Six decades later, dirt finally flies on rerouting of 132 west from Modesto
Officials gathered Friday on a bare patch of dirt to celebrate the start of construction on the Highway 132 rerouting west from Modesto.
The long-awaited project will take three miles of the state highway off Maze Boulevard and move it close to Kansas Avenue.
Bay Cities Paving & Grading Inc. of Concord got a $92.05 million contract for the project last month. The work has already started and will take about three years.
The idea for the project dates to at least the 1950s, when the California Department of Transportation started buying right of way. The project stalled over the years, in part because of the barium-tainted soil left by a former chemical plant nearby. Caltrans decided to encase it in the pavement and fill.
The funding comes from several federal, state and local sources. They include Measure L, approved by Stanislaus County voters in 2016 for transportation improvements.
The project is a two-lane road without cross traffic for about three miles between Needham Street and Dakota Road, plus a half-mile of new pavement south on Dakota to the part of Maze that will remain Highway 132.
A second phase, expected by 2028, would bring the new highway segment to four lanes at an estimated cost of $132 million.
A third phase, still in initial planning, could extend the new alignment as far west as Gates Road. The current highway ends at Interstate 580.
The first phase will run just south of Kansas Avenue and have overpasses or underpasses at Rosemore Avenue, Carpenter Road, Emerald Avenue and Highway 99.
The ground-breaking took place on a part of cleared right of way just off Carpenter Road.
Drivers can get updates on detours and other information at the project website, www.stateroute132.com.
This story was originally published October 18, 2019 at 2:41 PM.
