Contractor will revamp Modesto’s old train depot for ACE. Will housing follow nearby?
A local company won a $5.23 million contract to remodel Modesto’s old train station for future passenger service.
The City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday night to award the job to Simile Construction Service. It will prepare the 1915 building for the arrival by late 2023 of the Altamont Corridor Express, which now runs between Stockton and San Jose.
Simile also will renovate the Modesto Transit Center, a hub for bus service built in 1993 next to the depot at Ninth and J streets. The council approved the contract without discussion.
It also allotted $100,000 toward a plan on how to encourage housing close to the ACE station. A consultant will be hired to look at vacant and underused parcels in the area bounded generally by Seventh, 10th, H and L streets.
State and federal grants are paying for the renovations, and the state also funded the housing study.
Commuter service to start
ACE mainly serves commuters to the Bay Area with its four weekday round trips. They head west in the morning and return in the late afternoon and evening, often faster than the traffic on Interstates 205 and 580.
State fuel taxes are paying for a southern branch with stations by 2023 in the downtowns of Manteca, Ripon, Modesto and Ceres. It later will be extended to Turlock, Livingston and Merced. A northern branch will serve Lodi, Elk Grove and Sacramento by 2023.
ACE will remain a commuter service for a while, but the ultimate goal is all-day service that connects to other rail systems.
The consultant will explore the idea of “transit-oriented development,” a staff report to the council said. This means a dense mix of homes, businesses and other uses within walking distance of a train station.
Another $100,000 for the study comes from the Stanislaus Regional Transit Authority. It oversees the system that resulted from the recent merger of the countywide routes and the Modesto Area Express.
The document will dovetail with the downtown master plan adopted last year for the entire square-mile core. Modesto also is seeking public input on a citywide plan to increase housing.
Southern Pacific built depot
Modesto’s ACE depot will be in a building erected by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The tracks had passenger trains until 1971 and remain a busy freight corridor for the Union Pacific Railroad. The building has a tile roof, cupolas and other features of the Mission Revival style.
The contractor will remove some of the interior walls to increase lobby space for passengers. It also will install new flooring, heating, cooling and restrooms. The exterior will get stucco and roof repairs and a paint job. The bus boarding area will get new paint, lighting, landscaping, pavers and security cameras.
Passengers will board trains on a siding that ACE will build next to the freight track via a separate contract. The 2023 startup is about a year later than planned.
Simile is a 32-year-old Modesto company that has built numerous auto dealerships, fitness centers and other projects in the region.
RED Inc. Architects of Modesto designed the renovations. They were endorsed last year by local and state agencies involved with historical preservation.
