The consortium of organizations that have been working to finalize designs for the North County Corridor, skirting past Riverbank and around Oakdale, hosted a recent workshop at Riverbank City Hall.
Stanislaus County, partnered with the Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG), the cities of Modesto, Riverbank and Oakdale, and the state Department of Transportation (CalTrans) have adopted a corridor and plan to deliver the product over the next four years.
The maps showing the proposed route vary from the original plans discussed almost 20 years ago.
Spokesmen for the project included Theron Roschen, Contract Project Manager for Stanislaus County Department of Public Works and contract engineer Matt Satow, Vice President of Dewberry Engineers, of Rancho Cordova.
They noted that the project is expected to improve regional traffic circulation in the area, relieve existing traffic congestion, reduce traffic delay and accommodate future traffic on State Route 108. Eventually, 108 will be rerouted onto the finished expressway, avoiding both downtown Riverbank and Oakdale.
The improvements are expected to support efficient movement of goods and services and enhance traffic safety.
Drivers in the Riverbank area have enjoyed the expressway, begun at McHenry and Claribel Road to the west, in Modesto, and improved to four- and five-lane traffic as it travels past Riverbank, narrowing back down to two lanes before coming upon the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe railroad crossing near Terminal Avenue.
According to the presentation, the new “Phase 1 of the project begins at the Claribel and Oakdale Road intersection, heads south, then runs eastward parallel to Claribel Road on a new alignment, and connects to Claus Road at the existing Claribel Road intersection.”
Also, Claribel Road is to be partially realigned with this effort, it was noted.
“The Phase 1 project includes the construction of a new four-lane access-controlled expressway, a new interchange at Roselle Avenue, grade separated overpasses at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line, Terminal Avenue, and the Modesto Irrigation District Main Canal, and new frontage roads to maintain access to adjacent properties.”
There’s more information, including detailed maps, available on the project’s website: https://northcountycorridorphase1.com.
In the entirety of the project, this is just Phase 1, from Oakdale Road to Claus Road. Phase 2 connects Claus to Albers Road; Phase 3, Albers to Highway 120, east of Oakdale.
Phase 4 connects Oakdale Road in Riverbank west to Tully Road in Modesto, realigning parts of both Claribel and Kiernan Avenue/State Route 219.
At the Aug. 16 Phase 1 workshop, a number of residents from the affected area of the Claribel realignment, over toward the Riverbank Industrial Complex, formerly known as the Army Ammo Plant, objected to what they perceived to be added traffic through their neighborhoods as a result of the changes.
Development officials assured them that once construction was completed, traffic would flow easily past them.
Officials also unveiled what they expected the work schedule to look like.
Property acquisition is continuing, they said, with tree clearing for undergrounding of utilities beginning in the fall. The relocation of utilities will begin next spring, with construction set to begin in about a year, next fall. And work on this Phase 1 is expected to be complete sometime in 2027.
