Battle looming over South County Corridor tie to Interstate 5

Potential paths for a future expressway linking Highway 99 in Turlock to Interstate 5 have been whittled from nearly 100 down to three, with competition far from settled between Patterson and Stanislaus County leaders on the west end.

A draft feasibility study for the South County Corridor contains intriguing new information, including cost estimates ranging from $215 million to $273 million. The study also numbers homes and businesses that could be in the way, ranging from 177 to 244, depending on which alignment is chosen in a few years.

The document sets up a battle between Patterson, which has made a case for an I-5 interchange at Zacharias Road near the city’s industrial parks, and county leaders hoping to serve their dream of an industrial complex near Crows Landing and the Fink Road interchange.

All three alignment finalists rely on an existing east-west thoroughfare, West Main Street, for the future expressway’s east end near Turlock. Engineers also have taken a hard look at Fulkerth Road, but Turlock officials fear that its busy interchange with Highway 99 would become overloaded with the extra traffic.

Two of the three finalists side with the Patterson plan on the west end, and are similar except for a variation where the expressway would cross the San Joaquin River. The option labeled 7A would follow Eucalyptus Avenue and dip south on Elm Avenue to join West Main, while option 4D would extend Eucalyptus east over the river on a new bridge before heading south to meet West Main.

People in workshops ranked 4D highly, as did road engineers, and it would affect fewer existing buildings – 177, compared with 202 in 7A. But 4D could have a “fatal flaw,” the study found, because it likely would conflict with a recycled water project planned by the city of Modesto involving its sewer plant on nearby Jennings Road.

A consulting team would find out more in the next round of studies, if transportation leaders approve the current document in May. If money can be secured, construction could begin in seven to 12 years, according to the feasibility study, which cost $350,000 to produce.

The third option, called 12H – preferred by county leaders – would dip south from West Main to follow Crows Landing Road all the way to Crows Landing and the Fink Road interchange. It’s the only alignment finalist requiring no new road segment, relying entirely on beefing up what’s already there.

The 12H alternative is referred to as the southern option and also polled well when stacked up against nine other semifinalists.

The South County Corridor, regardless of which path is chosen, would replace mostly two-lane roads with one spanning four lanes – two in each direction – and officials would acquire enough property to someday expand to six. The expressway “would function as a bypass of Patterson and Newman,” the study says.

West Main uses a path about 80 feet wide, while the expressway would need 135 feet, the document says.

The idea of an expressway “has become a pressing concern for the region,” the study says, because existing routes are slow and often congested, with motorists encountering 10 traffic signals from Patterson’s Sperry Road interchange with I-5 to Highway 99. The region should capitalize on “an ideal location for the distribution of goods throughout the Central Valley” with a smoother-flowing network, the study says.

Other findings:

▪ Option 4D would sacrifice more fertile farmland – 3,126 acres – than the others: 2,955 acres for 7A, and 1,759 for 12H.

▪ The southern option would sacrifice 71 acres of wetlands important to some sensitive species, compared with 44 acres under 4D and 38 acres under 7A.

▪ Four miles of the expressway would run through a floodplain with the southern option, compared with 6 miles in 7A and 7 miles in 4D.

▪ Any of the three finalists would require a new I-5 interchange, because Fink Road’s would have to be rebuilt if the southern option is selected.

▪ Farm equipment such as tractors – a common sight on West Side roads – could share bicycle lanes along the expressway.

▪ Estimated traffic reduction on Sperry would be about the same – 8 percent – under any of the three finalists.

The Stanislaus Council of Governments is expected to review the South County Corridor draft feasibility study at 6 p.m. May 18 in the third-floor chamber at 1111 I St., Modesto.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Battle looming over South County Corridor tie to Interstate 5."