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WORKING AT LAST: Manteca gets more ‘little things’ right
Crosswalk flashers working, road widened
wellington crossing

 

Thirty-nine months after the crosswalk flashers on Woodward Avenue at Wellington Avenue stopped working the replacement lights are finally working.

PG&E crews made the final connection necessary for the crosswalk crossing the busy four-lane Woodward Avenue where traffic often travels in excess of 45 mph to be activated this week.

The crosswalk gets heavy use during weekend soccer tournaments and events such as Christmas in the Park that takes place at Woodward Park. It is also used by those living south of Woodward Avenue to access Woodward Park on a daily basis and for students walking to Woodward School.

The Wellington in-ground flashers stopped functioning in November 2016, nine years and 11 months after they were put into operation with much fanfare from the city how it would help those going to and from the park using the Wellington bike path that connects with the Tidewater system have a larger degree of safety.

Several months after they stopped working and nearby residents complained, the city placed a barricade with a sign advising the flasher wasn’t working. A couple of months after that it was replaced with an office computer generated sheet of paper saying the flasher wasn’t working that was duct taped to the poles on each side of the street.

In June of 2017, staff indicated that repairing the in-ground system at Wellington would not be as effective as replacing it with overhead flashers. They added that the city council could enjoy a scale of economy and save money by going forward with permanent flashers for the temporary ones put in place for Pagola Avenue at Woodward Avenue at the start of 2016-2017 school year.

The city waited to bundle the two projects with the installation of a three-way stop on Woodward Avenue at Pillsbury Road in a bid to reduce overall costs. The stop signs at that location have solar powered LED powered flashing red lights on the edges of the stop signs.

The installation of the safety improvements were completed last June. Despite the fact the city made a deposit to have connection work done in June of 2019 with PGE six months in advance, it took the utility eight months longer to do the work.

 

First fix of partial street

gaps along major roads

Crews this week are also putting the finishing touches on the city’s initial effort to eliminate partial street gaps along major streets.

The work is taking place on Union Road just south of Woodward Avenue.

Oleander principals Toni and Bob Raymus agreed to pay for the $312,500 project even though it does not front or adjoin any other projects. They are, however, building homes west of Union Road.

The $312,500 covers right-of-way acquisition, underground infrastructure, relocating power poles, sidewalks, curb and gutter as well as widening the east side of Union Road.

The widening will significantly enhance the safety of children walking to nearby Veritas School as it eliminates forcing them to walk along the edge of a narrow two-lane road to reach Woodward Avenue.

The project is included on the list of Public Facilities Improvement Plan road projects that all growth pays toward.

To fast track the improvements, the city entered into an agreement that will reimburse Oleander Limited Partners for the work they are not responsible for but will complete by giving them credits against future building permit fees for roads until such time they $312,500 cost they are incurring is recovered.

Missing chunks of major arterials have been the bane of Manteca motorists for decades.

A prime example is Louise Avenue east of Main Street where the two eastbound lanes were put in place in the 1970s on either side of a stretch of seven homes but not in front of them. That has required eastbound motorists for over 40 years to go from two lanes down to one lane and back to two lanes.

That’s because Manteca requires developers to build sections of major arterials to the centerline only in front of the property they develop as Center Point Business Park has done on Airport Way south of Roth Road. That same philosophy has allowed development to occur that puts in wider streets up to both sides of a property that has yet to develop.

Going forward the city plans to collect growths fees to address existing gaps on major streets and/or to prevent them from happening.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com