Another economic coup for Manteca-Lathrop will help solidify the growing importance of the two cities as a major distribution hub to reach 17 million consumers within a 100-mile radius.

Manteca municipal leaders have been informed that Union Pacific instead of doubling the size of their intermodal (train-to-truck) operation on Roth Road in Lathrop that abuts the Manteca city limits they will quadruple it. The intermodal facility currently handles 250,000 tractor trailers of goods annually moving them from rail to trucks and vice versa.

That will impact Manteca’s processing of environmental documents the CenterPoint Intermodal Center directly east of the intermodal yard and Union Pacific line.

It will require some minor modifications to the 273-acre Manteca project as the intermodal yard will need additional acreage. It is part of an overall 392 acres bounded by Roth Road, Airport Way, Lathrop Road, and the railroad tracks that is being master planned.

The project consists of:

• annexing 18 parcels comprising of 392 acres.

• general plan amendments including changing the designation of a 78-acre parcel north of Lathrop Road from light industrial to general commercial.

• prezoning 16 parcels.

• approving a development agreement.

• creating a tentative parcel map for the development of 273 acres into an intermodal center that will be accessed from Roth Road and Airport Way.

• developing a master plan for buildings that have a combined 4 million square feet.

Developers are preparing to do a traffic study for the complex that includes 980 parking spaces for truck trailers and 769 loading dock doors.

What makes the Center Point project unique is that it is being designed as a true intermodal distribution center.  That means every building would have rail service.
The location is especially advantageous for two reasons.

First it is just a few hundred yards from the southeast edge of the Union Pacific intermodal operation and within 10 miles of the Santa Fe intermodal operation that puts truck trailers on and of railroad flat bed cars for long distance transportation. The plus of having the two intermodal railroad operations nearby — one a four-minute drive, if that — and the other 15 minutes away means whatever companies locate there have the capability of moving goods to and from virtually every major market west of the Mississippi River in a  time-efficient manner.

Manteca is also at the heart of the third largest market — 17 million consumers — within a 100-mile radius behind New York-Long Island and Los Angeles. It is what attracted Bass Pro Shops to Manteca. That means trucks can travel to and from the distribution center to stores serving 17 million consumers easily within an eight-hour drive.

The site is virtually smack dab at the midway point Highway 99 and Interstate 5 accessed by Lathrop Road. It is also connected to the Highway 120 Bypass directly via Airport Way, which also provides access to Stockton Metro Airport.

If the distribution center materializes, it will be one of a kind in terms of location and size in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

The site still has to be annexed to the City of Manteca. It is within Manteca’s sphere of influence and is continuous to the city limits.