$35M for Riggs Road overpass not a done deal yet

The Arizona legislature’s first draft budget proposal includes $35 million for a State Route 347 overpass at Riggs Road but it’s not a done deal yet.

State Sen. Bret Roberts of Maricopa, D-11, said he was pleasantly surprised to see the full appropriation he sought with the introduction of House Bill 2068 in January. But he cautioned against reading too much into the budget proposal this early.

“This is still just a draft, and it still needs to be voted on,” he said. “It was presented to the members yesterday and we’re just now seeing the line items. We’re all going through to see if there’s last-minute changes. But if it goes through, this is good news for Maricopa.”

If the full appropriation is included in the budget — the money would be moved from the General Fund to the Arizona Department of Transportation in Fiscal Year 2022 — it would represent a significant effort to speed a multi-year, multi-pronged effort to increase safety and reduce congestion on the highway, including widening to six lanes and addressing intersections at Casa Blanca Road and the cement plant.

The appropriation designates $25 million for design study and construction of the overpass, $2.5 million for environmental study and $7.5 million for design and easements.

The City of Maricopa has committed $1 million toward the project and the Gila River Indian Community recently signaled its buy-in for improvements on SR347, which runs through its land.