Manteca-Lathrop’s rail-centric future is coming down the line slowly but surely.

*The Union Pacific intermodal expansion is in place wedged between the city limits of both communities. It’ll ultimately handle up to 780,000 container lifts a year.

*Meanwhile, progress is being made to prep for double tracking from the Lathrop Wye — rail jargon regarding facilities to move trains from one line to another — to just beyond downtown Manteca in a bid to get ACE commuter service rolling to Ceres by a potential 2027-2028 time frame.

*Work is moving forward on the Stockton Diamond aimed at ending rail traffic congestion on Union Pacific and Santa Fe lines by creating a crossover for grade separations.

Not only will that speed up freight movements but it makes commuter rail to Sacramento more effective.

Those three projects have a direct impact on the two neighboring South County cities.

The UP intermodal expansion is feeding continuing distribution center construction aimed at firms that can save money and goods with short truck trailer trips from rail in a location where logistics hubs are within an hour or two of 18 million consumers.

It is not only spurring new distribution center construction in Lathrop and plans in review in Manteca for more tilt-up business park buildings immediately to the east of the UP intermodal yard, but it is prompting the creation of major a distribution center area generally north of the future extension of Roth Road from Airport Way to Highway 99.

That, of course, means even more truck traffic.

But based on currently planning, a future interchange planned on Highway 99 at Roth Road will avoid truck traffic from heading down surface streets.

UP intermodal truck traffic not taking Roth Road to reach Interstate 5 but instead heading east to Highway 99, now take Airport Way to French Camp Road to reach the 99.

The close proximity to the expanded UP intermodal facility — coupled with the Santa Fe version on Austin Road northeast of Manteca — is expected to keep interest high in developing business parks in Lathrop and Manteca as well as around Stockton Metro Airport.

The economic impact of Stockton Metro Airport on Manteca can’t be over emphasized given it is not only four miles from Manteca’s current northern city limits on Airport Way, but downtown Manteca is basically the same distance from the airport as downtown Stockton.

It also means whatever jobs are created will be in short commuter distance to Manteca.

ACE trains coming

to downtown Manteca

It is running behind schedule based on the original timetable, but commute passenger service is coming to downtown Manteca although it is not likely to happen before late 2027 or sometime in 2028 at the earliest.

Work was completed last year on a 384-foot long box culvert in the French Camp Outlet just north of the Manteca Unified district office complex to allow for double tracking.

The double tracking from the Lathrop Wye to a point south of Manteca High will facilitate ACE passenger train movements initially to Ceres and then, in a later phase, Merced where trains would connect with California High Speed Rail.

The work has been slowed down by the number of PG&E and utility issues along areas being double tracked

The extension will involve adding two train stations impacting Manteca.

The first is the downtown station adjacent to the transit center on Moffat Boulevard.

That will place a rail station in essentially the geographic center of Manteca.

It will make walking and bicycling to catch a commuter train doable at a locale that plugs directly into not just the Manteca Transit system hub but also a San Joaquin Transit stop.

The second station is the relocation of the existing Lathrop-Manteca station to the Lathrop Wye.

Although it will be in Lathrop, it is as close — and in some instances closer — to north Manteca neighborhoods along Lathrop Road.

The plan is for Valley Link — a commuter train system initially running from the BART station on Dublin/Pleasanton to Mountain House — to eventually extend to River Islands and then the Lathrop Wye.

It is at the Wye where transfers will take place between ACE and Valley Link.

It means a rider boarding a train there with no transfers eventually will be able to travel to Natomas north of Sacramento, San Jose, Pleasanton, and Merced as well as points in between.

And with one transfer at stations that serve BART and high speed rail, they could reach San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The extension of ACE service to Sacramento also has the advantage of adding stations that will also do double duty as Amtrak San Joaquins stations.

As such, someone in Turlock would eventually be able to catch an ACE train in that city or go next door to Denair to catch Amtrak and reach Sacramento either way.

Impacts of the work

on Stockton Diamond

Besides easing a bottleneck that stops train movements on the main Northern California lines for UP and Santa Fe, the Stockton Diamond will allow UP and ACE to eventually to move upwards of 135 trains daily through Manteca.

That compares to roughly a third of what passes through Manteca currently on UP’s two lines — the Oakland Line that goes over the Altamont Pass and runs along the city’s border with Lathrop as well as the Fresno line that slices through Manteca.

While 135 trains is the high end of what UP projects for rail traffic growth over the next 35 to 40 years, it underscores the fact rail traffic will increase.

As such, the Diamond work will work toward reducing rail traffic backups as reading frequency increases through Manteca.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com