Located in central California, Stanislaus County is in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley between Yosemite National Park and San Francisco. The county, along with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the joint venture of Bay Cities and Myers & Sons, is building the North County Corridor Phase 1, Claribel Road Extension project. The route, which will traverse the northern part of the county, aims to improve east- and westbound traffic.
Upon completion of all phases, the project will deliver an 18-mile highway that travels through the California cities of Modesto, Riverbank, and Oakdale.
When the North County Corridor is complete, it will alleviate traffic congestion for those traveling from Modesto (the county seat, with a population of approximately 220,000) to Oakdale. Many small county roads in the area cannot handle the traffic volumes.
Another reason the new road is needed is that the eastern part of the county has a growing population, so infrastructure needs to keep up. According to the project website, the corridor will “provide for the efficient movement of goods and services throughout the region, thereby supporting the regional economy.”
The team is in the middle of Phase 1. Dates for the future phases have yet to be finalized.
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The first phase of the new access-controlled roadway will involve constructing 2.3 miles of roadway. Other project elements include the following:
- New interchange at Roselle Avenue
- Grade-separated structures over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) rail line, Terminal Avenue, and the Modesto Irrigation District’s (MID) Main Canal
- Realignment of Claribel Road with a quadruple 32-foot-wide box culvert crossing at MID’s Main Canal and grade-separated structures over the BNSF rail line and Terminal Avenue
- New frontage roads to maintain access to adjacent properties
- New continuous shoulders, improved bike and pedestrian facilities, and lighting
The project involves eliminating an at-grade railroad crossing, which Stanislaus County stated has a history of fatal accidents.
Myers & Sons Structures Manager Chris Nelson noted a couple of other project elements:
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- Several mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls that tie into the bridge structures
- Significant amount of drainage improvements
- Improvements to MID and Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) infrastructure
The project includes construction of seven new bridges. Two span a canal while others are either over land or the railroad.
Finally, the team will need to move approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of dirt. They have had 10 to 15 large scrapers operating daily. Much of the dirt is being used to create the necessary embankments for the grade-separated structures.
According to Stanislaus County, the project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in multiple ways:
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- Reducing traffic congestion and vehicle miles traveled on Stanislaus roadways
- Using low carbon concrete
- Supporting multimodal transportation access and goods movement to a clean-energy industrial park
- Owner: Stanislaus County, California
- General Contractors: Bay Cities, Concord, California; Myers & Sons, Pico Rivera, California
Greenfield projects are typically simpler than working on a live piece of infrastructure. There are no maintenance of traffic (MOT) issues, fewer conflicts with existing infrastructure, and less need to coordinate construction around ongoing traffic and operations.
“If you looked at this project as we do our work, it looks like we’re working in the middle of a field,” Nelson said.
Yet, the team has to consider multiple factors despite the seemingly simple conditions.
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The Hetch Hetchy water line, which carries water approximately 160 miles from Yosemite National Park to the San Francisco Bay Area, runs through the work zone. The Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency website states that the “regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Mateo counties.”
Ensuring the water line is not damaged is essential. The team put a distribution slab or white paving on the water line to help protect it as it crosses under the improvements made to Oakdale Road.
Another complicating factor on the project has been the bridges and various facilities in Modesto.
“We’ve had to engage in a significant amount of coordination with the Modesto Irrigation personnel as we have to relocate some of their facilities, including irrigation valves outside of the right of way and powerlines around the work areas,” Nelson said.
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He added that the bridges crossing the Modesto Irrigation District main canal are heavily regulated.
“We have to coordinate our work to ensure we don’t interrupt the water supply that farmers count on,” Nelson said.
The coordination is primarily related to pile driving and excavation.
According to the Modesto Irrigation District website, MID provides “irrigation water to more than 2,300 agricultural accounts irrigating close to 60,000 acres and electricity to more than 131,000 residential, commercial, and agricultural accounts in Modesto, Empire, Salida, Waterford, and Mountain House as well as parts of Escalon, Oakdale, Ripon, and Riverbank. MID also treats, delivers, and wholesales up to approximately 67,000 acre-feet of drinking water per year to the City of Modesto.”
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Stanislaus County asked the team to work around a canal in Modesto that shuts down from November to February. So, the team planned to go in and build a structure during that time frame.
However, a significant rain event in November 2025 disrupted the planned work. The canal had already been drained, but the storm filled it back up.
“We were a month behind on the work,” Nelson said. “However, the county rep worked with us to help expedite the submittal, review, and inspection process. They were there daily to get us the answers we needed, and we ultimately finished three weeks before the canal was set to reopen in February.”
The presence of the railroad is another factor that has impacted construction. The team must staff a railroad flagger, and railroad-related submittals require significant lead time.
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Utility relocation, a standard challenge in a brownfield project, was also needed on this project. Nelson noted that the project required significant utility relocation in key areas where structures are being built.
“We had to coordinate with PG&E, Modesto Power Agency, Astound [fiber], and AT&T,” Nelson said. “Some of the promises regarding completion have been met, while others have not come to fruition, so we have to adjust and figure out where we can work.”
Founded in 1946, Bay Cities Paving and Grading specializes in paving, grading, and underground construction. Myers & Sons is a heavy civil construction company with roots dating back to 1977. For the North County Corridor Phase 1 project, Bay Cities is focusing on dirt work, while Myers & Sons is focusing on bridges.
The two contracting companies have partnered before. Nelson said they were happy to take on the project.
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“It starts with a good owner, which Stanislaus County is, and the location of the project, which gives us good access,” he said. “We also appreciate that the project includes a large number of bridges in a relatively small area.”
The construction budget for the project is $144 million, and it is on budget. Nelson credits this to the team’s ability to maintain progress and address issues proactively.
“My job is to enable the field staff to push forward and be proactive rather than wait,” Nelson said.
According to the North County Corridor Phase 1 project website, the project “consists of 86 percent local and state funding, which is primarily a combination of Stanislaus County Public Facilities Fee Program and Measure L, SB1 Grant funds, and State Transportation Improvement Program funds, both regional and interregional. Remaining funding comes from U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD Grant funds and consists of about 14 percent of the total funding.”
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Construction on the project began in spring 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in summer 2028. Six of the seven bridges are currently in some phase of construction, with the final bridge awaiting the stage 3 closure of Claribel Road. The final bridge is around the railroad, which restricts work happening around it during the fourth quarter. Nelson said the team requested an extension so they could get access earlier. If the extension is approved, he believes the team could complete the bridges early.
After this phase of the North County Corridor project is complete, residents will begin to experience eased traffic and improved safety in the area.
