Stanislaus supervisors prefer this option for the next leg of 132 west of Modesto
Stanislaus County supervisors agreed Tuesday on their preferred route for a future Highway 132 project west of Modesto.
This option runs directly west from the Dakota Avenue end of the 132 bypass now under construction. It is just south of Kansas Avenue, half a mile from the Maze Boulevard corridor that has served as the state highway since the 1930s.
The 5-0 vote will be relayed to the California Department of Transportation, which is considering four options for the proposed extension. It could open to drivers as early as 2025 if the funding comes together, county Public Works Director David Leamon told the board.
The current $92 million project will provide two traffic lanes and a median on the three miles from Dakota to Highway 99. It could be finished by the end of this year. A second phase would widen this stretch to four lanes.
Caltrans is studying a third phase that would provide four lanes on the five miles between Dakota and Gates road. Two of the options involve widening the mostly two-lane Maze, on the north or south side. The other two would follow the current construction corridor, differing in whether access is via interchanges or roundabouts.
The county board likes Alternative 2, which would use the Kansas corridor and have interchanges at Gates and Hart Road. It is the priciest of the four options at an estimated $182.4 million. But officials said it would minimize home demolitions and provide the best traffic flow for commuters, truckers and other drivers.
Caltrans also will weigh comments from the public on the project’s draft environmental impact report, received this past spring.
The only funding so far is from the county — $46 million in fees charged to developers and $26 million from the Measure L sales tax. The project also could vie for state and federal funding, including the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill now before Congress.
The other three options for the future 132 project have estimated costs of $116.1 million to $181.7 million. The main factors are right of way costs and whether access is by roundabouts, interchanges or intersections controlled by stoplights.
Caltrans already owns about 60% of the Kansas corridor right of way, thanks to planning dating to the 1950s. It is leased to farmers.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
