Major improvements to enhance traffic safety, cut congestion

The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) Board of Directors has awarded a $48.2 million contract to Teichert Construction to build the first phase of the State Route 99/120 Connector project in Manteca with the work to begin this summer and be completed by early 2026.

“This project is absolutely necessary to the region to improve traffic safety, reduce traffic congestion, and simply make the entire State Route 99 and 120 interchange better for everyone,” Escalon Mayor and SJCOG Board Chair David Bellinger said. “It’s a vital transportation hub to move people safely and get San Joaquin County goods to markets outside the region. San Joaquin County is a supercommuter region and these improvements will bring far-reaching positive effects to all residents and commerce.”

For the first time in its history, SJCOG is leading the construction project and coordinating with Caltrans, City of Manteca and Union Pacific Railroad. Funding for the project comes from a combination of sources, including Measure K, the half-cent sales tax managed by SJCOG for transportation improvements in San Joaquin County, State Transportation Improvement Program, Caltrans’ State Highway Operation and Protection Program, federal COVID-19 relief money, and the federal Highway Infrastructure Program.

The project will have significant regional impact by improving safety and reducing congestion at a major highway interchange moving people and goods throughout the Northern California Megaregion and beyond. SJCOG Board members strongly supported the highway-to-highway improvement project.   

“I’m so happy to be finally at this point on this project,” Manteca Mayor and SJCOG Boardmember Gary Singh said. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m really looking forward to breaking ground.”

Long-serving board members have worked for years advocating for federal funding to match local Measure K funds for this project.

“This is something we’ve all been working on for years,” San Joaquin County Supervisor and SJCOG Boardmember Robert Rickman said before the board unanimously approved the contract award. “It’s another example of using Measure K funds, our tax dollars at work. … Once the project is finished, I think people are going to be very, very pleased.”

Teichert Construction has been a family-owned, Sacramento-based construction company since 1887 with satellite locations throughout California and Nevada.

The first phase of the project will:

• Increase the eastbound State Route 120 to southbound SR 99 connector ramp from one-lane to two lanes.

• Temporarily remove the Austin Road overcrossing and replace it with a new four-lane structure spanning SR 99 and UPRR.

• Add a new connecting road from Austin Road to East Atherton Drive, increase East Atherton Drive and East Woodward Avenue to four lanes each, and modify the existing UPRR gated crossing to conform to the new connector road.

• Modify the existing northbound Austin Road exit ramp to conform to the higher overcrossing profile grade.

• Close the Austin Road northbound entrance and southbound exit ramps until future phases of construction.

Construction on the first of three phases is expected to be completed in early 2026. The next phase of the project is being designed now and SJCOG anticipates funding to be secured to allow construction to begin once the first phase is completed.