New vision for Modesto’s McHenry Avenue

Modesto is looking at how it can improve the curb appeal of McHenry Avenue, an important north-south commercial corridor, which is showing signs of wear and tear in some areas.

This effort is part of a collaboration among Modesto, Riverbank, Oakdale and consultants to create a vision for an improved Highway 108, which is known as McHenry Avenue in Modesto. The fruit of that effort has been the creation of a reinvestment plan for the highway, which looks at such things as streetscape improvements and incentives to encourage high-quality infill development.

Modesto officials gave the city’s Planning Commission an overview of the plan Monday before commissioners voted 7-0 to forward the plan to the City Council for acceptance.

The state awarded $536,000 in grant funding for this project, with Modesto receiving $59,264 for its share of the work, according to city records from 2012. The bulk of the funding went to the consulting firm AECOM. The plan can be seen by going to www.modestogov.com/ced/pc/forms.asp and clicking on the link for the June 15 Planning Commission meeting. Scroll down until you reach the report.

Modesto Planning Manager Patrick Kelly stressed that the plan lays out a vision for Highway 108, and many other steps need to be taken before part of the plan could become reality. Those steps could take years. For instance, Kelly said, Modesto is probably a couple of years away from developing the zoning regulations to implement the plan. He also stressed that property owners would need to be willing participants for the development to occur.

This plan is “the foundation for subsequent planning efforts,” Kelly said. “This is the first step in many steps. ... Change does not happen overnight.”

The plan looks at improving Highway 108 in the three cities and considers such improvements in Modesto as planting more trees and adding bike paths. It also envisions pursuing new types of development, such as a three-story building with offices and shops on the ground floor and housing on the upper floors.

The plan also reflects the changing demographics expected in Stanislaus County in the coming decades and residents’ desire to live close to work and shopping.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 2:51 PM with the headline "New vision for Modesto’s McHenry Avenue."