It was rare for the first 20 or so years that the bridge crossings of the 120 Bypass at Airport Way as well as Main Street for a pedestrian or even a bicyclist to cross them.

That’s because up until 1998 when the first tract home broke ground near Woodward Park, there were no tract homes south of the 120 Bypass.

There was just a scattering of farms and small rural estates.

It is why the bridge crossings were built with only three-foot high k-rail, no fencing, and no sidewalks.

Today, with each passing week, more homes are being built south of the 120 Bypass.

As a result more and more pedestrians and bicyclists — although not in great numbers — are crossing the two bridges to access Manteca north of the 120 Bypass where most of the businesses and civic amenities are located.

That includes students going to and from Sierra and Manteca high schools.

Continued rapid growth in southwest Manteca and plans for 841 homes on the southeast corner of the 120 Bypass and Main Street is prompting the Manteca Unified School District to seek a partnership with the City of Manteca to address ways to improve safety.

That could include some type of barrier between vehicle traffic and pedestrians on the bridge decks and fencing along the edges.

MUSD leaders said they will bring up the subject during the next Safe Routes to Schools meeting with city staff.

There is only a concrete K-rail just over 2 feet high separating pedestrians and bicyclists from the heavily traveled freeway below the overpasses.

There is no sidewalk.

Instead, pedestrians essentially share the road with motorists as they walk along the shoulder feet from passing cars that sometimes travel 45 mph in the morning.

There is also no street lighting — or highly reflective striping marking the shoulder line.

As such, it further deteriorates safety conditions in fog or after the sun goes down.

Until the diverging diamond interchange was created at Union Road with its accompanying separate crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists, it was a carbon copy of Airport Way and Main Street.

The three overpasses — Main Street, Union Road, and Airport Way — were designed and built in the late 1970s.

Heading south from the freeway was the rural countryside.

The low barriers across freeways can be problematic.

In August of 2002, a jumper sat on the low barrier on the edge of the Cottage Avenue southern side of the bridge deck where there was no sidewalk and no fencing.

The CHP closed the freeway for hours before the individual was coaxed down.

A similar incident happened several years later on the Union Road crossing.

The City of Manteca works with the Manteca Unified School District to find ways to develop safe routes to schools.

More than $1.5 million worth of smaller projects to enhance pedestrian safety by and around schools will be conducted in the coming months by the city.

The Airport Way  and Main Street overcrossing are not on the radar of the city in terms of improvements to make it safer walking to and from Sierra High and Manteca High because the bridge deck is controlled by Caltrans.

The placement of fencing on the K-rail on the  Airport Way bridge is Caltrans’ call. So is any move to place K-rail between the traffic lanes and shoulder to provide protection for pedestrians.

The city is working toward replicating the Union Road diverging diamond interchange design with the separated pedestrian/bicycle crossing at Airport Way and Main Street.

The priority is upgrading Airport Way first.

 The two diverging diamond interchange projects are moving toward an initial scooping study, a perquisite to determine feasibility and to pursue possible state and federal funding.

Even if the scoping started today, Manteca secured the roughly $30 million needed, and successfully completed the environmental review process, work wouldn’t start for four to five years.

By the time the bidding process and actual construction is factored in, an upgraded interchange with enhanced pedestrian safety wouldn’t be finished for at even one of the two locations for at least seven years in the absolute best case scenario.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com