A reconfigured Woodward Avenue crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks is coming.

The project essentially will convert the narrow, former two-lane country road track crossing into a copy of what the city put in place down the tracks to the west at Industrial Park Drive/Spreckels Avenue over 12 years ago.

Plans are to:

*Modify the existing two-lane at grade crossing and widen the street to accommodate two lanes in each direction.

*An 8-inch raised median.

*Bike lanes.

*The intersection of Woodward Avenue and Moffat Boulevard will be realigned to reduce the skew angle to create a true 90-degree T-intersection

*A new traffic signal at Woodward Avenue and Moffat Boulevard with new interconnection between the traffic signal and railroad signal house will be installed, including an eastbound pre-signal.

*Fencing will be installed along Moffat Boulevard to prevent illegal parking within the railroad right of way.

*Installing four (4 flashing light signal assemblies with automatic gate arm for eastbound and westbound motorists (two per approach).

*Installing 88 feet of concrete crossing surface

The City Council when they meet Wednesday at 6 p.m. are being asked to authorize City Manager Toni Lundgren to submit an application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to allow the project to proceed.

The CPUC has regulatory authority over railroads in addition to services such as wireless and landline phones, plus natural gas an electricity providers among other concerns.

It is part of the $55 million first phase of the Highway 99/120 Bypass upgrade on target to break ground in spring of 2024. The overall, three-phased project has a $131.5 million price tag.

Due to the need to secure a permit before PG&E work can be scheduled which has to happen often six months or later in advance, the city needs to proceed with the application process.

 The first phase improvements would:

*widen the connector from the eastbound Bypass to southbound Highway 99 to two lanes.

*replace the existing Austin Road overcrossing with a new bridge that would also go over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

*swing Woodward Avenue south to connect with Austin Road.

*relocate the current at-grade Woodward Avenue crossing of the railroad tracks to reach Moffat Boulevard so vehicles cross the tracks at 90 degrees. This would be a new, short road that only goes from the new alignment of Woodward Avenue to Moffat Boulevard.

* temporarily shut down the southbound off ramp and northbound on ramp at Austin Road and the Highway 99 interchange.

*build a new northbound off ramp to Highway 99 at Austin Road.

The configuration would allow traffic to use Moffat Boulevard — which would flow under Austin Road — to access southbound Highway 99 as it currently does.

The second phase costing $26 million would:

*widen the connector from northbound Highway 99 to the westbound 120 Bypass from one to two lanes.

*convert the existing structure crossing Highway 99 to the 120 Bypass to two lanes.

*construct a new separation structure to serve eastbound 120 Bypass traffic to the northbound Highway 99 connector ramp.

*add a westbound auxiliary lane on the 120 Bypass from the Highway 99 interchange to Main Street.

 *add an eastbound auxiliary lane on the 120 Bypass between Main Street and Highway 99.

The third phase costing $53 million would:

*restore the southbound off ramp — if it ends up being closed in the first phase — by constructing a grade-separated braided ramp to eliminate weaving with 120 Bypass merging traffic.

*construct the entrance ramp from Austin Road to northbound Highway 99 and to the westbound 120 Bypass as a loop ramp that will separate traffic movements to Highway 99 and the 120 Bypass.

*relocate the northbound Highway 99 exit ramp to Austin Road to accommodate the loop onramp.

*relocate the Highway 99 frontage road for about 0.8 miles.

*add an auxiliary lane in each direction on Highway 99 from the 120 Bypass to about 1.7 miles south of Austin Road by shifting the median away from the Union Pacific right-of-way and relocating the frontage road.

*add an auxiliary lane in the existing median of the eastbound 120 Bypass from Main Street to Highway 99 to provide a dedicated lane to connect to the new 120/99 separation structure.

The high cost of the third phase design is reflected in the necessity not to impede traffic flow and create a major safety hazard from the 120 Bypass south to 99 and from 99 going north to the eastbound 120 Bypass.

In order to do so the ramp for southbound Austin would start for eastbound 120 Bypass traffic at a point near the Bypass crossing of Moffat Boulevard and the railroad tracks while  the ramp for southbound 99 traffic to access Austin would start prior to the 120 Bypass connector flyover.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com