Sonny Dhaliwal wants to set the stage for robust job generation as well as preserve the integrity of neighborhoods.

It is why the San Joaquin County  District 3 supervisor has vowed to work toward securing a new interchange on Highway 99 for the future extension of Roth Road.

Dhaliwal, the longtime Lathrop mayor elected in November to represent the 160,000 residents of Manteca, Lathrop, and west Stockton, sees the interchange as a key investment to unleash the job generation potential of thousands of acres within the growth path of the three cities as well as the county in general.

It is targeted — should it be built — roughly a mile north of Lathrop Road and a mile south of French Camp Road.

The area in question involving the three cities offers unparalleled economic growth potential in the region for decades to come.

It is bordered on the:

*west by Interstate 5 that runs from Canada to Mexico and can access nearly 50 million West Coast consumers in 12 hour or less by the freeway.

*south by the Union Pacific Railroad intermodal yard, the existing Roth Road, and the northern boundaries and sphere of influences of Manteca and Lathrop.

*east by Highway 99, California’s so-called Main Street freeway that ties one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth together, as well as the Santa Fe (BNSF) intermodal yard bordering Austin Road.

*north by Stockton Metro Airport owned and operated by the county as well as Stockton’s business park area with ample room to grow.

Dhaliwal on Wednesday indicated he has been working with Manteca Mayor Gary Singh looking for a path forward for the Roth Road interchange.

The supervisor, who serves on the San Joaquin Council of Governments — the collectors of Measure K road and transit sales tax receipts and overseer or regional transportation concerns, hopes to enlist that agency’s resources to work on the interchange.

It is a plan that would honor a commitment Dhaliwal made to Del Webb at Woodbridge residents and others during the campaign to work toward avoiding truck traffic from going down Airport Way.

It is a commitment that would avoid residents of future Manteca neighborhoods south of the proposed alignment of the Roth Road extension from having conflicts with truck traffic.

It is not a small issue.

Given the expansion of the UP intermodal yard nestled between Manteca and Lathrop on Roth Road will accommodate up to 1,233 truck trips a day at full operational capacity, the interchange has a significant role to play not just in ensuring the quality of life in neighborhoods but also effectively taking advantage of the intermodal facility’s location to generate local and regional job growth.

The extension of Roth Road and a future interchange would provide access from the UP facility to both Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

It would also open up land north of the proposed Roth Road extension to future business park development in Manteca.

As such, it would function much like the Sperry Road/Arch Road corridor that goes to the north of Stockton Airport to connect Highway 99 and Interstate 5.

Besides serving a large swath of partially developed land north of Arch Road along the Airport Way corridor to industrial development, it would do the same basically for open land to the south toward French Camp Road.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com