Briggsmore/99 interchange is Modesto’s worst traffic tangle. How would you fix it?
Do me a favor the next time you drive through the Briggsmore Avenue interchange on Highway 99. Send your ideas on how we might fix it.
The Modesto Bee is seeking reader input on the city’s long-range plans to improve this often-crazy junction. You can respond via email or Facebook (preferably not while driving) and even attach a rough sketch.
The interchange functions fairly well after nearly half a century of use, despite the complicated layout, but it can get hairy in heavy traffic.
Modesto has launched a planning effort that also will involve the Standiford Avenue interchange a mile to the north, Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes said by email.
Standiford can get busy, too, thanks to Vintage Faire Mall and nearby commercial strips. But it has a layout than that meshes with the city street grid.
Briggsmore, not so much. One of the main approaches is Briggsmore Avenue itself, an east-west route that makes a quick 90-degree turn as it nears the freeway. Orangeburg Avenue has its own twisting path as it feeds traffic from the south.
And then there’s Sisk Road, a busy frontage road along 99 that curves around to meet Briggsmore and Orangeburg right at the interchange.
Briggsmore becomes Carpenter Road on the west side of 99. It’s perfectly straight, but it carries traffic from yet more businesses and the Modesto Junior College West Campus. This area also gets vehicles on North Ninth Street, the original Highway 99.
It takes some getting used to
Your transportation reporter has lived in Modesto since 2000 and drives the interchange a few times a week. I know to watch for traffic from a dozen directions as I journey from, say, Home Depot to FoodMaxx. I fear, though, for a first-time visitor turning off 99 after dark in search of a motel on Orangeburg.
A better interchange would help the city meet the needs of commuters, truckers and other drivers as the population grows. Readers can suggest a complete makeover or partial measures such as widening ramps.
Something else to consider: Our nation is moving away from the idea that expanding road capacity is the only way to meet transportation needs. We might instead create neighborhoods that mix homes and businesses within walking and bicycling distance. We would still drive to many places, but the roads would have more space.
Modesto is part of this trend, with a pending housing plan that could lead to more homes downtown and in commercial strips. The Stanislaus Council of Governments, which oversees transportation funding, has its own plan in the works.
Modesto also is poised for a boom in passenger rail, now limited to an Amtrak station far from the core. The Altamont Corridor Express could have its first train by early 2024. It will serve Bay Area commuters at first from a downtown station but could become a frequent, all-day service someday. The trains will run along freight tracks already in place — right through the Briggsmore interchange.
A little Highway 99 history
Highway 99 has had its current alignment through Modesto since the mid-1960s. At first, only the stretch near downtown had interchanges, defined as structures that eliminate the need for stop signs or signals.
The Briggsmore and Standiford interchanges were built in the 1970s to handle traffic from the city’s main growth areas. They have been upgraded from time to time with widened ramps and other work.
The city is studying the interchanges together because of their proximity, Barnes said. “The goal is to understand broader traffic flows in the area and how best to alleviate congestion, improve reliability and increase goods movement in and through our community now and into the future,” she said.
The construction cost is not known yet for either Briggsmore or Standiford. Barnes said a rough idea comes from the Pelandale Avenue interchange, completed in 2016 for $45 million.
Modesto plans to seek state and federal grants to supplement local funding for the upcoming projects. Construction could start as soon as 2026 and take a few years.
Readers can offer ideas on the Briggsmore interchange at jholland@modbee.com or the Bee’s Facebook page.
Can we guarantee that city officials will love your sketch and sign you to a design contract? Probably not. Can we offer you a chance to have some fun while channeling your road rage? That we can do.
