The day is coming when a resident of the Paseo Villas at Atherton Drive and Van Ryn Avenue could bicycle to a job near Delicato Vineyards 5 miles away and never ride in a street except to cross them a dozen times.
It is a positive impact that two proposed annexations northeast of Del Webb at Woodbridge will bring to Manteca by extending the backbone of Manteca’s separated bike path system — the Tidewater Bikeway — further north along the former alignment of its namesake railroad.
The city of Manteca is in the process of conducting an environmental review to annex 361 acres — just over half a square mile — to Manteca between Union Road on the west and Frontage Road on the east.
The area is immediately north of Union Ranch.
Developers are proposing to build 1,667 new homes including 200 apartments.
To give you an idea of how large that is the nearby Del Webb community has 1,406 homes, the Griffin Park neighborhoods on South Main Street where houses are now under construction will have 1,301 homes, and the Manteca Trails yet to break ground near the western end of Woodward Avenue will have 1,237 homes.
There is also a 22-acre business industrial park planned on the northern side of the future eastern extension of Lovelace Road. It will be similar to the Manteca Commerce Park on Moffat Boulevard near Crossroads church and the Meridian Professional Center on West Yosemite Avenue at Winters Drive.
Annexation will extend
Tidewater Bike Way
The two annexations will add almost 10 acres to the Tidewater Bikeway linear park meaning it will be pushing 50 acres making it the largest component of the Manteca parks system behind the municipal golf course and the 52-acre Woodward Community Park.
Unlike the original 3.4 miles between Industrial Park Drive and Lathrop Road, the upkeep and future pavement rehabilitation needs are on the dime of homeowners that will be buying the homes on land Manteca would allow to be annexed to the city so it can be developed by accessing existing infrastructure such as a wastewater and treated water system.
The extensions being maintained by community facility district fees means the general fund won’t have to be tapped to maintain an improvement that has community-wide benefit that grows as the community grows.
Similar requirements in exchange for the right to develop land into houses have been made on segments of the Tidewater already in place north of Lathrop Road. The same is true of almost all other segments of the envisioned separated bike path loop of the city that is already in place along Atherton Drive, Spreckels Avenue, and Wellington Avenue.
Twenty-seven years ago when Manteca bought the old Tidewater rail right-of-way through the city the vision was for a county-city trail along the historic rail path to French Camp Road and ultimately into Stockton to into the employment centers around the airport.
The goal was to connect the Tidewater in the southern part of Manteca with a separated trail to reach Ripon and ultimately the bicycle bridge across the Stanislaus River to access Modesto.
It was seen as a boon for recreation while creating a greenbelt.
In subsequent county bike plans it has been noted there is a small but growing number of people bicycling to jobs who would benefit from separated bike paths connecting cities.
The Tidewater is a rarity among urban Northern California separated bike paths as it connects neighborhoods, commercial areas, schools, employment centers, as well as a transit hub instead of being primarily for recreation.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
