New Highway 132 segment west from Modesto finally opens — except for this piece
A new segment of Highway 132 has finally opened in Modesto after three years of construction and six decades of discussion.
Drivers can use the three-mile stretch from Dakota Avenue to the Needham Street overpass, just west of Highway 99. The connections to 99 are still not ready.
The project moved the highway off Maze Boulevard to a corridor just south of Kansas Avenue. Planning dates to the late 1950s, when some of the right of way was secured, but it took this long to secure funding and refine the route.
Bay Cities Paving & Grading of Concord built the segment on a $92 million contract with the city of Modesto. The money came from a mix of local, state and federal sources.
The project provided two lanes and a median without cross traffic from 99 to Dakota, and a half-mile connection to Maze. It has bridges at Highway 99, Emerald Avenue, Carpenter Road and Rosemore Avenue.
Officials held a Sept. 15 ribbon-cutting under the Rosemore bridge, but the crews still needed nearly two months to get 132 ready for traffic.
Work continues on connections to 99 near the new 132 corridor, as well as on modifications to downtown streets that were part of the project.
“Construction crews are finishing the construction on the roadway, so please continue to be alert and slow for the cone zone!” an online update said.
Funding is being assembled for a second phase that would widen the expressway to four lanes, and a third that would bring it as far west as Gates Road.
This story was originally published November 13, 2022 at 11:42 AM.
