If all goes according to plan, BMX racers could be hitting the track in Manteca by the end of January.

According to Manteca enthusiast, racer, and activist Jon Anderson, his organization is just waiting on the weather to cooperate so that they can pour some asphalt that will be one of the finishing touches of a project that has taken him six years to see through to completion.

“We’re going to need several days where the temperature is above 50 degrees, and right now the weather definitely isn’t cooperating with us,” Anderson said. “Once we get a few days in a row, we’ll be able pour that and then pull some wire and we’ll be ready to go.”

It’s been the better part of a decade since the City Council first started talking about putting in a BMX track and the Spreckels Recreation Park – an empty 10-acre storm retention basin at Moffat Boulevard and Spreckels Avenue.

After the closure of Rainbow Fields BMX Park in Riverbank, Anderson realized that there was an entire contingency of riders looking for a local place to not only practice but hold events as well. Some of those events could draw thousands over the course of a weekend.

Construction delays have plagued the project from the start, but Anderson is optimistic that a little sunshine will finally bring the entire ordeal to a conclusion.

“It’s been a long time,” he said. “All we need are a few days of sun and some decent temperatures, and we could be racing by January.”

The BMX track is a joint venture between the city and the Anderson 209 BMX Team.