ACE trains — or more specially commuters driving to and from the downtown station — are expected to seriously exacerbate traffic safety issues at Manteca High that is literally across the street.
Manteca Unified and City of Manteca staff have zeroed in on the intersection of Sherman Avenue and Moffat Boulevard.
MUSD Facilities & Operations Manager Aaron Bowers noted the “acute angle” of how Sherman intersects with Moffat is already a concern.
City Engineer Kevin Jorgensen agrees.
By adding commuter traffic in the morning and afternoon that eventually will overlap traffic generated from students arriving and departing from school, both believe the situation will be made sighanicantly worse.
That is in addition to problems that could occur with parents dropping students on and off along Moffat if ACE commuters end up parking on the street as well.
Jorgensen noted the city is currently pressing the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission regarding the need for a traffic signal at the intersection.
The rail commission’s staff is questioning the need for them paying for the signal based on projected initial train boardings.
But as Jorgensen pointed out, long-term projections call for significantly more ACE riders.
That makes sense given that is the long-term justification for investing significant money.
The goal of ACE service from Merced to Sacramento as well as to the Bay Area from the downtown Manteca station and elsewhere along the Union Pacific line is to alleviate freeway congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Mayor Gary Singh has indicated that he favors a roundabout option being explored.
That’s because property to the south of the intersection where the 100-space parking lot for the train boarding platform is being built is now owned by the city and will be transferred at some point to the rail commission.
Jorgensen said a roundabout shifted to the south just Ike the city did on Louise Avenue between the Highway 99 overcrossing and Cottage Avenue might work.
A straightforward roundabout can’t be done at the corner due to the two northern corners already being developed.
That said, Jorgensen believes improvements are needed which, based on what has been explored so far, are traffic signals.
The rail commission believes that no commuters will end up parking on the street given the 100 spaces being added and the 80 or so existing spaces at the transit center.
But as several people have pointed it, it would be closer for commuters to reach the platform in some cases by parking on the street.
And if there ends up being inadequate parking in the lot, commuters parking on the street and in nearby neighborhoods would likely occur.
City Manager Toni Lundgren said the city will monitor the situation in regards to parking once ACE service starts.
If cars parked on the street become a problem loading or unloading at Manteca High for safety in general, she said options will be explored.
They could range from having only time-limited loading zones by the high school campus or banning on-street parking altogether.
The reorientation of the high school toward Moffat has taken some traffic pressure off of Yosemite Avenue.
That has happened due to the district adding a drop-off zone by the gym and swimming pool. Drivers exit to Sherman Avenue and then try to get onto Moffat.
A large portion of the campus student enrollment lives southeast of the train tracks.
That means taking Sherman Avenue to Yosemite after dropping off students is not a viable option.
Manteca High, urgently with more than 1,900 students, is being expanded to accommodate 2,250 students to handle growth the city has approved in southeast Manteca.
Work on platform could
start sometime next year
Work is expected to start on the downtown Manteca ACE train passenger platform in six months, at the earliest.
A center loaded platform and pedestrian crossing will be built adjacent to the existing Manteca Transit Center along Moffat Boulevard.
This would allow for boarding when double tracking is in place.
Additional parking will be added almost to Garfield Avenue.
The Manteca work will cost $25 million and take 22 months to construct. Part of the cost deals with working around a PG&E pipeline.
The project is one of several taking place to bring ACE service to downtown by the end of 2026.
The platform is located in a manner that when trains are loading and unloading passengers the Main Street crossing will not be blocked.
The platform structure that includes bridges over the tracks and an elevator for handicapped access will match the architectural motif of the nearby transit center with its four-sided clock tower on the southeast corner of Main Street and Moffat Boulevard.
The platform will utilize the existing bus drop-off area to connect Manteca Transit, San Joaquin Regional Transit and Modesto Area Express transit busses to the station.
While most tickets are purchased online, the station will have a ticket vending machine as well.
State and federal funds are helping cover the cost of the platform work and parking lot expansion.
The city will provide overnight security as an extension of the private service that is now in place.
The transit center and is adjoining parking lot along with the nearby Moffat Community Center/Manteca VFW Hall are two carveouts the city legally could make under court rulings to avoid allowing homeless individuals or anyone else camp or sleep in the area.
The Manteca ACE station will be unique for a number of reasons.
*It is not just in downtown, but in the center of the community as opposed to Tracy’s that is on the edge of its downtown and the edge of the community.
*It is a block off the city’s primary north-south arterial — Main Street.
*It is on the backbone of an existing 7-mile separated bike path that will eventually be expanded to loop the city. It currently connects the southeast and north Manteca neighborhoods with downtown.
The Tidewater where the platform is going will jut slightly toward Moffat Boulevard and return back to its existing alignment.
Other new stations opening by the end of 2026 are in Modesto, Ceres, Madera, Oakley, Natomas, Midtown Sacramento, and Elk Grove.
That will mean passengers boarding in Manteca can use a train going between Ceres and San Jose.
By the end of 2027, stations will open in Ripon, Lodi, and the new Lathrop Transfer station at Sharpe Depot off of Lathrop Road.
That will allow new ACE round trips from Ceres to Natomas that can be boarded in downtown Manteca with the ability to transfer to San Jose at North Lathrop Transfer Station.
The transfer station in north Lathrop includes a parking lot, a drop-off zone, a long-covered pedestrian bridge to reach a center loading platform, bus transfer center, bicycle and pedestrian access and an access road for West Lathrop Road.
The parking lot could ultimately be expanded to handle 3,500 stalls. That would make it the largest parking lot in the South County with a capacity rivaling large regional malls. There are 1,992 parking spaces at Orchard Valley in Manteca.
It also involves double tracking to a point south of the Manteca station including upgrades at numerous road crossings.
The work would cost $30 million plus and take 23 months.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
