Two major road projects are moving forward in South Manteca.

Developers are In the process of widening Main Street and Airport Way to four lanes south of Woodward Avenue by roughly a mile to the south.

That is in addition to changes on Woodward Avenue that will allow motorists stuck in traffic when trains are sidelined blocking the arterial to make U-turns.

The Airport Way widening is the result of the stepped up development agreements the city is now negotiating with developers thanks to the template negotiated by Mayor Gary Singh and Councilman Mike Morowit as part of their duties serving on the City Council’s economic development subcommittee.

Lumina at Machado Ranch, that involves 827 homes on the southwest corner of Airport Way and Woodward Avenue, was the initial development agreement Singh and Morowit negotiated to have growth provide more for the city than has happened in previous years.

The most visible item will be Airport Way.

The developer was required to secure right-of-way from other property owners that will allow the eventual widening of Airport Way just south of Atherton Drive to Peach Avenue.

It included making Airport Way four lanes.

The first section to go forward will be Airport south of Woodward Avenue.

That will include a roundabout at Bella Terra Drive where it intersects with Airport about midway between Peach and Woodward.

Traffic signals will also be installed at Airport and Woodward.

As such, it addresses the issue of development putting in just partial streets when it comes to lane configurations on arterials bordering their projects.

In the past, developers were only required to put in full improvements on the two lanes next to their project and one lane on the other side of the center of the street.

That would create a hodgepodge of road stretches with two lanes in one direction going to one lane and then back to two lanes.

The fourth lane as well as curbs, gutter and sidewalks on the opposing property were left untouched with the hope development would occur in a timely manner.

The project also addresses widening north of Woodward as an off-site improvement.

In both cases of the full street improvements beyond the third lane on the other side of the center line and the offsite improvements north of a Woodward, the developer eventually will be reimbursed in full for those additional costs from public facilities improvement plan fees collected on new growth.

The developer of Machado Ranch also made another significant off-site improvement more than a year ago — the installation of traffic signals at Atherton Drive and Airport Way.

The other extras Singh and Morowit negotiated on behalf of the city from the developers of Machado Ranch that go beyond basic growth fees include:

*A fee of $598.54 per home will be paid to purchase a CNG sold waste collection truck powered by compressed liquid gas produced from menthane gas at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Once all homes are built, the fees collected will cover the cost of one new truck.

*Another $2,500 per home will be paid as an infrastructure fee. It is designed to cover shortfalls in the established growth-related fees that have not been updated that the developer pays when they take out a building permit.

*They will pay a $2,500 fee per home for the Phase V wastewater treatment plant expansion.

*A $2,4014.46 per home fee will be allocated for use by the City Council at their discretion. This is similar to the bonus bucks paid two decades ago in exchange for sewer connection certainty.

More than $30 million was collected back then that went to help pay for the Union Road fire station, traffic signals at Tidewater Bikeway crossings, the skate park, soccer field lights at Woodward Park, and fireworks, among other things as well as plugging in more than $11 million in general fund budget shortfalls over the course of several years.

South Main Street

widening underway

Developers are in the process of addressing the widening of Main Street south so it is four lanes as far south as the Antone Raymus Parkway.

The first segment is now in place following sewer line related work.

The last section that includes the intersection with Tannehill Drive will happen in the near future.

Tannehill Drive is being extended west for a new housing project that includes a pair of “neighborhood parks” straddling a future segments of Tannehill. One of those parks will consist primarily of pickleball courts.

The traffic signals in place at Woodward and Main will be completed and activated once sewer line work on an adjoining section of Woodward is completed.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com