At least one segment of Airport Way is going to be resurfaced in its entirety this year.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to award a $629,070 bid to United Pavement Maintenance to resurface Airport Way between Roth Road at Manteca’s northern city limits to French Camp Road.

The 1.3-mile project is expected to take place in April.

That isn’t the only work promised on Airport Way pavement this year.

In July of 2021 Manteca’s public work’s staff briefed the City Council on progress on efforts to address pavement issues on the nearly three-mile stretch of Airport Way between Woodward Avenue and Roth Road.

To bring the corridor up to the city’s envisioned four lanes with landscaped medians and left turn pockets carries a $130 million cost estimate. A large chunk of that price tag is expected to be paid by developers as they build along the corridor as well as growth fees collected on new homes throughout the city.

For now the city is working on a $4 million endeavor aimed at making the corridor more drivable.

That means the work envisioned to start in the spring of 2022 will be a combination of reconstruction, 2-inch grind and overlay, asphalt rubber chop seal, and slurry seal. The work involves addressing potholes before doing the resurfacing.

Ken Jorgensen, the city’s current public works director, noted at the time the planned work won’t result in a continuous “pretty new road look” but it will provide a smooth driving surface even though it will be a patchwork of surface applications.

The approach was to maximize what money the city can comfortably spend now to upgrade Airport Way that is destined to see heavier truck traffic as the years unfold.

Segments the city has targeted for reconstruction are:

*Both the northbound and southbound travel lanes between the railroad track and Lathrop Road.

*The northbound lane from Crom Street to the northern edge of the Villa Ticino neighborhood south of Lathrop Road.

*Both the northbound and southbound lanes for a short stretch just north of Airport Way.

*Both the northbound and southbound lanes from the northern edge of the Villa Ticino neighborhood to Louise Avenue.

The work outlined in July targeted road issues that need to be addressed within 5 years or else complete failure of the pavement could occur. That includes 8,610 linear feet in need of intermediate repair, 13,195 linear feet that will need maintenance or repair within the next one to two years, as well as 10,665 linear feet that will need maintenance or repair over the next three to five years.

At the same time the pavement work is done, the city will install traffic signals at Airport Way and Wawona Street.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.co