Manteca’s bookkeeping mess uncovered more than four years ago had been cleaned up.

Audits are all current and no malfeasance or unaccounted funds were discovered.

That said, it could end up costing the city the ability to deliver on a  promised road project — some $2 million plus  in upgrades to a stretch of North Main Street that has proven to be deadly over the years for pedestrians.

It also had serious solo auto accidents.

Caltrans placed  Manteca on its “do not fund” list in October 2020 when then Interim Finance Director Stephanie Beauchaine uncovered accounting irregularities that revealed the city may have placed money in the wrong accounts over the years.

After the city cleared up that particular bookkeeping snafu and accounted for every dollar in the proper manner, Caltrans took the city of its “do not fund” list in March 2021.

However, Manteca was still going through a revolving door with top management and was losing other critical employees needed to move projects forward.

The turmoil ended two years ago, and the city has been working to move a backlog of projects forward.

Almost all promised projects are moving forward that grant funding was secured for are in motion or have been completed..

That includes new high visibility road signs and a citywide traffic synchronization project that has just gone to bid.

The current municipal staff that sorted out the mess and got finances back in order is now saddled with trying to deliver on North Main Street safety projects promised and approved by a previous council more than five years ago.

During that time construction costs have risen substantially.

Staff now estimates the money available will only cover about half of the project as it is designed.

The city staff is still recommending to move forward with putting the work out to bid.

That may show their raised cost estimated isn’t as far off as they believe.

And if they aren’t in the ballpark, the city could make the case for additional Caltrans funding, seek money elsewhere, or rethink the project.

 The project is designed to make safety improvements on North Main Street between Alameda Street and Northgate Drive.

It includes:

*A median with fencing to stop pedestrians from crossing mid-block.

*The same median would eliminate left turns in and out at will from various commercial driveways.

*Installing a high profile crosswalk with flashing warning lights at Edison Street.

*Adding bike lanes with the newer solid green markings.

The improvements reflect the drawbacks of the original design of the segment to handle pre-1955 traffic patterns.

That is before the freeway was built and Highway 99 still went through the heart of Manteca along Main Street and then turned to the southeast to head toward Ripon, Modesto, and beyond.

As such, most of the segment of North Main Street was created to wider highway traffic standards than for typical major city arterials.

The wider expanse tends to encourage speeding, makes it more precarious for pedestrians crossing the street or bicyclists using the roadway, and makes left turn movements more dangerous based on a greater tendency to misjudge the speed of incoming traffic.

The safety concerns have been reflected in accidents involving pedestrians as well as a higher number of crashes  involving speed and T-bone crashes involving vehicles making left turns.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com