By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
28 MONTHS & COUNTING
Manteca promised truck route work would take 6 months
airport way truck
A SvaeMart truck heading to the WestPac distribution center in Lathrop is shown heading north on Airport Way from the 120 Bypass.

Nearly 4½ years ago the first workshop for establishing citywide truck routes was conducted on Sept. 17, 2018.

The promise was made to Manteca  citizens irked about the proliferation of truck traffic and what they deemed was the city’s inability to make sure trucks followed the rules that once official truck routes were established steps would be made to:

*make improvements aimed at making truck movements were safer and didn’t damage traffic lights are grind down curbs making turns.

*step up enforcement of everything from trucks not driving off designated truck routes and parking at will throughout the city.

*keep official truck routes that would be adopted in mind when reviewing applications for future developments heavily dependent on trucks such as distribution centers.

At the same time the trucking industry was promised it would be made clear what streets were official routes as well as the city making sure those streets could accommodate their trucks.

It was supposed to take six months to do the study. Last year city staff said they wanted to wait and present a truck route study at the same time the City Council considered the general plan update — essentially the blueprint for municipal growth — for adoption.

The general plan update has had an even longer gestation period than the truck route study.

The first visionary update workshop for the general plan update was conducted on March 27, 2016 almost six years ago. Since then Manteca has added nearly 15,000 residents while the general plan update works its way through city hall.

The city’s lack of follow through is what has residents concerned about a proposal by CenterPoint to promise to build a road to connect with Roth Road and make sure traffic generated by a proposed 486 space truck parking yard isn’t dumped onto Airport Way near the Daisywood entrance to Del Webb at Woodbridge just north of Lathrop Road.

While a development agreement between the city and CenterPoint regarding the road was removed from the agenda Tuesday, it doesn’t dismiss the fact a number of trucks that have no business being on Airport Way are already using it.

During four different 15-minute periods during the past two weeks on Airport Way between Louise Avenue and Yosemite Avenue an average of seven semi-trucks were spotted each day. More than half were container trucks such as the ones the Union Pacific transfers from rail flatbed cars to trucks and vice versa at their intermodal facility on Roth Road wedged between Lathrop and Manteca.

Residents are concerned that without the road connecting the proposed truck yard to Roth Road in place as well as measures to make sure they can’t access the yard from near Daisywood, such spot check numbers will skyrocket when it comes to trucks on Airport Way.

That’s because the truck yard is expected to generate more than 1,000 additional truck movements on any given day.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com