Construction to start on new Crows Landing bridge over river. What drivers can expect
Construction is about to start on a new Crows Landing Road bridge over the San Joaquin River.
The $22.7 million project will be on a key link for cars and trucks between the Modesto area and the West Side.
The work will begin the first week of August and take about two years, Stanislaus County Public Works announced. Drivers can expect delays and detours at times.
The project will provide two traffic lanes and a median in place of a 1949 bridge that has two lanes but no median.
The old span is “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete,” said an October 2020 report to the county Board of Supervisors. It cited the risk from earthquakes as well as flooding on the San Joaquin.
The new bridge will be erected by Security Paving Co. of Westlake Village, Los Angeles County. It was the lowest of seven bidders.
Crows Landing Road runs about 13 miles from Highway 99 in south Modesto to the bridge. Drivers can continue on to the tiny town of Crows Landing on Highway 33 and then take Fink Road to Interstate 5.
About 8,000 vehicles cross the bridge on an average day, a fifth of them trucks, Public Works estimated.
The current bridge will remain open while the contractor starts building the 723-foot replacement in almost the same alignment. It will be demolished once the unfinished structure can handle traffic.
The project also involves new turning and merging lanes where Carpenter Road meets Crows Landing Road, just north of the bridge.
The work at times will require reducing Crows Landing traffic to one lane, as well as closure of Carpenter in the project area. Updates will be provided at www.crowslandingbridge.com.
The county got $20.1 million for the project from a federal bridge program and the other $2.6 million from a state fuel tax.
Like its predecessor, the new bridge will be made of concrete and steel. The project has measures for protecting riparian habitat as the new piers are built in the streambed.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
