A proposed mega-business park designed to create 24,642 jobs could significantly increase traffic in the City of Ripon as well as on rural roads south of Manteca and west of Ripon.

The 1,612-acre Pacific Gateway project’s northwest corner is at Durham Ferry Road and Chrisman Road, roughly three miles west of the Airport Way crossing of the San Joaquin River.

Airport Way turns into Durham Ferry Road once it crosses the river.

It is the same project a number of Manteca area registered voters this past weekend. received a text survey regarding.

The project that is within the jurisdiction of San Joaquin County and is outside the City of Tracy as well as that city’s sphere of influence  is currently in the environment review process. The deadline for comments to be filed with the county planning department is Nov. 23.

Proponents say the project north of the junction of Interstate 580 and Highway 132 will ultimately create 24,654 jobs.

It would include 27.65 million feet — roughly 26 distribution centers the size of the 1.1 million square-foot Wayfair facility along the 120 Bypass in Lathrop next top the San Joaquin River.

Ridgeline Property Group also wants to create a 29-acre private university, 104,544 square feet of commercial development — space roughly the overall footage of the Manteca Walmart, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.

The City of Ripon is already dealing with increased traffic of commuters going to and from distribution center jobs west of Tracy along 11th Street.

They use Ripon exits on Highway 99 to access West Ripon Road, travel to South Manteca Road then Trahern Road and then on Airport Way to take Kasson Road or Durham Ferry Road further west before turning north.

They do so because neither the 120 Bypass nor does Highway 132 out of Modesto offer the most direct access route with large gaps between travel times taking the more circuitous rural Ripon-Manteca route due to highway congestion.

A large chunk of workers at existing Amazon and other distribution centers come from the Modesto area.

That is likely to be the same for Pacific Gateway given housing prices in nearby Tracy just to the north and even the Manteca/Lathrop area are out of the price range of the majority of hourly distribution center workers.

The University of Silicon Andhra, currently located in Milpitas, wants to develop  a new campus as part of the Pacific Gateway endeavor.

The campus is intended to provide opportunities for education and research in professional, liberal arts, health, technology, sciences, and education sectors.

The first phase of the university is intended to be a 140,000 square-foot medical education facility.

A scoping meeting for the Pacific Gateway project takes place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 15, at Jefferson School, 7500 W. Linne Road, in rural South Tracy.

It is an opportunity for the public to comment on the Pacific Gateway development proposal.

 Full details on the project are at www.sjgov.org/commdev/cgi-bin/cdyn.exe?grp=planning&htm=pacific_gateway

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com