Manteca municipal management and elected leaders are slowly shedding their aversion to medians on four-lane arterials.
And in doing so, they are improving traffic safety and upgrading the visual appeal of major corridors.
The city’s longtime dislike for medians was rooted in two things:
*The subpar original installation of medians on South Main Street in the late 1970s.
*Assertions by owners of retail stores, gas stations, and restaurants the medians would kill off their business.
It is why there are no medians between Spreckels Avenue and Commerce Drive/Northwoods Avenue in East Yosemite Avenue.
Not only is that a heavily trafficked corridor, but there are no less than a dozen commercial driveways to businesses that have significant vehicle traffic.
The biggest flare-up to block medians on major arterials came 25 years ago when Caltrans was getting ready to replace the Highway 99 overpass of Yosemite Avenue built into 1955.
The segment of East Yosemite that does double duty as East Highway 99 had an inordinate amount of T-bone collisions from people trying to access Curt Hughes Dodge, InShape, Wendy’s, Burger King, Carrows Restaurant, Union 76, El Rancho Mobile Home Park, and the AM/PM Arco station located at the time (and some are still there) between the freeway and Pestana Avenue.
It also backed up traffic as those waiting to turn would often block traffic lanes despite their being a continuous center turn lane.
Caltrans wanted a median that would have forced drivers to make U-turns at intersections where they were allowed.
After council meetings and workshops stretching over six months, the City Council got Caltrans to back down.
Caltrans went with the current configuration which includes no left turn signs existing El Rancho Mobile Home Park and several commercial concerns near the freeway.
One of the most vocal and consistent opponents was the owner of Burger King.
He insisted a median that blocked left turns would kill his business.
A year later, the Burger King closed even though there was no median. It eventually became part of the Dodge dealership and then bought by InShape to expand their parking lot.
The closure of Burger King even though there was no median put in place, took the edge off the “median is a business killer argument.”
So did a number of accidents that happened as people exited El Rancho Mobile Home Park while ignoring the no left turn sign that was posted.
Faulty work
on a median
The faulty construction on South Main generated extensive water damage to pavement around the medians.
Although it was corrected, it killed off support to require medians on North Main Street when stores and shopping centers were added north of Edison Avenue.
Traffic engineers recommended medians at the time as both a safety measure and to slow traffic given the corridor’s width.
The city is now in the process of a $2 million retrofit after the corridor racked up pedestrian deaths as well as speed related deaths over the decades. That was in addition to a sizable number of T-bone accidents from people turning across two lanes of traffic while entering or exiting commercial parking lots.
The North Main corridor has also proven to be the city leader in pedestrian versus cars collisions with some happening in crosswalks and other in mid-block collisions.
The retrofit includes high profile crosswalks — including one with a traffic signal like device for pedestrians at Edison.
A citywide safe route to schools project getting underway also includes a high profile crosswalk with overhead warning flash beacons on North Main Street at Jason Street similar to what is in front of Manteca High along Yosemite Avenue.
There is also a median with a wrought iron pedestrian fence being added. That will limit left turn movements besides intersections to a select few locations.
It also will significantly discourage mid-block pedestrian crossings.
The project also includes ADA sidewalk upgrades, bike lanes, a pavement seal coating.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
