Plans for major new interchange unveiled

The EPS Group has unveiled three designs for a grade separation at the intersection where White and Parker Road crosses Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and the Union Pacific tracks. A grade separation involves building either a bridge or an underpass to route traffic over or under a railroad or other roadway.

EPS was hired by the city of Maricopa in May for $586,270 to complete a major investment study for the interchange. To determine the separation designs, the group looked at what traffic counts will be like in the city in 2040 and came up with eight possible plans. Those designs were then narrowed down to the three most feasible alternatives.

“These are the designs that we will be moving forward with, but they are still open for public comment and modification,” said EPS Vice President Elijah Williams.

“By looking at the year 2040 on this project, we are planning for the traffic flows that will exist at build out,” said Dan Marum of Wilson and Company, the group conducting the traffic study. “When you do a grade separation project, you want it to be a long-range solution.”

The three options, all of which involve rerouting Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and building multiple bridges, were unveiled to the Maricopa city council Dec. 21.

“A lot of people will read about the White and Parker intersection plan and think, ‘what are these idiots doing,’” said Councilmember Edward Farrell, acknowledging that many in Maricopa think a grade separation where State Route 347 crosses the tracks is a more pressing issue.

“The 347 intersection is going to take cooperation from the state and the federal government,” Farrell said. “It is something we need and are working on, but the White and Parker intersection is something the city has complete responsibility for, in terms of planning.”

When complete in the summer of 2011, EPS’s study will outline the costs, design parameters, environmental constraints and needed right-of-ways for three different grade separation options. Once a design alternative is selected, the city will need to complete an environmental study, acquire funding and design and build the separation.

Williams said the study will be completed with federal requirements in mind so the city can seek federal funding for the project.

“It will ultimately be the federal government that picks the best option of the three,” Williams said. “This is not going to be built next year, but in the next 10 years.”

Option 1

Option 2

 

Option 3