Increasing the capacity of 1.3 miles of Airport Way isn’t just another road widening project.

It is the latest step in deliberate moves by San Joaquin County along with the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, and Stockton to step up a decade of success so far in luring more jobs.

On Tuesday, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors will consider awarding a $570,609 contract to basically lay the groundwork for increasing capacity of the Airport Way corridor from Roth Road in Manteca to the Stockton Metro Airport in Stockton.

When the work is finished, the county will have a blueprint to establish the ultimate configuration of the 1.3-mile segment of Airport Way.

“Widening Airport Way will increase road safety while planning for our future,” said District 3 Supervisor Sonny Dhaliwal. “I am glad to support projects like this and the Roth Road extension, which will ensure our county best serves the residents and our businesses.”

Airport Way is the emerging backbone of what could end up being the Northern San Joaquin Valley’s mega-employment center.

It serves not just the airport and existing business parks and industrial uses surrounding it, but thousands of acres tagged for future business parks.

It also ties directly in with existing distribution centers in Manteca — Amazon, 5.11 Tactical, and Lowe’s (Penske Logistics)  — plus a large swath of area generally north of Lovelace Road where the city wants to pursue business park developments in upcoming annexations.

Lathrop also is tied into the mega-employment center, especially if plans for converting the former Sharpe Depot in the coming decades into an “inland container depot” are implemented for the Port of Oakland.

The concept is to avoid Bay Area congestion from impeding the movement of goods by moving containers in and out of the port by rail to Sharpe where they would be picked up by truckers.

Given Sharpe’s proximity to Interstate 5 and Highway 99 — as well as close access to Interstate 80 — it can speed up the movement of goods up and down the coast as well as into Nevada and the nearby states.

At the heart of the mega jobs center would be three other key elements:

*The Union Pacific Railroad intermodal facility on Roth Road sandwiched between Manteca and Lathrop.

*Air cargo movement through Stockton Metro Airport.

*The Santa Fe Railroad intermodal facility on Austin Road.

In terms of creating jobs for the region beyond trucking, having the intermodal yards and airport as well as the only Canada-to-Mexico route on the Pacific Coast plus Highway 99 that is considered California’s Main Street for moving farm crops and goods, would foster a rich and robust goods movement hub that has already been drawing firms.

That would include distribution centers as well as repacking and assembly concerns.

The close proximity to rail — by which most goods are transported long distances in the country — means truck trips to business park style concerns are extremely short.

That reduces time and cost.

The lure would not be as effective, though, if it was not for the location.

Stockton-Manteca-Lathrop are within an hour of the heart of San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento.

It is also as centrally located as you can be for goods movement in the NorCal Metroplex that is home to more than 18 million consumers.

Truck movements

critical in the area

 Truck movements with minimum congestion is crucial.

“Airport Way is a key,” Manteca Mayor Gary Singh said.

Singh serves as Manteca’s representative on the San Joaquin Council of Governments that has identified increasing Airport Way as a priority road project for economic development.

It is why upgrades were made on the Arch Road corridor to make sure it connected with Interstate 5, its interchange with Highway 99 was upgraded to allow higher traffic movement volumes, and an overpass of railroad tracks between the two freeways was put in place.

It is also why there is county support to extend Roth Road east of Airport Way to tie into a future interchange on Highway 99 midway between French Camp Road and Lathrop Road.

The idea is to get in place a network of truck routes that meet federal standards to allow the use of longer trailers to move goods.

Keeping trucks in Manteca

away from residential areas

The Airport Way widening along with the Roth Road extension and proposed interchange would also keep truck traffic away from residential areas.

And to make sure there’s not a “hole” in such a strategy, Singh said Manteca is working with Lathrop officials to get trucks to and from current and future  north Manteca business parks  by using Lathrop and Roth roads to the 120 Bypass via McKinley Avenue where an interchange opened 18 months ago.

Such a strategy works in Lathrop’s favor as well as it could open a large swath of area between

McKinley Avenue and the railroad tracks it industrial development.

Singh said it is a “holistic” effort to address truck movements, job development, and quality of life concerns for residents as Manteca and the surrounding area grows.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com