Manteca High — as the city grows — will likely see its enrollment swell by 500 with most of those students  coming from south of the 120 Bypass.

And since many will end up walking or riding bicycles to campus, Manteca Unified is hoping the City of Manteca will be open to safety enhancements along Moffat Boulevard that might include a high visibility crosswalk with overhead flashers like they plan to install this summer on Yosemite Avenue at Garfield Avenue.

Traffic moves much faster along the Moffat Boulevard corridor than it does on the more congested Yosemite Avenue. There are also often large trucks parked on Moffat that can compromise visibility for both pedestrians and drivers. It is where several years ago a Manteca freshman cross country runner was struck and seriously injured while crossing Moffat during an afterschool practice run.

The school district plans to expand Manteca High to absorb the bulk of the initial growth in high school enrollment coming from development south of the 120 Bypass.

A number of students already cross Moffat and use the Tidewater Bikeway that connects to streets south of the 120 Bypass via the bike path segment along Industrial Park Drive and Van Ryn Avenue that goes under the freeway.

Traffic patterns may also change on Moffat depending upon how the high school redesign is done.

The district is looking at re-orientating the campus front to Moffat. That would be done to enhance security as well as maximize the effectiveness of a modernization that is being done in conjunction with adding facilities to handle growth. 

Manteca High will be the first district campus high school to be taken up to 2,250 students.

Besides moving forward this summer with a more high profile crosswalk on Yosemite Avenue, the city took steps earlier this month to help Manteca Unified enhance safety at the 98-year-old campus by allowing a 24/7 closure of a segment of Garfield Avenue. The section slices the campus in two allowing people to walk through the school grounds even when classes are in session.

Ultimately ownership of the street will be transferred to the district with an easement retained to access buried utilities.

“The closure of Garfield has moved forward as expected,” said Deputy Superintendent Clark Burke. “No immediate concerns have been received. The city manager, staff and emergency services have been incredibly supportive of this closure and the closure proceeded without issue. The barriers and signage are the temporary solution until actual improvements are identified within the design process.”

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com