It’s hard not to notice all the detours of late in Manteca between work on the 120/99 connector, new development, and city street repair efforts.

Thanks to Measure Q’s passage, the pace of the road work and accompanying number of detours will increase over the next 12 months.

Manteca, if the City Council approves it on June 17, has advanced a proposed budget that commits $4 million to road related work from the first year’s receipts of the three-quarter cent sales tax.

That means a third of the initial year’s projected $12 million in sales tax revenue Measure Q is expected to generate will go to improving city streets.

It will be on top of road work being funded by the city’s share of the countywide Measure K half cent transit tax, gas tax receipts, and any state or federal grants the city secures for major arterial work.

“It is what we said we’d do,” Mayor Gary Singh said in regard to the Measure Q expenditure plan.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved specifications and authorized going out to bid for pavement maintenance work in the Diamond Oaks neighborhood in east Manteca north of Louise Avenue as well as Crivello Estates to the southeast of Diamond Oaks.

All streets will be addressed in the Diamond Oaks neighborhood that was built in the early 1990s.

The work in Crivello Estates will involve Azalea Drive, Ashley Way, Granite Lane and the northern end of Vasconcellos Avenue.

The council is also authorized spending $324,000 to replace the city’s 17 year-old paving machine.

The paving machine has become less reliable especially since the city two years ago started stepping up using street crews to address more egregious issues with streets instead of going out to bid.

The $4 million will fund street work on top of what the council authorized this week.

If the one third commitment continues for road work over the next 20 years of the tax and assuming there is no increase in sales tax receipts and if prices were constant, the city would be able to tackle close to $80 million in road-related need.

Keep in mind, however, it was determined three years ago, Manteca had a backlog of $55 million in street maintenance needs alone when it comes to pavement.

With each passing year as streets age along with wear and tear, the need for road work will continue to grow.

That said, Measure Q has positioned the city to effectively whittle down the backlog significantly.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com