After years of cleanups, project aims to transform Modesto’s Gateway Parcel

For years volunteers have labored to remove the trash and debris in Tuolumne River Regional Park only to have to come back and do it again. But there is a change coming this summer.

Modesto is leading a $3 million phase two project in the park’s Gateway Parcel, which is bordered by the river and Highway 99 on the west and Dry Creek on the east. The money comes from grants and other state funding dedicated to recreation projects, said Jason Ortega, the city’s parks project coordinator and the phase two project manager.

The 16.5-acre project includes a backwater channel that helps with flood control and lets nature lovers view the river up close. Crews also are building an outdoor classroom, about 2,700 feet of paved trails that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a pedestrian bridge that spans the backwater channel, benches and an observation deck overlooking the river. Workers also will plant native trees and other landscaping.

The funding can only be used for recreation and habitat restoration so the project does not include parking. But Ortega said that is something Modesto expects to fix in the coming years.

(Previous improvements in the 86-acre Gateway Parcel include about 5,100 feet of trails, a wildlife island, and what the city calls an amphimeadow, which is bowl-shaped and allows spectators to watch a performance. The city envisions that the parcel one day will have an educational center where students can learn about the river and its flora and fauna and a farmers market.)

“I’m a big supporter, said Chris Guptill, who leads the volunteer cleanup group Operation 9-2-99, about the phase two improvements. There are about a half dozen volunteer groups that maintain the park.

“It will help develop that area that had been a wasteland,” Guptill said. “We’ve cleaned it up, but (the project) will add amenities and draw people there. There has been a lot of hard work, and this is a victory for those fighting against blight. We hope the community embraces it and uses it. That will help maintain it.”

The park does get used. For instance, high school cross country meets are held there, equestrians use the trails as well as joggers and mountain bikers. But this project is in a highly visible part of the park that has not gotten a lot of use by the public.

While the regional park has drawn homeless people and their camps, Guptill said they tend to leave as the park is cleaned up and used for recreation. The city also is working with several partners to increase outreach and services to the homeless.

Phase two is expected to be completed by summer, but the public can learn about Gateway Parcel on March 17 at Modesto RecFest, which will include a variety of activities. “It will get people out there to recreate,” Guptill said. “Most people don’t know what’s there. It will reintroduce them to the park.”

Modesto is the lead agency for the regional park, whose other members are Ceres and Stanislaus County. The 510-acre park follows the Tuolumne River for seven miles from the Mitchell Road to the Carpenter Road bridges. The regional park includes Mancini and Legion parks.

But these are not the only improvements on the horizon:

▪ The City Council is expected to accept on March 13 a $775,000 state grant that the Tuolumne River Regional Park will use to build a boat launch along Neece Drive and across from John Thurman Field. City officials have said the boat launch will take about two years to complete.

▪ Workers this summer are expected to remove what remains of the Dennett Dam, which is near the Ninth Street Bridge and has been the site of drownings over the years. It also impedes kayaks and other watercraft from traveling upriver. Modesto is working with the Tuolumne River Trust on this project.

Ortega said these projects reflect the hard work done over the years by Modesto, the Tuolumne River Regional Park and their partners.

This story was originally published March 3, 2018 at 3:59 PM with the headline "After years of cleanups, project aims to transform Modesto’s Gateway Parcel."