Remote Surveillance Trailer in Ceres, CA

A proposed Tuolumne River bridge in east Modesto will get a detailed design at a cost of about $8 million.

The Stanislaus Council of Governments voted unanimously on the matter Wednesday night, Sept. 17. The bridge would run from Garner Road in Modesto to Faith Home Road in east Ceres.

StanCOG does not have money to build the span, part of a new mile-long expressway expected to cost about $79 million. It could apply for state and federal grants on top of the local sales tax money that will pay for the design.

Garner is the southern extension of Claus Road, which runs from Riverbank to Yosemite Boulevard. The expressway would go through the Beard Industrial District and end at Faith Home and Hatch roads. A future project could extend it 3.5 miles south to Highway 99 in Keyes.

StanCOG oversees transportation funding for the county and its nine city governments. The new bridge is in its strategic plan for the Measure L sales tax, said Jose Luis Caceres, director of programming and program delivery. Voters approved the half-percent levy in 2016.

Caceres presented the matter to the StanCOG Policy Board. It is made up of city and county elected officials.

Measure L also will provide $2 million for right-of-way purchases, after the design refines the project footprint. These two steps will take about four years, said an email from Andrew Malizia, a deputy director at Stanislaus County Public Works.

The department soon will hire an engineering firm for the design. It will result in detailed blueprints and cost estimates for steel, concrete and other materials. All of this will aid in grant applications and construction bidding.

The project completed its environmental review in 2022. It looked at how the new route would affect traffic, the river channel and other concerns.

How many lanes would the bridge have?

The bridge would be wide enough for four lanes but have just two to start. It would be 861 feet long where it crosses the main river channel and 1,823 feet with the floodplain included.

Beard is the area’s largest industrial park, with 35 businesses, mainly food and beverage processing. The expressway would pass under tracks of the Modesto and Empire Traction Co., which moves railcars to and from major lines.

Claus varies from two to six lanes along its length. The extension on Garner would have four lanes, as would the future Faith Home connection to Highway 99.

It would be the 14th bridge across the county ’s segment of the Tuolumne. Three are in the La Grange area. The others are at Roberts Ferry, Hickman Road, Geer Road, Santa Fe Avenue, Mitchell Road, Ninth Street, Seventh Street, Highway 99, Carpenter Road and Shiloh Road.

Seventh Street will get its long-planned replacement starting in early 2026. It was built in 1916 but has had weight limits since the 1930s due to faulty concrete. The final $15 million toward the $134 million cost was approved in June by the California Transportation Commission.

In the Spotlight is a Modesto Bee series that digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about. Story idea? Email tips@modbee.com.

A group of Stanislaus County entrepreneurs is making both a food truck court and a restaurant come alive.

Amarjit Singh Malhi, Andy Sanchez and Deep Gill are the players behind Ceres Grub Hub, a 16,000-square-foot food truck court that won unanimous approval from the city to build in southwest Ceres.

Juan Manuel Ruiz Jr. is the owner of two popular taco trucks stationed in Modesto and Turlock — Tacos El Viejon — and is opening a third, which will be stationed in Ceres Grub Hub.

That’s not all. The food truck court shares a 58-spot parking lot with Sharps Cannabis Co., a dispensary owned by Singh Malhi, Sanchez and Gill.

That’s still not the end of it. All four businessmen are partnering to open a brick-and-mortar version of Tacos El Viejon next to Flyers, a gas station and convenience store owned by Gill.

Still with me? Here’s how it’ll all work out.

Singh Malhi’s and Sanchez’s fathers owned businesses next to each other on Crows Landing Road in the 1980s and the two grew up as neighbors.

They became partners when they decided to open their first dispensary together around six years ago, and they brought Gill into it when they opened Sharps in late 2023.

Prominent Ceres businessman Shane Parson, who owned the property Sharps sits on, as well as the adjoining lot, approached the trio about buying the whole property.

An agreement was made that Parson would help get the food truck court approved by the city and the three would move forward with the purchase.

“We’re trying to create an atmosphere, we’re trying to create a business that’ll bring people and bring families to a cool place to come hang out and come eat,” Sanchez said.

There will be free games like cornhole and pingpong, arcade basketball and other arcade games.

Sharps Cannabis Co. has its own security, and the grub hub will have additional security, Singh Malhi said.

There are 13 confirmed food trucks that will be in the court:

Antojitos Sinaloa — aguas frescas, fruit cups

Betzy’s Aguas Frescas — aguas frescas, michelaguas

Crabs in Ur Pants — Seafood boil

Dog-N-Out — loaded fries, gourmet hot dogs, loaded baked potatoes

E & C Mexi Teriyaki — Teriyaki plates

Kona Ice — Shaved ice

La Vida Dulce — Sweets

Las Katrinas Cocina Mexicana — Mexican cuisine, fusion

Love at First Slice — New York-style pizza

PS Cutea — Boba

Tacos El Viejon — Tijuana-style tacos

The Mac Box — Gourmet macaroni and cheese, smash burgers

Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck — coffee, energy drinks

Ceres Grub Hub will be open at 4040 Farm Supply Drive within a month, Sanchez said. Its hours will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, though individual food trucks will make their own hours.

Ruiz Jr., owner of Tacos El Viejon food trucks and soon-to-be restaurant, has been “cooking all (his) life,” he said.

His mother owned Junior’s Kitchen in Patterson and the family members would always cook together. The salsa served at Tacos El Viejon is his mother’s recipe.

A Modesto native, Ruiz Jr. moved to San Diego at 18 for a while before coming back to his hometown. While down south, he was influenced by a different style of taco — Tijuana style.

He brought the idea back to Modesto and started cooking his tacos for friends at home. They feature prime sirloin steak cooked over mesquite, handmade tortillas and a dollop of guacamole.

“One of those friends told somebody they knew from the Bay Area and they came down and did a video,” Ruiz Jr. said. “It just took off from there.”

The first Tacos El Viejon truck opened in summer 2023. It’s parked at 604 Sixth St. in Modesto. Since, a second truck has been opened at 1125 N. Golden State Blvd. in a Turlock, and a third will soon be at Ceres Grub Hub.

When Singh Malhi, Sanchez and Gill learned that a restaurant next door to Gill’s station was for sale, they jumped on the opportunity to buy it. They brought in Ruiz Jr. after seeing how well his taco truck was doing and the group entered into an equal partnership.

The Tacos El Viejon restaurant, at 1240 W. Whitmore Ave., will open in the next couple of weeks, pending inspections. Its hours will be 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. to accommodate truck drivers, farmers, commuters and other early birds in the area.

For more information, visit instagram.com/tacoselviejon209.