The much maligned bulb outs on the west side of the 100 block of North Main Street should be history by the end of the month.
Municipal crews Wednesday were removing tree roots and curbing from the two northern most bulbs and patching the street. The others on the west side of the street will be removed in the coming days.
Public Works Director Mark Houghton indicated the plan is to not allow parking between Center Street and Yosemite Avenue while the city looks at how a council directive to make the Main Street corridor four lanes from the 120 Bypass to Lathrop will work by replacing two lanes between Yosemite and Alameda with four lanes.
Without the bulbs and parking, Houghton noted there will be more maneuvering room. Some examples would allow motorists to possibly turn right onto Yosemite when traffic is stopped on red or allow vehicles to maneuver around others backed up at the left turn pocket at Yosemite so they can continue their journey southward on Main Street.
It also will allow southbound Main drivers that find they are blocking the Center Street intersection when the light changes to red to have room to clear the intersection
While those aren’t ideal operational scenarios, in the interim they will allow traffic to move a bit smoother.
Houghton also noted it made no sense to allow parking after the bulbs are removed given parking will ultimately be eliminated.
He also said there are no plans to remove the bulbs on the east side of the 100 block of Main or the median until work starts on converting the stretch from Yosemite to Alameda to four lanes.
Work will start on upgrading the pavement on Main Street between Atherton Drive and Yosemite Avenue this spring.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com