The State Division of Highways (predecessor to Caltrans) constructed Sacramento’s freeways system incrementally from the 1940s to the 1970s. The plan for the Elvas Freeway was presented in the Sacramento Area Traffic Survey in 1947-1948, and the freeway was built between 1950 and 1955. The Division of Highways built the 2.9-mile Elvas Freeway as a four-lane divided highway (with provisions for a six-lane freeway) to connect with the North Sacramento Freeway in the vicinity of Arden Way. The new freeway’s southern terminus was the surface roads at 29th and 30th streets. At the time the Elvas Freeway was conceived and built, the Division of Highways was already considering an elevated freeway along the 29th Street / 30th Street corridor that would connect with the then proposed South Sacramento Freeway (SR 99). The Division of Highways went on to complete the Fort Sutter Viaduct along the 29th Street / 30th Street corridor in 1968, which led the Division of Highways to convert the Elvas Freeway from four to six lanes in 1965. The Sacramento River Viaduct was completed in 1966, the Southside Park Viaduct was completed in 1967, and the rest of the W-X Freeway was completed in 1968. The Elvas Freeway was connected to the W-X Freeway to the west and US 50 to the east, in 1968 and 1971 respectively. The W-X Freeway and the Elvas Freeway were signed as I-80.