High intensity activated crosswalk signals.

Traffic medians with pedestrian fencing.

High profile crosswalks.

Red light cameras

Speed lumps.

High visibility bicycle lanes.

Manteca is gearing up to deploy those strategies and more in 2025 to tame what former Mayor Ben Cantu famously repeatedly called the “wild west streets of Manteca.” 

And nowhere else will the city’s effort be as noticeable as on the stretch of North Main Street from Alameda to Northgate Drive.

It is where the most elaborate project ever undertaken on a Manteca surface street to specifically address traffic safety will take place.

The $3.4 million project given the final OK last week by the City Council first and foremost addressees pedestrian safety. But its design elements also are aimed at making it safer for bicyclists as well as striping that tends to rein in speeding.

The data backs up the need to make a concerted effort to address traffic safety.

As the year winds down 2024 in Manteca has seen:

*More than 1,000 traffic accidents.

*Four traffic fatalities (excluding the 120 Bypass).

*Two of those fatalities were in vehicle versus pedestrian collisions.

*Nine accidents that were so severe in terms of damage between death and life threatening injuries that they required the deployment of Manteca Police’s Major Accident Investigation Team.

*Nine vehicle versus pedestrian collisions.

The Main Street section project includes:

*A raised median with fencing to prevent pedestrians from crossing between intersections.

*The installation of a high Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon signal system at the Main Street intersection with Edison Street.

*The striping of high-profile bicycle lanes to enhance bicycling safety.

And while they are not part of the road work, red light traffic cameras are now in the process of being installed on the North Main Street segment’s intersections with Louise Avenue and Northgate Drive.

There are numerous incidents where drivers at red lights fail to yield to pedestrians that wisely opt not to cross and remain at the curb’s edge even when they have the right-of-way.

The median also will eliminate the ability to turn left across traffic between intersections from — or to — commercial driveways. Such turn movements have been a contributing factor in accidents between vehicles along that stretch of Main Street over the years.

The raised median, along with the bike lanes, are expected to help slow traffic speeds.

It will be the first median in Manteca with fencing aimed at preventing pedestrians from crossing a street between intersections.

As it stands now, the North Main Street segment is the longest and widest stretch of a four-lane arterial with turn lanes in Manteca.

It was originally built to carry four lanes of Highway 99 before the old state route reached downtown and then headed southeast on Moffat Boulevard to Ripon and beyond.

The width over the years has encouraged people to exceed the speed limit significantly after passing through downtown and the Alameda Street intersection.

There have been a number of serious traffic accidents north of Alameda Street including two solo crashes that ended up being fatalities in recent years.

The intersection at Edison has had multiple collisions between pedestrians who were near the middle of the crosswalk when struck.

Injuries have been significant over the years, including times when the pedestrian was struck hard enough they ended up slamming into the vehicle’s windshield.

The overall price tag — including other crosswalk upgrades and a slurry seal — is $3.4 million.

Elsewhere, the city is continuing to deploy speed lumps to slow traffic on existing streets.

They can not be used on arterials such as Main Street, Union Road, Northgate Drive, and Moffat Boulevard as a few examples.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com