Complaints about traffic speeding on Woodward Avenue east of Airport Way have not fallen on deaf ears.
Manteca Police Officer John Machado was off of his motorcycle and in a black and white patrol car due to the rain Tuesday keeping tabs on the afternoon commuter traffic on the former two-lane country road that is now a hybrid collector/arterial street until the Atherton Drive gap is completed later this year between Union Road and Airport Way. Once completed, it is expected to take through traffic off of Woodward Avenue.
 Machado was parked and clearly visible at the Harvest Lane/Woodward Avenue intersection about a quarter mile to the east of Airport Way as he aimed his radar gun out of his car window at oncoming traffic. 
Machado said he wrote four tickets for speeding in an hour’s time, stopping drivers at speeds of 43 to 48 miles an hour in the 30-mile zone in the residential area in southwest Manteca. 
Woodward Avenue was the scene of a double fatality last year when two motorcyclists rode at a high rate of speed into a round-about causing them to flip into the air before slamming back into the ground killing both of the men who were brothers.
Machado continued his speed watch until dusk took over in the neighborhood.  Just some three-tenths of a mile before traffic reached the radar gun there was a large, white sign with black letters on the edge of the roadway that read, “Speed Limit, 30 MPH.”  Obviously, not all motorists paid attention to the warning.
Typically, police officers will cite those who are significantly over the speed if conditions warrant providing a leeway of several miles over the posted speed limit.

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.