Modesto hires builder for Virginia Corridor bridge at Standiford. Opening date?
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- Modesto approved $8.56M contract with A&B Construction for Virginia Trail bridge.
- New trail extension includes Standiford bridge and targets fall 2026 completion.
- City combines state grants and local funds for $11.37M total project cost.
The beloved Virginia Corridor Trail will finally leap across Standiford Avenue, thanks to an $8.56 million contract awarded by the Modesto City Council.
It voted 6-0 on Tuesday, July 22, to hire A&B Construction of Oakland for the job. The project will add about half a mile to the paved path, including a bridge over four-lane Standiford.
The new leg could open by fall 2026 to walkers, bikers and other users, city engineer Toby Wells said. The total cost is $11.37 million, including engineering and construction management. The city is using several state and local sources.
The trail now runs nearly three miles from just north of Needham Street to Woodrow Avenue and was built in six phases. The seventh will bring it to Union Avenue. Future funding could add the final 1.5 miles to Kiernan Avenue.
“It will be a huge benefit to our community,” Mayor Sue Zwahlen said, “that we will be able to walk, bike, have that access all the way to the very north part of Modesto, all the way downtown.”
The city has separate funding to connect the Needham end to new bike lanes on Ninth Street to the Modesto Transportation Center. It serves bus riders now and could have Altamont Corridor Express trains as soon as next year.
How did the Virginia Corridor get its name?
The current trail runs partly along Virginia Avenue, hence the name. It was built on the former Tidewater Southern branch of the Union Pacific Railroad. The paved portion is mostly 10 feet wide, with landscaping, benches, lighting and rail history displays.
The first phase opened in 2006 between Roseburg and Orangeburg avenues. The second ran south to the Modesto Junior College East Campus. Other segments went north, including a bridge over Briggsmore Avenue, a four-lane expressway.
The path has several multi-block stretches free of cross-traffic from motor vehicles, but hazards remain. The trickiest is at four-lane Orangeburg, where users can push a button to activate warning lights for drivers. Two roundabouts slow traffic near the Bowen Avenue crossing.
The Virginia Corridor runs near several parks, schools and neighborhoods. Standiford has a mix of apartment complexes and shopping centers, while the area just to the north is mostly houses.
The city does not count how many people use the trail, but it is evident on any pleasant day that it is popular. Like many locales, Modesto has notable places to walk and bike as well as those where cars dominate.
How will Modesto pay for the extension?
The city had planned to start building this phase in 2020, but the pandemic slowed it. The project was ready to go out to bid in early 2024, but it was pulled due to rising costs. The revised plan has these funding sources:
- $3.64 million in state grants, mostly the Urban Greening Program
- $3.5 million from city fees charged on land developers to enhance recreation
- $2.86 million from ongoing state funding for non-motorized transportation
- $892,520 from the city water fund to move and upgrade a main where the bridge piers will be built
$276,531 from Measure H, an extra sales tax for various city functions, approved by voters in 2022
$200,000 from Measure L, a countywide sales tax for transportation from 2016
The council Tuesday also approved a $798,261 contract for construction management and inspection by TRC Engineering of Rancho Cordova, near Sacramento. Other parts of the $11.37 million total include engineering, power line relocation and a contingency against rising costs.
What about going farther north?
Modesto had planned to have this phase connect to the Hetch Hetchy Trail, beneath the transmission lines for San Francisco’s hydropower from the Sierra Nevada. The two cities are still discussing how this would work. In the meantime, Virginia Trail users can go about 100 feet west on Union to Semallon Drive, then north to Hetch Hetchy.
The eventual trail out to Kiernan would require a bridge over Pelandale Avenue, which is even wider than Standiford and Briggsmore. The area has a mix of homes and businesses.
The council agreed that crossing Standiford was a worthwhile step toward the ultimate goal.
“Every time that we do something to improve it, I just see how excited residents are and how energized they are,” Councilmember Chris Ricci said. “They want to get out there on their bikes or go for a stroll with their family or with their dog.”
The other votes came from Councilmembers Nick Bavaro, Jeremiah Williams, Rosa Escutia-Braaton and Eric Alvarez. David Wright was absent.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM.
