A consent item that helps clear the way for the most significant — and expensive — public works project ever undertaken in Manteca this century appears tonight on the City Council agenda.

It involves right-of-way acquisition and easement recordings that are paving the way for three phased, $154 million overhaul of the Highway 99 and 120 Bypass interchange and the intertwined Austin Road interchange as well.

The right-of-way involves land that will set the stage for shaping traffic flow in a large swath of developed and yet-to-be developed southeast Manteca.

*It will swing Woodward Avenue slightly to the south to allow for a safer crossing of the railroad tracks at 90 degrees where it connects with Moffat Boulevard. There will be traffic signals at the Moffat-Woodward intersection

*It will create a new street connecting Austin Road with Atherton Drive at a point south of where it currently ends south of where it crosses Woodward Avenue. The improvements will also involve traffic signals.

*The existing Austin Road overpass will be torn down and replaced with a four-lane structure with turning lanes that will have a lane configuration similar to the Lathrop Road overcrossing of Highway 99. The bridge will also span Moffat Boulevard and the railroad tracks necessity the new connector road to tie into city streets via Atherton Drive.

The existing bridge will be demolished as part of the first phase of the Caltrans project that will add a second transition lane from the eastbound 120 Bypass to southbound Highway 99.

The second phase will add a second transition lane from northbound  Highway 99 to the westbound 120 Bypass as well as modify transition lanes coming from the north.

The final phase will include elaborate braided ramps that will allow for a more efficient and safer movement of traffic heading onto northbound 99 or to the westbound Bypass form Austin Road or exiting from southbound 99 or the eastbound Bypass to Austin Road.

While the project is being advanced under the auspices of Caltrans with the San Joaquin Council of Governments securing funding to leverage the half cent Measure K sale tax collected countywide for highway and transportation projects, the City of Manteca will be covering the tab to have the Austin Road replacement bridge be four lanes instead of two thru lanes.

As such it will address future traffic concerns as the southeast portion of the city grows.

Work is expected to break ground later this year on the first phase.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 WE. Center St.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com