Bike lanes could come to part of Ninth Street in Modesto. Not everyone is pumped
Part of Ninth Street in downtown Modesto would get bicycle lanes under a plan to enhance access to its upcoming train depot.
But the idea raised concerns Tuesday night from two prominent businesses on Ninth – Modesto Junk Co. and American Lumber Co. – about limiting space for motor vehicles.
They aired their objections to the Modesto City Council, which voted 4-2 to move forward with the idea on the condition that the concerns are addressed.
The project would expand on the bicycle paths already in place on Ninth Street between Tully Road and the Carpenter/Briggsmore interchange on Highway 99. Cyclists and other users would be protected from motor vehicle traffic with a tree-lined buffer, rather than just stripes on the pavement.
The downtown portion of Ninth now has two motor vehicle lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. The initial design for the bike paths would remove a lane in each direction.
Businesses would still have driveways into their parking lots, but that did not allay the concerns.
“Basically, you’re going to create a situation here that’s going to be a disaster,” said John Mensinger, president of American Lumber. “I have customers that need to get in and out.”
The lumber yard has been at Ninth and M streets since 1923. Modesto Junk has been on the adjacent property since 1920.
The bike lanes would aggravate the traffic congestion already on Ninth, attorney Blaine Cox said on behalf of Modesto Junk. The business has a steady stream of household recyclers along with large trucks hauling metal and other materials.
Housing-transit link
The bike lanes are not a standalone project. Rather, they are proposed as part of the $30.7 million expansion of Archway Commons, a low-income apartment complex at Ninth and Carver Road. Most of the funding would come from a state program that combines the goals of affordable housing and reduced driving.
Hence the bike connection to the Altamont Corridor Express station, planned for part of the city’s transit hub at Ninth and J streets. The grant also would purchase a passenger car for ACE to add to its service to the Bay Area. And it would buy three years worth of city bus passes for the Archway Commons residents, to help cover the cost of enhanced service on Ninth.
“The purpose of the grant is to reduce the vehicle miles traveled,” said Jessica Narayan, the city’s community development manager, at the council meeting.
ACE runs from Stockton to San Jose by way of Livermore. It has funding to expand to Ceres as soon as 2021 and Merced a few years later.
More apartments
The Archway Commons expansion would be built by EAH Housing, the nonprofit that completed the first 76 units in 2013. The second and final phase would add 74 apartments in the same two-story design.
Tuesday’s council vote means that the city is joining with EAH to apply for $24.3 million from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Grant Program. It is funded by fees on emitters of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing gases.
Mayor Ted Brandvold and Councilman Mani Grewal voted against the grant application because of the objections from the Ninth Street businesses. It got support from members Kristi Ah You, Jenny Kenoyer, Tony Madrigal and Doug Ridenour. Councilman Bill Zoslocki was absent.
The city could get word in a few months about whether the grant was approved, said Jaylen French, director of community and economic development, by phone Thursday. The staff is already planning to meet with the affected businesses, he said.
On Tuesday, it presented an alternative that would remove just one of the southbound lanes on the downtown part of Ninth Street. Cox, the attorney for Modesto Junk, urged that this part of the project be on the less-traveled Eighth Street.
EAH would break ground in about a year if the grant comes through, said Michael Schaier, project manager at its San Rafael office.
“Our wait list to date is about 400 families,” he told the council. “Many of them are single parents with one or two kids.”
EAH has numerous housing complexes in California and Hawaii. Among them is Avena Bella in southwest Turlock, where an expansion from 80 to 140 units is under construction.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 3:37 PM.
