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TRUCKS ‘CAMP’ IN PARKING LOTS
Residents not thrilled about overnight truck parking trend
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A truck heads down Yosemite Avenue.

Trucking concerns Manteca residents have aren’t centered on just their movements but also where they park overnight.

That was one issue that was raised during the first of several Manteca Citywide Truck Route Study workshops conducted Monday as part of the development of a citywide master plan for standard truck routes.

“It’s great that this is being confronted head on and the public is having their say,” said Don Smail, who is the City of Manteca’s Economic Development Manager.

Some 35 folks attended the public workshop held at the Manteca Transit Center. Many provided their input.

Included was Tom Sharp, who lives not too far from the old Kmart shopping center on Northgate Drive. “I’d see trucks park there three to four days at a time,” he said.

Part of his concern was the “parking lot campers” on the private property. Sharp also added that he complained to the trucking companies, but reportedly was treated shoddily.

“That’s my reason for being here,” he said.

In the past the City of Manteca moved to ban truck parking on city property along Moffat Boulevard after it was determined it was detrimental to efforts to upgrade the neighborhood.

Some trucks park on city streets belong to independent truckers. A number, however, pay to park their trucks outside of the city at various private locations instead of  parking them on streets and in parking lots in violation of  city ordinances.

Trucks also park on a regular basis immediately south of off ramps south of the 120 Bypass on Airport Way, Union Road, and South Main Street.

The city is also looking at the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) routes that, if and when adopted, would allow trucks that exceed California length limits to accommodate interstate trucking.

The STAA standard – the large trucks with 19-foot cab and a 48-foot trailer – was one of the three common truck types identified at the workshop conducted by Principal Fred Choa of Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultant.

The other two were the SU-30 Commercial (30-foot truck) and the CA Legal (15-foot cabin with 45-foot trailer).

The only STAA route in Manteca is along South Main Street from the Highway 120 Bypass, to Industrial Park Drive to distribution centers and industrial-style concerns in the Manteca Industrial Park and Spreckels Business Park. A truck route goes back out to Highway 99 via Yosemite Avenue.

“Those roads are designed to handle the large trucks,” Smail said.

Choa noted that several more workshops are in the works, with the feedback from this session being used for the upcoming meetings involving focus groups concerned with Lathrop Road, as one example. The dates of those meetings have yet to be determined.

Lathrop and the Union Pacific Intermodal rail facility on Roth Road near Airport Way are all part of the Manteca’s sphere of influence, according to Smail.

Residents in that area have seen an upswing in STAA trucks even though Lathrop Road or Airport Way is not designated STAA route.

In the past they have noted Lathrop Road between Highway 99 in Manteca and Interstate 5 in Lathrop are not designed for the longer trucks. One example is difficulty such trucks have making right turns on Lathrop Road due to sidewalks, curbs, and traffic signals not being set far enough back.

“There are a lot of moving parts,” Smail said.

For instance, the city’s existing business parks generate significant truck traffic in that Spreckels Park and Manteca’s Industrial Park – both part of the STAA route – all have a connection to Highway 99, the Highway 120 Bypass and even Interstate 5.

Future development such as the Union Pacific Intermodal rail facility expansion and modernization project along with the growth of the business parks along Airport Way between Roth Road and Louise Avenue and even the construction of the Gray Wolf Lodge will add more trucks along the city roads, Smail said.

“There will be more truck movement (in Manteca) but more jobs will also be available locally,” he added.