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Mantecas tally for Obama bucks: $5.6M
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Manteca will soon see the light for a lot less money.

The city is receiving $586,200 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money from the Department of Energy to replace the city’s existing street lights with high-efficiency induction lamps.

Once they are in place, the new lights will save the general fund $150,000 in annual PG&E costs. Factor in three anticipated PG&E rate increases over the next 10 months and that leaves enough savings to pay the salary and benefits of one police officer each year.

Manteca is receiving at least $5.6 million in federal stimulus funds with efforts underway to secure even more.

The money flowing to Manteca as part of President Obama’s American Recovery Act include:

•$900,000 to go toward the $2.9 million project to build the four-lane gap missing on Atherton Drive between South Main Street and a point west of Wellington Avenue.

•$957,000 to pay for the rehabilitation of portions of nine streets.

•$1.4 million to hire four additional police officers for three years.

•$1.3 million in transit funds including $380,000 to go toward environmental studies for the proposed transit station at Moffat at Main, $100,000 for an additional fixed route bus, $130,00 for the lease of the new Manteca Transit facility, and $40,000 for marketing, branding and signage.

That comes to $83.58 for every one of Manteca’s 67,000 residents.

The first stimulus project to go forward will be the rehabilitation of the nine streets.

The City Council has awarded the low bid of $957,900 to George Reed Inc. to do the work.

The streets being resurfaced are portions of Union Road, Alameda Street, North Street, Mission Ridge Drive, Wawona Street, Winters Drive, Hoyt Lane, Northgate Drive and Button Avenue.

The project involves isolated pavement repairs followed by placement of a rubberized asphalt overlay.

The overlay is similar to the surface that was placed on Center Street from the railroad tracks to Union Road and Cottage Avenue from Yosemite Avenue to the Highway 99 overpass.

It uses recycled tires and has a life just as long – if not longer – than asphalt. It also costs less plus the city could be eligible for recycling diversion credits for the use of tires in the resurfacing material.