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Who owns the road?

City, county or Caltrans. The owner is who can fix it. Here is how to tell in the Sacramento region.

This page is a draft. Every fact links to its source, so you can check it yourself.

A letter to the wrong agency gets forwarded, or ignored. Before you write, find out who owns the road. In the Sacramento region there are three main owners.

1. A city

Inside city limits, the city usually owns and runs local streets. In Sacramento County that means the City of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Galt and Isleton. Each city has its own public works or transportation staff and an elected city council.

• City of Sacramento problem reports: Sacramento 311

2. Sacramento County

Outside city limits is "unincorporated" county. Communities such as Carmichael, Fair Oaks and Arden-Arcade are not cities, so most of their local roads belong to the County. The StreetCase report checks this for you using official city limit lines.

Sacramento County Department of Transportation (SacDOT) is "responsible for planning, improving, operating, and maintaining" the road system for unincorporated areas. (SacDOT) The elected officials are the Board of Supervisors: five members, each representing one district. (Sacramento County Board of Supervisors)

• County problem reports: Sacramento County 311 (linked from SacDOT)
• The County's road safety plan: Local Road Safety Plan, January 2022. It sets a goal to cut fatal and severe pedestrian and bike crashes by 50% by 2035.

3. Caltrans (state highways)

Caltrans owns numbered state highways and freeways, including their ramps. Some state routes are also ordinary-looking city streets. Caltrans District 3 covers Sacramento County and 10 other counties. (Caltrans District 3)

• Caltrans problem reports: Customer Service Request
• Under SB 960 (2024), Caltrans must set targets for adding walking, biking and transit features when it repairs state highways. (SB 960)

How to tell

1. Look at the StreetCase report. It shows the jurisdiction for the place you searched, based on city limits.
2. Look for a route shield. A green or white sign with a state route or interstate number usually means Caltrans.
3. Check city limits, not your mailing address. The city name in a postal address does not always match the agency that owns the street. What counts is the city limit line.
4. Edges and intersections can be shared. A road on a city line may be split down the middle, or one agency may own a signal while another owns the street. If unsure, send the letter to both and say so.
5. Ask. Email the agency's traffic engineering staff and ask, "Who maintains [road] between [A] and [B]?"

Regional and state players

• SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) is the regional planning agency. It hands out some state and federal transportation money to local projects. See Funding.
• State legislators (Assembly and Senate) write the laws on speed limits, cameras and funding. See Speed and survival.
• Police and CHP write the crash reports that StreetCase counts. Which agency responds depends on where the crash happened.

Last checked 2026-11-02.

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