Tuolumne River could get another bridge from Modesto to Ceres. The latest action
A proposed Tuolumne River bridge in east Modesto will get a detailed design at a cost of about $8 million.
The Stanislaus Council of Governments voted unanimously on the matter Wednesday night, Sept. 17. The bridge would run from Garner Road in Modesto to Faith Home Road in east Ceres.
StanCOG does not have money to build the span, part of a new mile-long expressway expected to cost about $79 million. It could apply for state and federal grants on top of the local sales tax money that will pay for the design.
Garner is the southern extension of Claus Road, which runs from Riverbank to Yosemite Boulevard. The expressway would go through the Beard Industrial District and end at Faith Home and Hatch roads. A future project could extend it 3.5 miles south to Highway 99 in Keyes.
StanCOG oversees transportation funding for the county and its nine city governments. The new bridge is in its strategic plan for the Measure L sales tax, said Jose Luis Caceres, director of programming and program delivery. Voters approved the half-percent levy in 2016.
Caceres presented the matter to the StanCOG Policy Board. It is made up of city and county elected officials.
Measure L also will provide $2 million for right-of-way purchases, after the design refines the project footprint. These two steps will take about four years, said an email from Andrew Malizia, a deputy director at Stanislaus County Public Works.
The department soon will hire an engineering firm for the design. It will result in detailed blueprints and cost estimates for steel, concrete and other materials. All of this will aid in grant applications and construction bidding.
The project completed its environmental review in 2022. It looked at how the new route would affect traffic, the river channel and other concerns.
How many lanes would the bridge have?
The bridge would be wide enough for four lanes but have just two to start. It would be 861 feet long where it crosses the main river channel and 1,823 feet with the floodplain included.
Beard is the area’s largest industrial park, with 35 businesses, mainly food and beverage processing. The expressway would pass under tracks of the Modesto and Empire Traction Co., which moves railcars to and from major lines.
Claus varies from two to six lanes along its length. The extension on Garner would have four lanes, as would the future Faith Home connection to Highway 99.
It would be the 14th bridge across the county ’s segment of the Tuolumne. Three are in the La Grange area. The others are at Roberts Ferry, Hickman Road, Geer Road, Santa Fe Avenue, Mitchell Road, Ninth Street, Seventh Street, Highway 99, Carpenter Road and Shiloh Road.
Seventh Street will get its long-planned replacement starting in early 2026. It was built in 1916 but has had weight limits since the 1930s due to faulty concrete. The final $15 million toward the $134 million cost was approved in June by the California Transportation Commission.
