s Clean California program.
There has been a longstanding need for signage in the Delta, identified in the Commission’s 2012 Economic Sustainability Plan, which found the Delta economy generally, and recreation and tourism specifically, suffer from a lack of branding and marketing.
The welcome signs are a true joint effort, led by the Delta Protection Commission but conceived and carried out in partnership with the Delta Stewardship Council; the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy; the California Conservation Corps; Caltrans districts 3, 4 and 10; and California Prison Industry, which made the signs.
For further information: Contact Information Officer Holly Heyser at holly.heyser@delta.ca.gov.
