Starting September 28, drivers heading north on Geer Road from N. Golden State Boulevard began meeting shifted lanes, closed shoulders and the occasional flagger. The City's road-closure listing puts that work between N. Golden State and E. Hawkeye Avenue, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., through October 30. Past Hawkeye, through the stretch with Walmart Neighborhood Market and Mercy West Urgent Care, Geer still looks like it did last spring.
That calm stretch has the most work coming. The City is building the project from both ends toward the middle, and the middle is where the road needs to be rebuilt instead of just resurfaced. Over the next two years, the Geer Road most people know best will be the last section to change.
What the council approved, and what it cost
On August 11, 2026, the Turlock City Council voted unanimously to award the Geer Road Rehabilitation Project to Teichert Construction. The contract is $20,280,558 plus a 10% contingency, and the City of Turlock's announcement says the bid came in about $5.9 million below the engineer's estimate.
Turlock's sales-tax measure pays for only part of it. According to the City, about 75% of the funding comes from sources other than Measure A, including $6.8 million in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant money secured through the Stanislaus Council of Governments. Geer is part of a bigger effort. In its November 2025 coverage, the Turlock Journal reported that the citywide Roads Initiative Program, approved in 2021, puts half of Measure A funding toward Turlock's 428 lane miles of road. At the time, those roads had a pavement condition index of 55 out of 100.
The Turlock Journal's September 2 report on the award quoted Mayor Amy Bublak: "Thousands of people rely on this corridor every day to get where they need to go."
Built from both ends toward the middle
The project covers Geer from N. Golden State Boulevard up to Taylor Road in three phases. The City's release says the northern and southern phases will run at the same time, and the central phase starts only after that.
That order replaces an earlier plan. At the November 2025 council update, the Journal reported that the Golden State–Hawkeye and Hawkeye–Monte Vista packages were set for 2026 and 2027, with Monte Vista–Taylor following in 2027 and 2028. The awarded plan flips that order and saves the middle for last.
The middle also needs the most work. In that same update, the Journal reported that the road needed only resurfacing at the south end, from Golden State to Canal Drive, and at the north end, from Monte Vista to Taylor. The section in between needed reconstruction.
| Phase | Limits | Type of work, per the design update | Everyday stops along it | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South | N. Golden State Blvd to Hawkeye Ave | Resurfacing up to Canal Dr, reconstruction from Canal to Hawkeye | Walgreens, 1591 Geer Rd, at Hawkeye | First, now underway |
| Central | Hawkeye Ave to Monte Vista Ave | Reconstruction | Mercy West Urgent Care, 2101 Geer Rd; Walmart Neighborhood Market, 2480 Geer Rd | Last |
| North | Monte Vista Ave to Taylor Rd | Resurfacing | Starbucks, 3000 Geer Rd; CVS, 3100 Geer Rd; Wingstop, 3102 Geer Rd | First, alongside the south |
Because the south phase runs into the reconstructed section between Canal and Hawkeye, the first heavy work is already starting at the southern end. Then the full rebuild moves into the central blocks, which hold the grocery store, the urgent care and the pharmacy runs that many households make every week.
Why it stretches into 2028
The contract allows 400 working days. The City currently expects completion in early to mid-2028, depending on weather and field conditions. Working days add up slowly because the hours are limited. Regular construction runs 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, and the contract bans night work.
Those same rules shape what driving it feels like. Geer stays open with at least one lane in each direction throughout. The weekday daytime schedule means evenings and weekends should have the fewest crews out. During the week, the morning school-and-work rush falls inside the work window.
Everything else on the closure list this fall
Geer isn't the only project on the City's road-closure page, which was current as of the night of October 11, 2026. The listings that overlap with Geer work this fall:
- Geer Rd, N. Golden State Blvd to E. Hawkeye Ave: lane shifts, shoulder closures and intermittent flagging, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., September 28 to October 30.
- Geer Rd, Hedstrom Rd to Sai Ln: inside lane closed in both directions for median improvements and roadway reconstruction, October 19 to December 4. The listing doesn't say whether this is part of Teichert's contract.
- W. Monte Vista Ave, N. Walnut to Four Seasons: down to the No. 2 lanes in both directions for median construction, 24 hours a day, October 12 to November 16.
- E. Linwood Ave, Amberwood Ln to Golf Rd: closed to eastbound traffic with posted detours, October 12 to October 28.
The page changes as crews move. The City's Road Closures & Major Delays page is the place to check the current version before a weekday trip across town.
Bus riders have a stake too. Turlock Transit's Route 2 is named "Geer," and its published schedule includes stops at Geer & Tuolumne and at Monte Vista & Dels. When we checked, the Turlock Transit news page had no alert yet about the fall Geer work. It did list an earlier Linwood construction alert dated August 7, 2026.
What the corridor looks like when the cones come down
The finished road is laid out differently, not just repaved. According to the City's release and the Journal's design coverage, it includes:
- Buffered bike lanes along the corridor. The Journal reported that adding them removes some street parking, mainly in front of Stanislaus State and Crowell School.
- Camera-based traffic signals. Every signal on the project switches from in-pavement loop detection to cameras.
- Three Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon crosswalks: two between Canal Drive and Hawkeye Avenue, and one just north of Monte Vista Avenue.
- Longer left-turn pockets for southbound Geer traffic turning onto Golden State Boulevard and northbound Geer traffic turning onto Monte Vista Avenue.
- Filled sidewalk gaps and ADA upgrades, plus pavement rehabilitation or reconstruction matched to each section's condition.
The Journal described the starting point as distressed pavement, gutter drainage problems, and uneven or missing sidewalks. Two of the three new beacon crossings and one of the two longer turn pockets are on the south phase, the one already under construction. Several of the biggest changes along the southern end should arrive well before the central stretch is finished.
Stanislaus State visitors should know the campus's official directions don't use Geer at all. The university routes drivers from Highway 99 by way of Monte Vista Avenue and University Circle. That route avoids the south-phase work but crosses the W. Monte Vista median closure through mid-November.
The order to plan around
For the rest of this fall, construction on Geer sits at the two ends. The south end, from Golden State to Hawkeye, has active lane shifts now. The north end gets resurfacing, and a separate median closure between Hedstrom and Sai runs through December 4. The central blocks between Hawkeye and Monte Vista come after both ends are done. That's the stretch the Journal's design update said needs full reconstruction, and it's where Walmart Neighborhood Market at 2480 Geer and Mercy West Urgent Care at 2101 Geer sit. The City says it will post construction updates and traffic information as the work moves.
If you live near Geer Road and are deciding whether to stay put or sell while the work moves from the ends toward the middle, we're glad to go over the timing with you. Oliveira Properties has worked in Turlock for more than two decades, and we can help in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and we'll show you what homes near Geer have sold for recently.
