Pelandale interchange in Modesto closed as crews work around clock

The Highway 99 interchange at Pelandale Avenue and Sisk Road closed Sunday night and is set to reopen early Wednesday as crews work around the clock to finish offramps and repave roadways.

In the first half of the 7 o’clock hour Monday morning, traffic on the east side of the highway was for the large part flowing smoothly. A steady stream of vehicles traveled west on Pelandale and turned north on Sisk to get on the highway.

Though there are electronic signs near Standiford Avenue and Sisk stating that the Pelandale interchange is closed, several vehicles went north on Sisk, only to find it blocked just south of Pelandale. Some turned around, others cut through the shopping center at the southeast corner of Sisk and Pelandale, then made U-turns at the signal where vehicles enter the Costco-Lowe’s center.

Simon Bettencourt of Teichert Construction said the work remains on schedule and that the interchange will reopen around midnight Tuesday with its new configuration in place.

According to the website for the Highway 99/Pelandale work, at www.sr99pelandale.org, construction also will require reduced lanes on northbound and southbound Highway 99 between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily through Thursday morning. Closures will occur in only one direction at a time.

The southbound Highway 99 offramp at Pelandale has been closed since April 26. When it reopens Wednesday, motorists will have complete access to the Pelandale Avenue overcrossing bridge and Salida Boulevard in both directions.

The work is part of an estimated $55 million construction project to replace an interchange that was built in 1970, when the city’s population was about a third of what it is today.

Construction started in May 2014 and is expected to wrap up by the end of this year. As part of the work, crews built a new bridge spanning the highway and demolished the old one last summer.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Pelandale interchange in Modesto closed as crews work around clock."