Modesto Bee asked readers how to fix Briggsmore/99 interchange. Here are 10 ideas
Modesto Bee readers offered grand ideas, along with modest tweaks, for fixing the Briggsmore Avenue interchange on Highway 99.
Dozens of people responded via Facebook or email to an April 11 story about the sometimes maddening junction.
Some imagined cloverleafs, bridges, roundabouts and other major public works. Others suggested simpler things, such as better timing of traffic lights or more policing of errant drivers.
“I don’t work in planning, but this kind of stuff is fun, so I couldn’t resist,” Robert Englent said in his emailed response.
The city is in the early stages of a multi-year process on Briggsmore, as well as the Standiford Avenue interchange to the north. The cost, funding sources and designs are several years from being decided.
Briggsmore is especially daunting because of the feeder routes that loop toward 99, notably Orangeburg Avenue and Sisk and Prescott roads. Briggsmore Avenue itself, a key east-west route, turns sharply toward the south right at this spot.
A sampling of the ideas:
Jeremy Hannon: He suggested putting Briggsmore on an “elevated flyway” as it approaches 99. It would cross over the Sisk/Orangeburg intersection and a southern extension of Prescott.
“While Briggsmore’s interchange has issues, I believe the primary issues are not from the interchange itself but from the points of traffic contention surrounding the interchange,” Hannon wrote.
Arya Gandhi: Part of his plan is a cloverleaf ramp for vehicles headed for southbound 99 from Briggsmore. Those drivers now turn left atop the interchange, amid traffic from several directions.
Gandhi also would build on-ramps from southbound Sisk to northbound 99 and from northbound Carpenter to the southbound freeway, among other things.
Gandhi grew up in Modesto and is now studying mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
“As I have often frequented this interchange, I know it is really frustrating to be stuck in traffic, especially during weekday evenings,” he said.
Robert Englent: He would start by shifting the Orangeburg part of the interchange just to the east. It currently provides limited space where drivers can choose between the freeway, Sisk or Briggsmore. Orangeburg would instead run through the Food Maxx shopping center to the point where Briggsmore and Prescott now join.
Englent also would add “flyovers” for more direct connections between 99 and Sisk, Carpenter and Briggsmore.
Elvera Lucas: She would extend Blue Gum Avenue, which now ends just west of 99, to North Ninth Street. Ninth would no longer feed traffic to the interchange.
Lucas also suggests that the Briggsmore overpass have a “diverging diamond” design, where vehicles briefly switch to the opposite side. The state’s first diverging diamond opened on Highway 120 at Union Road in Manteca in 2020. Ceres is planning one on a new Service Road interchange on 99.
Vincent Vega: He proposes a roundabout, a design now common around Modesto on a smaller scale.
“You only go right, you don’t have to wait, and there won’t be accidents,” he said. “In Europe, there are beautiful roundabouts with flowers and water fountains. It decreases accidents and pollution.”
Debra Moser: She would build an overpass for Blue Gum over the freeway, similar to the Woodland Avenue crossing to the south. She also would eliminate access to 99 from North Ninth.
Andrew Faukner: He would start by increasing enforcement of traffic rules. “There are cars turning from lanes meant to go straight. There are cars on Orangeburg that drive down oncoming lanes to get to the left turn lanes to drive up the overpass.”
Faukner also suggests a new entrance from Sisk to northbound 99 that does not require stopping.
Andrew Sampson: He recommends better timing of signals so they are all green for drivers at or near the speed limit between Prescott and Blue Gum.
Sampson also urged straightening the Briggsmore bend as it approaches 99. And he would widen Carpenter back to California Avenue and add an exit or two on 99, possibly at Rumble Road or Orangeburg.
Mark Voss: He would actually do nothing to the current design. Most of the time, he said, he can drive through with only one red light. “I can’t imagine they will re-engineer the intersection to where you don’t have to stop at even one light,” Voss said.
And finally: One Facebook commentator had an idea that may, or may not, be in jest: “Send the problem to Santa Clara County. They’re good at planning roads that work correctly.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
