A minor miracle of sorts happened Thursday on North Main Street around 2:30 p.m.

Vehicles in both directions in four lanes plus in left turn lanes stopped for a pedestrian to cross at Edison Street.

And not a single vehicle moved until the pedestrian was safely on the other side.

It was all made possible by a HAWK, shorthand for high-intensity activated crosswalk beacon system.

The $300,000 investment in pedestrian safety was being tested plus a segment captured on video for posting on City of Manteca social media explaining how it works.

The expectation is the HAWK signal will not go into full operation until Dec. 22.

“It’s a better and safer way for pedestrians to cross,” Mayor Gary Singh said of what he called Manteca’s “new standard for pedestrian safety.

Singh was among those testing the HAWK out.

He pushed a button that then gave him audible commands as if he were blind.

First, it informed him that he was about “to cross Main Street” and that he needed to “wait.”

Meanwhile, a series of six beacons on the cross arms started flashing red.

An adjoining sign on the cross arm noted that flashing red means for them to prepare to stop while a solid red meant stop, period.

The red then went from flashing to solid red.

Singh was then told to proceed while the pedestrian countdown signal starting going down from 25 to zero.

Then, the beacons start flashing once again.

Drivers heeded the posted instruction that they could proceed if the crosswalk was clear.

At the same time, traffic on Edison stopped at stop signs were greeted with a bright left turn arrow with a slash through it telling them they could not turn left while the HAWK signal was engaged.

It’s a far cry from pedestrians having to wait for a break in the traffic that was hopefully long enough in both directions to start stepping into the crosswalk.

And there was no need to worry about after cars had stopped in the direction passing to their right in front of them and maybe one car stopped in the other direction that a motorist in the open lane would come flying by while the other car was stopped.

At the same time, no one violated the letter of the California motor vehicle code law that prohibits any car from entering the crosswalk until the pedestrian is safety on the opposite sidewalk.

The set-up also includes high visibility crosswalks with parallel bars painted between the lines.

The city has also prohibited pedestrians from crossing on the northern side of the intersection.

Another HAWK will

land on Moffat Ave.

Singh would like to see HAWK signals eventually on Spreckels Avenue at Norman Drive as well as Wellington Avenue at Woodward Avenue where the separated bike trail crosses to Woodward Park.

The city’s second HAWK will be put in place on Moffat Avenue at Garfield Avenue by Manteca High as part of citywide Safe Routes to School projects.

The foundation for the steel support poles and cross arms — that have a backlog of seven months for delivery — as well as underground wiring has already been put in place at the Moffat location.

The city hopes to move the crosswalk signs with beacons mounted on top now in place at Moffat and Garfield when the HAWK is in place to Norman Drive at Spreckels Avenue.

Currently, city crews are installing an island in the median to enhance the safety of those using the Norman Drive crosswalk.

The mayor is also hoping to see traffic signals put in place at Buena Vista Drive and Woodward Avenue.

The HAWK on North Main Street — along with improvements such as medians with fencing — between Alameda Street and Northgate Drive was 100 percent funded by the state and San Joaquin County Measure K one cent sales tax for roads and transportation projects.

That’s because you could say the project “unfortunately” qualified for safe roads funding based on criteria that determined the stretch of roadway was much more unsafe than most streets in California.

Why the work was

done on N. Main

 Manteca was able to snare the state grant to improve pedestrian safety and reduce left turn movements that contribute heavily to T-bone collisions that reflect the most losses and injuries due to:

*High accident rates: The section of North Main between Alameda Street and Northgate Drive had accident rates 10% above the state average between 2017 and 2021, with 19% of the city's fatal accidents occurring there. 

*Dangerous collisions: 60% of accidents on this stretch were T-bone, broadside, head-on, or pedestrian-vehicle collisions, all of which are more likely to cause serious injury or death. 

*Misuse of the left turn lane: Drivers were misusing the continuous left turn lane, using it as a travel lane and creating hazards. 

*Pedestrian and bicycling safety: The design of the wide arterial, with its wide lanes and lack of medians, created unsafe conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com