A fatal rear-end collision involving a truck and four sedans Tuesday afternoon started a 90-minute stretch that saw two other accidents on the 120 Bypass.

It was an hour and a half that saw Manteca Fire also respond to other emergencies in south Manteca including a crash on Daniels Street with minor injuries as well as a suicide.

The collision with the fatality and three people critically injured happened on the eastbound Bypass just before  Main Street overcrossing before 1 p.m.

It was an all-too-familiar deadly scenario.

Traffic in the outside lane suddenly slowed due to congestion heading into the transition ramp from the Bypass to Highway 99 south.

A semi-truck slammed into a vehicle with four cars eventually becoming involved.

The congestion and the rear-end collision is typical of issues that led to the start last month of a three-phased $154 million project to improve traffic flow and safety at the connector between the two freeways.

The first phase will add a second transition lane to the southbound Highway 99.

Right around the same time as the fatal, Manteca Fire also responded to a vehicle that went down the embankment on the eastbound Bypass near the Wayfair distribution center.

The two adults and two children in that solo accident were not injured.

An hour or so later to avoid ramming into a vehicle that had slowed in front of them, prompted a driver to take evasive action as Bypass traffic neared Union Road.

The vehicle left the freeway and ended up in bushes on the southwest quadrant of the interchange.

During the same time period, Manteca Fire responded to two other emergencies also in south Manteca.

One was a traffic collision on Daniels Street with minor injuries.

The other was a suicide.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com