Manteca’s campaign to slow traffic down near schools and parks to enhance pedestrian safety continues.

Next up on the list will be speed lumps on Edison Street and Placer Avenue along Shasta Park that will be installed in the coming weeks.

The City Council could add more installations to the list when they meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.

The communities along Heartland Drive (between Veeder Way and Cavalry Avenue) and along Sycamore Avenue (between North Street and Center Street) have requested speed lumps to be installed in their streets as well.

The speed lumps, that can cost around $10,000 to install at a location force drivers to slow down to at least 15 mph to cross.

They have proven to be effective at slowing down traffic.

Because they are a fixture that slows speeds down by design that are in place 24/7, they are significantly more effective than the extremely hit and miss speed enforcement in residential areas by the Manteca Police traffic unit.

That said, they can only be used on residential streets where speeds are 35 mph or less and not on arterials such as Union Road and Main Street or de facto arterials like Moffat Boulevard.

The city rolled out the speed lump option seven years ago and only pursued it when a request was made and it went through a lengthy vetting process.

Not only did the current council streamline that process but they instructed staff to install them near existing parks and schools whenever city roadwork is taking place.

Manteca has also started requiring developers to install speed lumps on new streets that they build that are likely to become short cuts for people in a hurry and who often speed.

One example is on the road section is the missing segment of Buena Vista Drive between where it is stubbed at Atherton Drive and a point north of Grafton Street.

Singh noted common sense points to motorists in the future trying to use Buena Vista Drive to avoid periods of heavy traffic on South Main Street.

And like most shortcuts, those using Buena Vista Drive for such will likely exceed the speed limit.

It also means the speed lumps will be installed on the dime of Quarterra — the development firm building 818 housing units southeast of the 120 Bypass and Main Street interchange — and not in the future at the city’s expense.

Quarterra is also installing traffic signals at Buena Vista and Atherton.

A previous developer also foresaw the possibility of Buena Vista being eventually used as a shortcut.

It is why the city’s largest roundabout covering an acre that doubles as a low-key park was built where it intersects with Catmint Street north of Woodward Avenue.

Buena Vista runs along the western side and much  of the southern edge of Woodward Park and then curves further south for eight plus blocks where it is stubbed.

That stub will eventually be extended into the approved 738-home Hat Ranch project and connect with the future alignment of Raymus Parkway.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com