No street work being done in Manteca? It is clear people need to get out more.

The “fact” the city supposedly isn’t doing anything to improve pavement and driving is being spread on social media by keyboard warriors that apparently never leave their house or are blinded by rage.

Ground zero as evidence dismissing that completely baseless claim is North Main Street at Jason Street.

It’s where Manteca Liquor & Gas — one of those cursed fueling stations and convenience stores that Mantecans supposedly don’t want or don’t need — is located.

Crews on Thursday afternoon were completing a chip seal overlay on Jason Street and the rest of the neighborhood to the east, requiring a temporary right lane ban from northbound North Main.

Two months ago, as part of another project known as Safe Routes to Schools, traffic signals with high profile crosswalks were placed at the T-intersection that is directly in front of the Golden West School gym.

It is where a year ago, workers were installing medians with fencing to reduce dangerous mid-block crossings by pedestrians along with bike lanes, ADA curb cuts, new pavement overlay and more.

Three road-related projects in less than one year connected to just one intersection.

And that’s barely the tip of the iceberg.

Yosemite Avenue from railroad tracks (the Fresno line that slices through downtown) to railroad tracks (the Altamont line) is where pavement upgrade and related road work is now underway starting with the replacing of aging and undersized 100-year plus water pipelines.

Drive south of the 120 Bypass in the “older section” near Woodward Park.

Part of South Main Street has been widened from two lanes to essentially six at one point — between the freeway and Woodward Avenue.

Woodward Avenue to the west of that intersection is blocked off while a gravity flow sewer trunk line is installed.

When that work is done in the next year, the last remaining stretch of South Main in the city limits will be widened to four lanes.

The new four lane realignment of Woodward Avenue between Moffat and Atherton was completed several months ago with traffic signals at both intersections bookending each end of the project.

There also whole neighborhoods where work to address cracks, potholes, and extend the life of pavement is now underway or wrapping up:

*Most of the area east of Highway 99.

*Older neighborhoods southwest of the Airport Way and 120 Bypass interchange.

*Neighborhoods east of North Main, south of Louise, north of North Street, and west of Shasta Park.

*Sections of roads along and near Northgate Drive are being addressed.

That doesn’t count little fixes such as the new Hawk pedestrian signal on Moffat by Manteca High that has just gone operational, traffic light upgrades at Center and Main to improve traffic flow, speed lumps in various neighborhoods to slow traffic, stop signs installed to address safety issues, and almost two a dozen projects throughout the city under the umbrella of Safe Routes to Schools addressing curb cuts, crosswalks, sidewalk placement and other upgrades.

Going back in the last 18 months long segments of North Main, Lathrop Road, and Louise Avenue have been improved and pavement upgraded.

If none of the aforementioned is neither road work or a sign that the city is tackling street maintenance issues, then what is it?

Perhaps it is an elaborate hoax.

Then there is the accusation it was all crafted in secret to time with the election.

Besides the fact there are council elections every two years and most road projects take a year or so to go from conception to actual work with larger ones happening within a two year window, almost all of the work now underway has been bantered about in public forums — the newspaper, city social media, and even outreach meetings in the community — over the course of months and years before work started.

As for other cities are doing it better like Tracy, do more than just drink major arterials.

Not slamming Tracy, but a prime example of something that is reality in that city that is just a tad bigger in population with a much larger general fund is a block north of 11th Street along 12th Street between Holly Drive and Parker Avenue.

Before the pandemic, three blocks near that city’s business district behind where InShape had a location there were massive potholes and washboard pavement that was in desperate need of repair.

Drive the same stretch today. Nothing has changed.

If Manteca’s current leadership allowed such a fairly high profile older street serving a neighborhood and the edge of commercial near the downtown district go that long in such a condition, the keyboard warriors would have abandoned their devices and stormed City Hall to tar and feather municipal leadership.

But then again, it’s hard to get people to see reality when they are blinded by rage.