The extra penny you pay on every $2 of taxable items at stores and restaurants in San Joaquin County will make driving Louise Avenue from Main Street to a point just west of the roundabout less jarring by year’s end.

Manteca intends to use 310 million of those pennies collected under the countywide Measure K half percent road and transit tax to cover the $3.1 million project.

The council when they meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. is expected to award the construction bid to United Pavement Maintenace.

At the same meeting, elected leaders are being asked to call for bids for a similar project on Lathrop Road between Union Road and the Highway 99 interchange.

Funding for the Lathrop Road work expected to cost $3 million will come from a regional transportation impact fee assessed on growth and the city’s share of state gas tax.

When  all is said and done, almost 2 miles of pavement issues with arterial streets in Manteca will have been addressed by year’s end.

Combined with just under three miles on the Airport Way corridor between Woodward Avenue and Roth Road that was improved in  late 2022, Manteca will have upgraded almost five miles of major streets over a two-year period.

When the Louise Avenue work is completed, it will mean the entire 3½ mile segment of Louise Avenue between Airport Way and the eastern city limits has been improved in the past 15 years either by a city initiated project or via improvements developers made as part of growth-related requirements.

The two big deficiencies that remain in the segment is a section just east of Main Street that has yet to be widened to four lanes and the eventual widening of the Louise Avenue overcrossing of Highway 99 to four lanes.

The city’s upcoming pavement work won’t address the fact the Louise Avenue overcrossing of Highway 99 narrows the road again down to two lanes before returning to four lanes on the east side of the freeway.

The bridge widening easily is a $10 million plus endeavor.

It also is extremely low on the list of pressing road fixes in Manteca.

And because it would require massive development east of Highway 99 to put enough pressure on the Louise Avenue corridor to make widening the bridge deck an absolute must, it is likely a need that won’t become critical for at least 10 to 20 years if not longer.

As for the short section where Louise Avenue narrows down to two lanes east of Main Street, there is not adequate right-of-way for four lanes required of most arterials.

There are 11 homes on the south side of Louise Avenue heading east behind California Total Fitness where it narrows down to two lanes and then back to four lanes.

The city would need to acquire property — a costly and lengthy undertaking — to widen the street at that point.

 Upgrades to Louise Avenue from the western city limits to Airport Way have, or will be, addressed by development projects.

The only section that won’t be is the entire northern segment that runs along the Manteca Unified School District office complex.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com