Modesto neighborhood getting major improvements. How the $17M will be spent
Major infrastructure upgrades in southwest Modesto’s Bret Harte neighborhood were celebrated Wednesday afternoon by elected officials and community members.
“This is exciting,” said David Leamon, Stanislaus County director of public works. “It’s super neat that we get to do this ceremony.”
The unincorporated community soon will see the first curbs, gutters and sidewalks in a section of the neighborhood, something residents say has been a long time coming.
The infrastructure improvements are part of a $55.8 million American Rescue Plan Act grant, $10 million of which went to the Bret Harte neighborhood.
The area between Las Vegas and Eureka streets and Butte and Glenn avenues will receive the upgrade.
Bryan Esquivel, 18, was born and raised in the neighborhood and said residents have to take flood mitigation into their own hands due to the lack of sidewalks and drainage. “This whole street floods,” Esquivel said. “The street is usually full of water.”
Maria Madrigal brought a display to show pictures of flooding and sinkholes she’s experienced and reported to the county since she moved to the neighborhood in the 1980s.
“They would tell me the funding allocated to this neighborhood had been used somewhere else or no funding was allocated to this district. Talk about frustrating,” Madrigal said.
She went on to thank her Stanislaus County supervisor, Channce Condit, for helping to collect signatures, listen to complaints and get the funding for the fixes.
The last upgrade was in the 1990s when the neighborhood replaced septic tanks with a sewer system.
The new process began about a month ago, with the county’s general contractor, George Reed, marking the streets with yellow paint to identify gas lines.
Modesto also pitched in around $7 million to provide water to the neighborhood.
Vice Mayor Jeremiah Williams was in attendance to celebrate and to present certificates of appreciation to Leaman from Mayor Sue Zwahlen and Assemblymember Juan Alanis.
“What’s important is that the city of Modesto, and the county, is for all of its residents, and we’re happy to have a part in it. Not as big as the county, but we’re thankful that folks, particularly young people, will now have the opportunity to have sidewalks and feel a little bit more pride about the area they live in,” Williams said.
A representative for state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil also presented a certificate.
For the first time, the neighborhood will have streetside fire hydrants.
The projected timeline for completion of the large-scale project is October.
“If we get a bunch of rain days in March, April or February, then it might move out a month, but we should be done before next year,” Leaman said.
Damon Flores, a south Modesto resident who just qualified for the 2028 USA Olympic team for boxing, also was there to share the moment. “His boxing career started right here in the community of south Modesto, over at the Red Shield center,” Condit said. “From south Modesto to the Olympics, that’s the community that we have here.”
Condit said his goal is to fully build out the area of south Modesto, but he needs community members to show up to the meetings and continue advocating.
“We’re going to need a little bit of help,” Condit said. “We’re going to need a little bit of ‘wearing out the shoe leather,’ if you will.”
Brandon Gamboa, who has lived in the Bret Harte neighborhood for 11 years, said every winter he sees kids navigating flooding on their way to school or waiting for the bus, or his neighbors using wheelchairs sharing the road with cars.
“People don’t think about it, dirt vs. sidewalks — who knows what could come about?” Gamboa said. “I’m very thankful.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 8:14 AM.
