A new bridge over the Tuolumne River would connect these parts of Modesto and Ceres
The public can comment on a proposed Tuolumne River bridge between the eastern sides of Modesto and Ceres.
The $71.7 million project, if it’s funded, would connect Garner Road in Modesto with Faith Home Road in Ceres.
The bridge would be part of a mile-long expressway through the Beard Industrial District, a major source of truck traffic.
The comments involve the draft environmental impact report on the project, due Friday, June 25. The process includes a Tuesday evening Zoom meeting.
Stanislaus County Public Works is planning the expressway, which could be completed as soon as 2025. The county has earmarked $17.9 million from Measure L, the sales tax approved by local voters in 2016.
The rest could come from state and federal grants, said Chris Brady, deputy director of public works, in an email Monday.
The expressway would run from Garner Road’s current southern end to the intersection of Faith Home and Hatch roads. It would be wide enough for four lanes but have just two to start.
Garner is the southern continuation of Claus Road, a key link to northeast Modesto and to Riverbank and Oakdale.
The idea of crossing the Tuolumne at this spot goes back to at least 1990. The plans ultimately could include making Faith Home an expressway all the way to Highway 99 near Keyes.
There’s no funding for that four-mile project, but Brady said the county plans to do intersection improvements that help make Faith Home “a viable goods movement corridor.”
Thirteen bridges cross the county’s segment of the Tuolumne. Three are in the sparsely populated La Grange area. The others are at Roberts Ferry, Hickman Road, Geer Road, Santa Fe Avenue, Mitchell Road, Ninth Street, Seventh Street, Highway 99, Carpenter Road and Shiloh Road.
The county is in something of a bridge building boom. A new Santa Fe span opened this spring. A new Hickman Road bridge is under construction. The county also aims to replace the Seventh Street bridge in a few years if the rest of the funding comes together.
The Garner/Faith Home bridge would be 861 feet long where it crosses the main channel. The total length is 1,823 feet with the floodplain included. The expressway also would have an underpass at one of the numerous freight train tracks in the Beard district.
The EIR on the project is funded by federal money and fees on local developers. The fees also will cover detailed design, starting in 2022, and right of way purchases.
“The thought here is to advance the project far enough to acquire the right of way needed now, and get the project as close to shovel ready as we can to position ourselves to be competitive for state and federal grants in the future,” Brady said.
More details on the project, including how to comment, are at www.faithhomeroad.com.
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
