Within the next two years you’ll be able to bicycle, walk, jog, or skateboard just over five miles through Manteca and only have to contend with vehicle traffic at 17 locations.

That’s the time frame city leaders believe Atherton Homes will have the missing link in place for the Tidewater Bikeway. The long-time Manteca home builder will put in the bikeway segment when they make infrastructure improvements for the final unit of the Union Ranch neighborhood they are developing east of Del Webb at Woodbridge.

Part of the bikeway is already in place along the eastern edge of Union Ranch. It will connect with the Tidewater Bikeway that now ends at Lathrop Road. That will happen when a bikeway segment on the old Tidewater Southern Railroad right-of-way north of Lathrop between the two completed bike paths is put in place to the east of Calvary Community Church.

When that happens, you can travel on bike paths from Woodward Park to Airport Way on the west side of Del Webb via separated paths that go along Wellington Avenue, Atherton Drive, Van Ryn Road, Industrial Park Drive, the original 3.4-mile Tidewater corridor, Union Ranch and a concrete section through Del Webb.

The developer will be responsible for installing traffic signals on Lathrop Road and the bikeway crossing

The city is forming a landscape maintenance district that will be responsible for upkeep of the bike path segment yet to be built.

Manteca has identified roughly 20 miles of bike path they want to have put in place to provide residents in neighborhoods access to shopping, recreation, and employment without having to venture onto streets in a vehicle.

It is designed so that one day someone could pedal to the bike path and take the system to the transit station now under construction at Moffat Boulevard and South Main Street. Bicyclists would be able to secure their bicycles and catch either a bus or possibly one day catch an Altamont Commuter Express train when service is extended from Modesto to San Jose.

The city’s policy is to have developers put in place bike paths when they go to build projects. The maintenance of future bike path segments is being included in landscape maintenance districts.

Four segments of the Atherton Drive bikeway are in place including a section running to Woodward Avenue. That segment is envisioned one day to connect with a bike path that would go all the way to Ripon.

All of the bike paths are maintained by the city either directly or through maintenance districts except for the Spreckels Avenue bike path. The maintenance and upkeep of that is done by a private organization representing the interests of landowners in Spreckels Park.