Tired of traffic lights staying red for you such as at Walnut and Yosemite avenues when it is 2 a.m. and there aren’t any other vehicles on the road?

Irked that signal controllers on South Main at Industrial Park Drive/Mission Ridge Drive can’t sense northbound congestion backing up to Atherton Drive and beyond?

Frustrated the signals controlling movements on the Union Road diverging diamond interchange seem hopelessly out of synch?

Those issues and more could be a thing of the past before 2025 comes to a close.

That’s because Manteca is moving forward with a project to overhaul outdated traffic signal controlling software while taking advantage of fiber optic technology.

The goal is to have signals throughout Manteca optimize traffic flow by being more responsive to real time  vehicle movements.

Such upgrades will also allow corridors to have traffic signals synched for vehicles traveling at the speed limit like the substantially improved movements that have been seen on Main Street through downtown since new software was added to traffic signals from Alameda Street to Moffat Boulevard.

The City Council when they meet next week are being asked to extend an existing $522,675 contract with TJKM to complete the necessary collection of data needed as a base to program new software plus oversee the improvement work to upgrade traffic signals controllers.

The current contract — that was amended in 2019 to include a fiber optic master plan for the city — expires at the end of this year. The extension through December 31, 2025 will allow the extensive research to be completed and for TJKM to obverse improvements and to make sure they do what they are intended to do

The city in 2017 was awarded a $2.8 million federal pass through grant by Caltrans to optimize traffic signals to reduce congestion and to reduce air quality issues from idling vehicles that produce more emissions than those that are moving.

The upgrades will allow signals throughout Manteca to adjust to real time traffic conditions.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com