Driving out Kansas Avenue? Watch for earth-movers rerouting part of Highway 132
Earth-moving has started in earnest for the rerouting of part of Highway 132 west from Modesto.
Creating a trench for highway lanes under Rosemore Avenue is the first major task in the project. It will move three miles of the state highway from Maze Bouelvard to just south of Kansas Avenue.
Bay Cities Paving & Grading Inc. of Concord is doing the work on a $92.05 million contract approved by the Modesto City Council in September. The company carried out less visible work over much of the fall, then rolled out the big machines Dec. 20.
The project so far has not required detours. But the public should watch for the steady stream of excavators and other equipment near Kanasas and Rosemore, project foreman Jamie Porterfield said at the site Friday.
Transportation planners have talked since the 1950s about taking 132 off the part of Maze near Modesto. This road has numerous homes, businesses and other uses.
Bay Cities will build a two-lane route with no cross traffic from Dakota Road to Needham Street in downtown Modesto, plus a half-mile connector to Maze. This is scheduled to take about three years. The funding comes from several federal, state and local sources.
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 have overpasses or underpasses at Rosemore, Carpenter Road, Emerald Avenue and Highway 99.
Drivers can get updates at the project website, www.stateroute132.com.
