$6 million in grants
support project

By Reed Fujii, Staff Writer

Posted Oct. 6, 2015 at 6:48 PM

The U.S. Department of Commerce
awarded a $1.9 million grant to the Port of Stockton for critical
infrastructure upgrades to support regional economic growth. That grant from
the department’s Economic Development Administration was announced last week by
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Richard Aschieris, director of the Port of Stockton,
welcomed the award and noted it was one of nearly $6 million in grants his
agency had won to help improve Navy Drive and access to the port’s Rough and
Ready Island. Aschieris said the package included the San Joaquin Council of
Governments pledging $2 million and U.S. Department of Homeland Security just
under $2 million to the improvements.

Caltrans currently is building a westward extension of the
Crosstown Freeway, which instead of coming to a dead-end at Fresno Avenue will
be elevated, extend over the Boggs Tract residential area and carry traffic
onto Navy Drive.

The port will use the grants to widen Navy Drive to four lanes
from the current two. In addition, Aschieris said, the port plans to improve an
underpass where the roadway crosses a railroad; improve its intersection with
Washington Street (another port arterial); and build a new bridge where Navy
connects to Rough and Ready. “That will, in effect, create a whole new entrance
to the port,” Aschieris said. “We’ve got a lot of things going on preparing for
the Crosstown Freeway extension.” He noted that it could be another two years
or so before the road projects are completed.

The new access is better suited to the heavy trucks and
commercial vehicles that now rumble through Boggs Tract day and night, boosting
the port’s ability to handle freight and further the industrial development on
the former naval base at Rough and Ready.

— Contact reporter Reed Fujii at (209) 546-8253 or
rfujii@recordnet.com.