The water — after more than a decade hiatus — is once again flowing at a mini-plaza on Maple Avenue that was part of a more than $4 million downtown makeover 22 years ago.

The obelisk-style fountain emits a soothing gurgling noise that was one of the finishing touches on what was supposed to have been a multiple phase effort to make downtown more appealing.

The first stage was installing vintage-style traffic signal and street light poles with crosswalk pavers, tree wells in the parking area along Yosemite, benches, and other smaller touches such as two mini-plazas.

The same plan led to the transit station as well as the renovation and expansion of Library Park. The city stopped the effort in 2011 due to lack of funding to continue the work on Center Street and other streets between Yosemite and Center.

City Manager Toni Lundgren said it is part of an ongoing effort by municipal staff to make sure taxpayer investments over the years aimed at adding to the quality of life are properly maintained.

It is what led to the city pressure washing crosswalk pavers once a month after letting them get gritty with 15 years of tire traffic.

Lundgren wants the city to not forget to address the “little things” and not wait until they are inundated with citizen complaints to do something.

A prime example involved the black vintage style cross pole on traffic signal lights on Main Street at Yosemite Avenue as well as Center Street.

In 2008, a major pigeon “infestation” in the downtown area led to dozens at a time perching on the cross pole where they left behind white blotches of their calling cards.

Citizens complained the resulting mess looked hideous and made downtown look uninviting.  In some spots, more white bird poop covered the poles than black that showed through.

The city only acted to pressure clean them when citizens’ complaints multiplied significantly.

Manteca ended up cleaning them three times in the ensuing two years before the pigeons went elsewhere.

The mini-plaza on Maple Avenue where the fountain is located is known unofficially as the Rotary Plaza due to the mural the service club commissioned in the background as well as benches they placed there as well as additional landscaping.

The other mini plaza was in the 200 block of East Yosemite in front of the Legion Hall.

It was designed to play off the mural of Yosemite Valley on an adjacent wall to create the illusion the Merced River was flowing out of the mural and past several large rocks brought in to double as impromptu seating.

That mini plaza never caught on and became a hangout for a while for homeless in the downtown area.

The plaza basically was taken out of commission when wrought iron fencing was added as part  of the Legion Hall makeover to avoid homeless from sleeping on the steps and trashing the area.

Left turn added

back on North Main

Credit council members for catching a design flaw in the $3 million North Main Street safety project underway between Alameda Street and Northgate Drive.

The idea was to eliminate mid-block left turns where possible and force drivers to make U-turns at intersections.

That doesn’t work to access the casino and restaurant on Main south of Northgate Drive.

It’s because U-turns are not allowed due to inadequate clearance at Northgate and Main.

The “side” driveway from Northgate is actually through a small strip center where a gate separating it from the casino could be closed at any time.

Making matters worse, the left turn into the small retail center requires doing so from a Northgate travel lane that requires blocking traffic if there is a wait.

The median did not go in as designed. Instead, a gap was left to allow a left turn mid-way down the length of the left turn lane for Northgate.

That has created a visual problem for those turning left into the casino parking lot due to the pedestrian fence.

Several links of the fence will be removed to allow drivers to better see oncoming traffic.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com