The completion of the long-awaited second transition lane from the eastbound 120 Bypass to southbound Highway 99 has been pushed back a year to 2028.

That may strike commuters as bad news but it also means the 120 Bypass from Union Road to Highway 99 will be six lanes wide in 2028, almost 10 years ahead of schedule.

Manteca Mayor Gary Singh, who serves on the San Joaquin Council of Governments that is overseeing upgrades being done through the Highway 99/120 Bypass Connector Project, said SJCOG “has taken being dealt a lemon and decided to make lemonade.”

The lemon Singh is referring to was Union Pacific Railroad’s unexpected refusal to allow a support column on a wider bridge deck to support adding the second transition lane where it crosses Van Ryn Avenue.

The railroad said it wouldn’t allow the column as it could impede future plans to double track the tracks passing through Manteca.

ACE is already working on double tracking the railroad from Lathrop to a point midway between the Main Street and Industrial Park Drive crossings to accommodate the extension of commuter rail service to downtown Manteca.

Singh said that prompted SJCOG to re-engineer the three-phased project.

The change won’t slow down the replacement timeline for the Austin Road bridge that will span Highway 99 and the railroad tracks.

The biggest change is a decision to install a bridge structure that would fill in the entire gap between the east and west lanes where it crosses Van Ryn.

This will allow making the Bypass to be widened to three lanes in each direction from Union Road to Highway 99.

It also will put in part of the improvements needed to eventually restore the southbound off ramp at Austin Road that takes place in the third phase.

To minimize the impact on traffic flow and to maximize safety, that off ramp to Austin for eastbound 120 Bypass traffic will start at a point between Main Street and the Van Ryn crossing.

Singh also said the re-engineering process will give Manteca Fire emergency access where the northbound on-ramp from Austin Road to Highway 99 has been shut down until the third phase. That means fire department response to an accident on a segment of Highway 99 won’t be impeded by engines having to take a longer route.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com