The city celebrated an important reconnection to the Sacramento River Wednesday with the grand opening of the Docks Riverfront Promenade. More than 100 people — from cyclists and dog walkers to the city staff and contractors who made it happen — converged on the sunny, tree-lined promenade overlooking the green river to mark the completion of the parkway's $5.4 million first phase. Many rode a California State Railroad Museum train along its relocated track from Old Sacramento to the new Pioneer Landing Park, where the celebration began. The promenade and park, with its landscaped public plaza and giant water sculpture, were built to stimulate redevelopment of an old industrial brownfiel

Ending more than three years of dispute, a court arbitrator determined Wednesday the city overpaid developer Thomas Enterprises by more than $2.5 million for railyards land next to the historic train depot. The land is at the center of current discussions to build a new arena and regional transit center adjacent to downtown. Arbitrator William Bettinelli, a retired Sonoma judge, set the value of nearly 33 acres of land at $52.35 million, the city manager's office and the developer announced in a joint press release late Wednesday afternoon. In 2006, the city paid Thomas Enterprises $55 million for the parcel after the developer bought the 244-acre former railyards site from Union Pacifi

Test pile-driving began Tuesday at Sacramento's historic railyard as the site's developers prepare for bridge construction. The sights and sounds were a sample of what's to come in about four months when foundation work starts for bridges on Fifth and Sixth streets. At that time, the developers at Thomas Enterprises realize some neighbors may be annoyed by the booms of about 400 piles being driven into the earth. But the noise won't be the same to all ears, they said. "To us, it's the sound of progress," said Leslie Valpey, the project's development coordinator. "And activity at a time when there's not a lot of activity." That sound also represents the historic Southern Pacific railyar