City plans Truck Route Study to ease congestion

The city of Maricopa is launching a commercial transportation study this month, designed to help improve the flow of traffic and preserve infrastructure.

Set to begin Feb. 1 and continue until the end of June, the City’s Truck Route Study is being conducted to not only better understand commercial traffic flows in Maricopa, but also redirect heavier vehicles onto more durable roads designed to handle the extra weight.

Project manager for Maricopa Transportation David Maestas said the city completed an area transportation plan in 2015 to assess internal circulation and regional connectivity.  One of the key elements of that plan is the truck route study.

“What we’re trying to do is to identify the best possible path for those trucks through the city,” Maestas said. “One that would be the least invasive on other traffic patterns in the city, and also help trucks get where they need to go.”

He said the study will not only help reveal the traffic patterns but also help negate costly repairs to infrastructure on overstressed roadways.

“Because of their large size and weight, they’re damaging to the roadways, and that results in more roadway maintenance dollars.”

The study will examine the destinations of large trucks, the times of day they travel and the weights of those trucks compared to their destinations.

From the information gathered, the Transportation Department will then deduce the best routes. Two or three of those routes will be chosen by the Transportation Advisory Committee and then be taken to the city council for approval.

Maestas also clarified how tricky the implementation of any new truck route may be, as Maricopa is skirted by tribal land: “We’re constrained in the north by the Gila River Indian Community and to the south by Ak-Chin.”

Despite these limitations, Maestas is certain the study and subsequent route will do nothing but improve the lives of Maricopans.