Roundabouts, bike paths and more may be coming to Modesto’s Ninth Street
Modesto’s Economic Development Committee approved a $14.6 million contract on Monday to improve the Ninth Street corridor between Carpenter Road and L Street.
The contract would be awarded to Hughson-based United Pavement Maintenance, which will install three roundabouts and a 2-mile-long bicycle trail with landscaping, which would connect to the Virginia Corridor Trail.
These upgrades are part of a series of approved plans aimed at making Modesto more bicycle and pedestrian friendly while also bringing a lot of the city’s infrastructure up to current standards. This is particularly true for downtown, where the city hopes projects such as a soccer stadium will revitalize the area.
“You want walkable communities, you want people to be able to go to the restaurant before and after a game,” said City Engineer Toby Wells. “You want people to be able to get to the stadium by multiple modes of travel. And that’s what this whole program is all about, is creating a better feel for people to walk and bike to get to those locations.”
In addition to roundabouts and bike paths, the project would resurface the road, add signage and striping, install Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades at intersections, tweak traffic signals, add storm drainage and improve streetlights.
The roundabouts would be placed at Ninth Street’s intersections with Carver Road, Coldwell Avenue, Tully Road and Needham Street.
While there was support among the committee, there also were a couple of concerns. Mayor Sue Zwahlen inquired about what would happen to plans for changes at the Briggsmore Avenue interchange with Highway 99.
In February, the city unveiled several options for altering the interchange, which historically has caused traffic and induced collisions. An engineer working for AECOM, the firm conducting a study on the interchange, called it “a mess,” The Bee previously reported.
Wells said plans for the interchange are still in the early planning stages and changing them to accommodate the Ninth Street project would probably be necessary. Wells said Ninth Street would likely be disconnected from Carpenter and a new connection would be from Ninth Street over the railroad tracks to Briggsmore. There would likely be an on-ramp to the southbound side of Highway 99 from Ninth Street, but a northbound on-ramp would need a different route.
Funding for the project is largely coming from Measure L — about $11.3 million. The rest will come from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Grant, which the city accepted in 2020 to build Archway Commons. Money from the grant could also be used to improve infrastructure connected to the project.
“It looks beautiful, all the improvement. I mean, I love it … just going to make a huge difference in that area,” said Zwahlen.
The three members of the committee — Zwahlen, Nick Bavaro and Eric Alvarez — voted unanimously in favor of the project. It will still need to be approved by the City Council before shovels hit the ground.
