Business 80 connects Interstate 80 to Downtown Sacramento. It consists of a portion of U.S. Highway 50 and the entire length of California State Route 51.
The full name for this highway is "Interstate Business Loop 80," but quite frankly that is too long and most everyone resorts to just calling it "Business 80." It was renamed to "Capital City Freeway" in 1996, though it is still most commonly referred to as "Business 80," "Biz 80," or "Cap City Freeway." Traffic reporters Tina Macuha and Rick Stewart have also called this road "C-C-F."
This particular highway is often mistaken for Interstate 80 by tourists and those not familiar with Sacramento. The signs of the two freeways are similar in shape and look, although the sign of Interstate 80 is blue and red, while the sign of Business 80 is exclusively green. The other issue is when driving East you must Exit to continue on I-80. Just staying on the freeway puts you on Business 80. The confusion is due to the same number of "80."
Business 80 should be taken to get to Arden Fair Mall (exit Arden), Cal Expo (exit Cal Expo/Exposition Blvd, go right), Trader Joe's (Nearby store: Exit 59th St, Left on 59, Left Folsom Blvd, to #5000 on left; Sprawl Store:exit Marconi, go right, will be on your left just after Fulton Ave), and Downtown Plaza (take the DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO exit and turn left on 5th St after crossing the Tower Bridge OR continue on Business 80 to I-5 North, exit J street).
History When it was initially built, this was I 80. The current Interstate 80 from West Sacramento northeast through Natomas and rejoined near Watt Ave. was designated I-880. It was later decided to just call it I-80 and make the old Freeway Business 80. This also explains the odd exiting to stay on the same interstate design on the West Sacramento interchange since you used to stay on 80 if you just kept going. A more detailed history can be found on this site.
When giving directions to people from SoCal, I always tell them to take "the Blue 80" to "the Green 80". This usually just confuses them more, though. I think people from SoCal would be more likely to use the name Capital City Freeway because every freeway in SoCal has a name. —BrentLaabs
Speaking as a SoCal resident, while every freeway does seem to have a name (or two) a lot of us (including traffic reporters) do not use the names because they can get very confusing. For example, the 91 freeway alone has three different "names" depending on where you are on it. Also, until I went on Wikipedia, I had no idea the 55 and the 57 were the Orange and Costa Mesa Freeways, respectively, and I take those routes all the time. —KellyCorcoran
