Construction will begin on expressway in Stanislaus County. Board OKs $144 million contract
Stanislaus County leaders unanimously approved contracts Tuesday to begin construction on Phase I of the North County Corridor expressway.
Supervisors awarded a $144 million construction contract to Bay Cities/Myers & Sons Joint Venture to build the 3-mile route and a Claribel Road extension. Plans are to break ground in April or May and complete the project in summer 2028.
Starting at the intersection of Claribel and Oakdale roads near Riverbank, the four-lane section will cut south for a quarter mile on Oakdale and run east to Claus Road, including overpasses or undercrossings at Roselle Avenue, Terminal Avenue and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks.
It’s part of an 18-mile, cross-county route designed to improve east-west traffic flow, as it bypasses Modesto, Riverbank and Oakdale. The expressway will connect the east part of the county with Highway 99. Agreements for other design work and construction management were approved at Tuesday’s meeting.
The board also approved use of $79 million in regional transportation impact fees, $26 million in state funding and $10 million in Measure L funds, in addition to borrowing $34 million from the Tobacco Endowment fund.
In December, the county received four bids from construction firms: Bay Cities/Myers & sons, DeSilva Gates Construction-MCM, Flatiron-Teichert, and Security Paving Company. Bay Cities/Myers was the lowest bidder; other bids were as high as $171.5 million.
DeSilva Gates filed a protest claiming the lowest bidder did not list a subcontractor with a certain well-drilling license for groundwater work. Public Works and the County Counsel’s office determined the protest didn’t have merit.
Supervisor Vito Chiesa said the county is working on two major road projects, the Highway 132 second phase west of Modesto and the North County Corridor. For that reason, the financing for the north county project is not typical.
Chief Executive Officer Jody Hayes explained that internal borrowing of Tobacco Endowment money provides cash flow for the projects without incurring lending costs from banks. The tobacco tax fund will be replenished as other money is available.
