The new four-lane Austin Road over crossing of Highway 99 and the Union Pacific tracks is targeted to open in August.
That would allow the second transition lane from the eastbound Bypass to southbound 99 to open as well.
After that, there will be a lull before the second — and what could be the final — project phase starts.
The project was originally envisioned as a three phase, $154 million undertaking.
But a physical snag — the railroad won’t allow additional support columns in their right-of-way for widening a Bypass bridge over their tracks and Moffat Boulevard and financial considerations — prompted a rethink.
If all the pieces fall in place, the second phase will include a second northbound 99 transition lane to the westbound 120 Bypass being built as well as restoring the ramps on the north side of the Austin Road interchange.
The addition of transition lanes between Union Road and Airport Way will be a part of a city project that is in its preliminary stages to construct a diverging diamond interchange at Airport Way and the 120 Bypass.
That would essentially make the 120 Bypass from Highway 99 to Airport Way three lanes.
The San Joaquin Council of Governments has lined up partial funding for the second phase and is working to seecure federal contributions.
The City of Manteca will be crafting a growth impact fee for an area of benefit — future development that benefits the most from restoring the northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp at Austin Road.
Originally, those two ramps were going to remain closed for at least 10 years until the third phase was tackled.
The replacement ramps had been envisioned as elaborate braided ramps that required expensive bridge structures.
Re-engineering the ramp so the southbound Highway 99 offramp goes under Austin Road and curves back to Moffat Boulevard — similar to the southbound Pelandale exit in Modesto — would eliminate the need for the braided ramps.
That would eliminate the need for a third phase, likely reduce costs, and finish the overall project sooner.
Update on the closure
of Woodward Avenue
There is still no tentative target date to reopen Woodward Avenue between Moffat Boulevard Atherton Drive.
The roadway segment was supposed to reopen in 30 days or so of its closure back in September to allow the four-lane widening and reconfigured grade crossing to be completed.
What happened was crews came across a fuel pipeline that runs in the railroad right-of-way that Caltrans engineers were not aware of.
That has made placement of underground wiring needed to coordinate the new traffic signals at the Woodward intersections with Atherton Drive and Moffat Boulevard that are also tied into the railroad crossing safety signals problematic.
Approval to encroach and final design of the work is in the hands of federal and other state agencies.
There is no estimated time in getting clearance to proceed.
Meanwhile, city officials are working to SJCOG and Caltrans to see if the segment of Woodward can be temporarily opened by placing a temporary three-way stop at Moffat.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
