David Mendoza doesn’t buy it.

I don’t buy it

You shouldn’t buy it.

Nor should Mayor Gary Singh and his colleagues on the Manteca City Council buy it.

What is being sold through the city review process is the placement of “no left turn signs” and perhaps a feeble “do not enter sign” or two as a way to effectively stop motorists from crossing a double yellow line to reach the ultimate quintessential Manteca destination — a gas station-fast food joint-convenience store-car wash.

In this case, it is a driveway access to a future Chevron fueling station, Extra Mile convenience store, the city’s umpteenth car wash, fast food place, two other restaurants, and retail space on the southeast corner of Lathrop Road and Airport Way.

The driveway in question is right on top of Airport Way.

The no left turn is to — and from — westbound Lathrop Road.

It might be hard for planners to remember what the city has been planning for the last 20 years or so.

What is currently an intersection with a pair of two-lane streets with four corners dominated by an almond orchard, a once rural house, and two empty parcels is the envisioned crossing of two major four-lane arterials.

Traffic count one day could easily exceed Louise Avenue/Main Street but with significantly more semi-trucks in the mix.

Mendoza, a member of the Manteca Planning Commission, didn’t need a crystal ball, a degree in urban planning, or a fat consultant’s check to recognize a dimwitted idea.

All he had to do was reference every other place in the past where the city opted for signs without a “passive enforcement” component to safeguard safety and traffic flow.

Even without the knowledge he brought to the planning commission meeting last Thursday by actually driving the streets of Manteca day in day out, Mendoza could easily point to the absolute zero reverence many drivers in the city have for stop signs.

Stop signs are  ignored on a wholesale basis just like red lights.

And so are no left turn lanes such as the one coming out of the PetSmart center on Spreckels Avenue even with its laughable attempt at a concrete barrier in the driveway to make such turns difficult.

For years, city staff has stressed the three “E”s of traffic safety — engineering, education, and enforcement.

The bottom line is always engineering is the most effective and consistent way to get compliance when it comes to traffic safety.

It is why Mendoza advocates for a raised median or center curbing — much like what prevents similar turns into the new 7-Eleven  from Louise Avenue just east of the Main Street intersection.

In fact, Mendoza believes both driveways from the project along Lathrop Road — including one farther east and farther away from the intersection — should have physical barriers making left turns in and out impossible to do.

It seems Mendoza has seen what enlightened cities like Tracy, Lathrop, and Stockton do with growth along major arterials.

They require either protected turn pockets or, as Mendoza has in mind, forcing those wishing to access the commercial center from westbound Lathrop Road to make a U-turn at the traffic signal.

And by extension, those wishing to continue westbound on Lathrop Road after fueling up, satisfying their munchies, or getting their wheels washed would exit onto Airport Way and the turn left at the signal.

Mendoza was told there wasn’t enough right-of-way or space.

Staff inferred when the parcel on the north side of the street is eventually developed the safety issue using barriers could be addressed then.

It is response that’s woefully inadequate.

For starters, this city is littered with traffic flow and safety kinks where 10 years or more ago the decision was made not to require adequate road width to address basic flow and even safe passages for pedestrians because it would happen when land across the way was developed.

Manteca, believe it or not, has actually conditioned projects where the developer that wants to build now needs to obtain — and then turn over — right-of-way needed for safe traffic flow.

But the city doesn’t need to go that far in this case.

All is needed is a 6-inch wide curbing “x” amount of yards down the center line from the intersection east to block left turn movements at the closest driveway or both.

If the city is saying there isn’t enough space, then they’d better start explaining how they did just that in much tighter “right-of-way” quarters in the 100 block of North Main Street to accommodate a left turn pocket onto Center while physically preventing left turns in and out of the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot.

And if anyone on staff believes this wonderful “plastic” yellow bollards with black markings could do the trick, they might want to give Caltrans a ring and see how many hours they lasted on the eastbound 120 Bypass where it splits as it reaches Highway 99.

Or they might check with whoever in the city pulled the plug finally on replacing bollards at high profile crosswalks on Moffat Boulevard near Manteca High that motorists kept taking out.

The city, of course, may say they are making Manteca business friendly by cutting upfront development costs by not requiring such raised barriers.

Heaven knows, how difficult it is these days for Manteca to secure anyone willing to build a gas station, convenience store, fast food restaurant, or a car wash.

A condition developers pay for a $20,000 or so raised barrier that is 6 inches wide could make it economically unfeasible to build a gas station, car wash, convenience store, or another Chick-fil-A?

But then, maybe the concerns that city officials want to make Manteca business friendly for are collision repairs shops, towing companies, insurance adjusters, and lawyers.

If by some chance the project for some reason needs to go before the council before final approval, hopefully elected officials will see what Mendoza sees and act accordingly

And if it doesn’t, the first corner of the Airport Way and Lathrop Road intersection to develop will demonstrate much hasn’t  changed when it comes to traffic safety or traffic flow and Manteca sweating the small details.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com