[1]: 3.6-5  As an alternative, settlers established the Yolo Plankroad, which was a 4.5-mile-long (7.2 km) route that ended close to present-day Woodland, California.

[1]: 3.6-6 Before a causeway was built, wheeled vehicles between Davis and Sacramento were forced to detour south through Tracy and Stockton during seasonal flooding.

[10] There are also concerns that the construction activities could impact the colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the causeway, as well as the Swainson's hawks and Tricolored blackbirds that inhabit the area.

[11] The 25,500-acre (10,300 ha) Yolo Bypass protects Sacramento and other California Central Valley communities from flooding.

It contains the Vic Fazio Yolo Wildlife Area, the largest ecological restoration project west of the Everglades.

When seasonal rains cause the river to rise, water is diverted via the concrete Fremont Weir into the Yolo Bypass floodplain.

They roost in the expansion joints between the causeway segments, and feed on the insects that live in the wetlands formed by the Yolo Bypass.