Is the city heading in the right direction as far as traffic in the 100 block of Maple Avenue is concerned?
It is a call the Manteca City Council is scheduled to make during the Tuesday, April 5, meeting at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.
The council in 2005 voted to end two-way traffic and make it one way northbound to relieve congestion on eastbound Yosemite Avenue as well as ease parking around the post office.
It was a decision that a few Maple Avenue merchants never liked and never accepted. They have used every opportunity available to repeatedly slam the city’s decision as being anti-business and bad planning for downtown. They persuaded Councilman Vince Hernandez to ask for the council to have staff revisit the issue in October.
Staff has since analyzed the options and met with merchants, property owners, and community members.
They discussed three options:
•Reverting Maple Avenue back to a two-way street and eliminate diagonal parking.
•Flipping traffic so it is one way going northbound.
•Keeping Maple Avenue the way it currently is configured.
The concerns in 2005 were:
•Traffic backups on eastbound Yosemite Avenue that often went beyond the railroad tracks when cars tried to trun left on to Maple Avenue during peak afternoon hours.
•Congestion at Center Street and Maple Avenue.
•Double parking in front of the post office.
Staff has noted that to avoid a return to back-ups on eastbound Yosemite if the travel direction is flipped that a left turn pocket would be needed which would require removal of parking spaces on Yosemite.
It is a call the Manteca City Council is scheduled to make during the Tuesday, April 5, meeting at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.
The council in 2005 voted to end two-way traffic and make it one way northbound to relieve congestion on eastbound Yosemite Avenue as well as ease parking around the post office.
It was a decision that a few Maple Avenue merchants never liked and never accepted. They have used every opportunity available to repeatedly slam the city’s decision as being anti-business and bad planning for downtown. They persuaded Councilman Vince Hernandez to ask for the council to have staff revisit the issue in October.
Staff has since analyzed the options and met with merchants, property owners, and community members.
They discussed three options:
•Reverting Maple Avenue back to a two-way street and eliminate diagonal parking.
•Flipping traffic so it is one way going northbound.
•Keeping Maple Avenue the way it currently is configured.
The concerns in 2005 were:
•Traffic backups on eastbound Yosemite Avenue that often went beyond the railroad tracks when cars tried to trun left on to Maple Avenue during peak afternoon hours.
•Congestion at Center Street and Maple Avenue.
•Double parking in front of the post office.
Staff has noted that to avoid a return to back-ups on eastbound Yosemite if the travel direction is flipped that a left turn pocket would be needed which would require removal of parking spaces on Yosemite.
