Manteca wants to keep on trucking when it comes to landing distribution centers.

But they also want to protect the quality of life of current and future city residents.

And in order to do that, the City Council wants to make sure the city plans for future truck traffic.

Developing a citywide master plan for standard truck routes as well as Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) routes that allow trucks exceeding California length limits to accommodate interstate trucking is among the goals the City Council is talking about pursuing as staff prepares a spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

It was one of a number of issues discussed by the council during a municipal goals workshop at the Manteca Transit Center on Friday.

The city over the years has been criticized by both residents and truckers for not employing forward thinking when it comes to truck routes.

When Spreckels Park’s business park opened, the city did not take steps to designate a STAA route. A number of interstate trucking firms that move goods to and from distribution centers. At one point, the CHIP started ticketing trucks leaving Highway 99 to reach Spreckels Park distribution centers due to there being no STAA designated route.

There have also been issues raised by truckers that when the city did designate truck routes they sometimes fail to provide adequate clearance for right hand turns.

Residents along the Lathrop Road corridor contend they have seen an upswing in STAA trucks using Lathrop Road even though it is not a designated STAA route. They have shot smartphone video of STAA trucks on a standard truck route where trucks have gone over curbs making right turns because the turn radius was inadequate.

They also have said the city needs to map out where they intend to have truck routes — STAA and otherwise — so steps can be made to design corridors to maximum safety and minimize noise.

The city in environmental review documents for new projects such as CenterPoint in northwest Manteca where 5.11 Tactical is breaking ground on a 404,657-square-foot distribution center that has a second phase that will allow for 134,500 square feet of expansion reference what roads trucks servicing centers can use.

Councilman Gary Singh indicated the preference would be for an overall truck route plan — STAA and otherwise — to be adopted so residents can clearly see where truck traffic will be allowed and also so trucks can legally reach areas where distribution centers are being built.

The city’s existing business parks that generate significant truck traffic are the Spreckels Park and Manteca Industrial Park that are tied together by the continuous flow of Spreckels Avenue into Industrial Park Drive that is connected to Highway 99 via Yosemite Avenue and the 120 Bypass via South Main Street.

Business Parks are also being developed along the Airport Way corridor between Roth Road and Louise Avenue. In additional land is zoned for a business park that can accommodate distribution centers in the 1,049-acre Austin Road annexation in southeast Manteca.

Raymus Expressway

is another truck

route hot spot issue

The proposed Raymus Expressway and an nearby interchange on Highway 99 to serve the area is expected to be years away once development starts as it carries a $100 million price tag given the railroad tracks have to be crossed and the freeway lanes shifted to the east to make it work.

That means the city would need a truck route to serve the area until such time the Raymus interchange is built. The Austin Road interchange is problematic given how close it is to the congested 120 Bypass/Highway 99 interchange. The less expensive of two options Caltrans is pursuing to address safety and volume issues at the 120 Bypass/99 interchange involves eliminating ramps at Austin Road.

If that happens, it leaves the city only two options: Either extending McKinley Avenue south and then  east to create the embattled Raymus Expressway for trucks to travel to and from the freeway or designate Atherton Drive once it is extended south into the recently annexed area where a large business park is planned.

Rural south Manteca residents are actively fighting the Raymus Expressway as it would literally go through their back yards.

At the same time the city’s “pay as you grow” policy regarding major street construction makes it more likely Atherton Drive will be the first to serve any future business park in southeast Manteca. That’s because developers control the land to extend Atherton Drive south and would be on the hook for constructing it

Much of the Raymus Expressway until it reaches the 1,049 acres would be across numerous small parcels not controlled by developers.

During the past several years of debate over the Raymus Expressway, the city has said it would likely carry trucks — something that doesn’t sit too well with rural residents.

At the same time the city hasn’t said anything about where trucks would be allowed to go until they figured out how to put the expressway in place to connect with the proposed McKinley Avenue interchange or the Raymus Express/99 interchange is built assuming Caltrans closes freeway ramps at Austin Road.

That would leave Atherton Drive as the only option to reach the 120 Bypass via South Main Street.

Trucks are allowed to go off designated truck routes to make deliveries to local stores.