Repaving starts on two key Modesto routes. Project includes tweak at McHenry Village
Repaving was set to start this week on three miles of busy Briggsmore and Orangeburg avenues in Modesto.
The first work was scheduled for Orangeburg on Monday, Oct. 31, according to the city’s weekly traffic alert, but there was no sign of it as of late afternoon. The same was true Tuesday morning.
The project involves Orangeburg between Coffee and Oakdale roads and Briggsmore between McHenry Avenue and Oakdale Road.
The Briggsmore portion includes removal of a turn pocket into the McHenry Village shopping center, which can be difficult on the 45 mph expressway.
United Pavement Maintenance Inc. of Hughson is doing the work on a $7.25 million contract approved by the City Council in August. It also includes sidewalks on two blocks of Empire Avenue in the airport neighborhood, already underway.
The construction is funded entirely by the Measure L sales tax approved by Stanislaus County voters in 2016. The Briggsmore/Orangeburg portion is scheduled to take until June 2023.
Briggsmore is mostly four lanes and is among the most traveled routes in Modesto. It will get enhanced curb ramps for disabled people, along with traffic sensors for signal timing.
Orangeburg will have better crossings for pedestrians to go with the new asphalt. This stretch is two lanes and is less traveled than the four-lane portion from Coffee west to Sisk Road.
The Empire Avenue work overlaps with a county project bringing sidewalks and bicycle paths to several other streets in the airport neighborhood. The $6.1 million effort is funded by Measure L and the state’s Active Transportation Program.
The neighborhood has lacked sidewalks on many blocks since its founding around 1940 by Dust Bowl migrants. About a quarter of the streets still will not have them after the projects are done.
