StanCOG hears ideas to trim cost of North County Corridor

If the government opts for a slimmer North County Corridor east of Riverbank to save money, the future freeway someday could expand without buying more private land by simply adding lanes in the median, transportation leaders learned Wednesday.

The idea is among a dozen brainstormed by a team of road construction experts trying to improve efficiency and cut costs. Others include rubberized asphalt, pavement with synthetic fibers, sheer retaining walls, median drains and crossroads running in depressed grooves under the expressway.

Officials hope to circulate key environmental documents in the spring and start construction on the $400 million road in 2016. Proponents say the North County Corridor will help smooth traffic, while critics are upset at losing some homes and farmland.

An exact route for the freeway, skirting Modesto, Riverbank and Oakdale, won’t be selected for a couple of years. People continue to argue over options for tying into Highway 108 east of Oakdale. An earlier dispute went away when officials dropped the idea of the expressway extending all the way to Salida; it will end instead at Modesto’s Tully Road, and improvements to Kiernan Avenue will help vehicles reach Highway 99.

Stanislaus County Supervisor Bill O’Brien, whose district includes Riverbank and Oakdale, on Wednesday said he wasn’t keen on the idea of a four-lane North County Corridor east of Riverbank if it means another painful round of forcing people to sell land for an expansion to six lanes in a couple of decades. Colt Esenwein, the county’s deputy public works director, eased that fear by saying the extra two lanes would push into the median.

“We want to go through impacts to owners out there only once,” O’Brien said at the Stanislaus Council of Governments meeting.

He suggested that road designers put some effort into shaking California’s reputation for a “pretty ugly” highway system. “This is going to be a major road into Oakdale and Riverbank,” O’Brien said. “It’s going to be a gateway. We need something aesthetically pleasing.”

The so-called value analysis is mandated by federal transportation law for projects worth more than $50 million. Savings on each component range from $2 million, for land-saving mechanically stabilized earth walls lifting the freeway over railroad tracks and canals near Roselle Avenue and Claus Road, to $21 million, for partially sunken crossroads where McHenry Avenue, Coffee and Oakdale roads, and Roselle meet the freeway.

It’s not possible to add the components for a total cost savings estimate, Esenwein said, because some options would overlap. The California Department of Transportation will make the final decisions, he said.

Denny Jackman, a former Modesto councilman, noted that the ideas apparently were created to impress officials while ignoring benefits that motorists might appreciate. For example, he said, rubberized asphalt might save $3.9 million, but it also provides a quieter ride and less wear and tear on vehicles.

“If you’re going to the public with this kind of information, (say) what’s in it for them and not just what’s in it for the government body,” Jackman suggested.

This story was originally published November 5, 2014 at 7:17 PM with the headline "StanCOG hears ideas to trim cost of North County Corridor."