One of the main reasons I decided to join Dewberry | Drake Haglan (then Drake Haglan and Associates) back in September of 2013, aside from its great group of people, was to be able to work on one of the largest transportation projects in the central California region, the North County Corridor (NCC).
The NCC Transportation Expressway Authority
Now in the final design phase, NCC is a high priority project located in Stanislaus County consisting of an 18-mile, high-capacity bypass around the cities of Modesto, Riverbank, and Oakdale. To plan and deliver this project, the NCC Transportation Expressway Authority was formed. The authority consists of the cities of Modesto, Oakdale, and Riverbank; Stanislaus County; and members of the Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
The main goals for the authority are to deliver a project that will:
- Improve regional network circulation
- Relieve existing traffic congestion, including reducing traffic delay and accommodating future traffic
- Suppport the efficient movement of goods and services
- Enhance traffic safety
The construction of the BNSF railroad/Terminal Avenue overhead will eliminate the need to cross the railroad tracks at grade.
To accomplish these goals, the project includes the design and construction of multiple new interchanges, railroad-grade separations, at-grade intersections, roundabouts, bridge structures, culverts, and many other civil transportation features. It will require the relocation of mulitiple overhead and undergroud utilities, and many acres of new right-of-way.
A Community-Driven Project
Being able to work on something of this magnitude does not happen every day, and I consider myself fortunate to be able to contribute to the development and delivery of such a great project. The variety of complex transportation challenges and amount of stakeholder and agency coordination needed to deliver a project of this size makes the NCC project a once-in-a-career opportunity.
The variety of complex transportation challenges and amount of stakeholder and agency coordination needed to deliver a project of this size makes the NCC project a once-in-a-career opportunity. ”
Miguel Ramirez
The Roselle Avenue single-point urban interchange (SPUI) is one of four SPUIs proposed for the NCC project.
Our team is thankful to serve the communities of Modesto, Oakdale, Riverbank, and Stanislaus County. Making sure that we capture the voices of the communities, and more specifically, the voices of the individual property owners, to the best of our ability in the design is critical.
We've been involved with the NCC project since the early project report and environmental clearance phase; and now, our team gets the privilege of completing the final design for the first phase. It’s with great pride that our team works diligently every day, and looks forward to seeing this project constructed in the near future.