ADOT board hears SR 347 woes

Maricopa residents and leaders gathered inside city hall Friday morning for the monthly Arizona State Transportation Board meeting.

Overall, nine locals shared during a call to the public of their experiences with traffic congestion and safety issues on the state highway, including Mayor Nancy Smith.

“As you know, we’ve talked about a number of incidences, crashes, collisions, deaths, the safety issues, people riding on the median,” Smith said. “It’s just a crazy world out there and the sooner we can get help, the better.”

Others brought up experiences in knowing people who were either injured or died on the road. Councilmember Rich Vitiello shared a story of his friend, Israel Calderon, who was left in a coma in 2017 following a crash on SR 347.

“This is personal to me,” he said. “I want to make sure that our residents in the city get home every day so I can see them when they come to our council meetings.”

Public comment was not limited to complaints about SR 347. Some people also traveled from Apache Junction and the Navajo Nation to speak about inaccessible roadways in their communities due to weather.

SR 347 improvements

An airing of traffic grievances wasn’t the only item on the agenda. ADOT Director Jennifer Toth provided a brief overview of various projects around the state, including a review of upcoming SR 347 projects.

This included the Riggs Road interchange proposed to be slashed from the state budget by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

“Our goal is to reduce traffic congestion and improve travel times for drivers,” Toth said.

In a district report, Central District Administrator Randy Everett said the current John Wayne Parkway project was approximately 30% complete with an estimated cost of $7.3 million.

He also offered a general timeline for the project:

• In February, crews will work on striping the southbound left lanes, followed by working on the left turn lanes onto Lakeview. Traffic may be impacted during this time.
• Also in February, crews should complete and open the northbound left turn lane into Cobblestone Farms.
• In February or March, crews will change out traffic signals.
• Depending on temperatures, final paving will begin in April or May, with the project estimated to be complete by mid-June.

Gila River Bridges

Everett also said that in March, ADOT will begin work on the $50.9 million Gila River Bridges project on I-10.

ADOT originally estimated the project to cost around $64.6 million, but the winning bid came in about 21% under budget.

Other nearby projects

Driving to San Diego or Rocky Point this spring? Prepare for some lane restrictions along Interstate 8 between mileposts 135 and 141 for a pavement preservation project from Jan. 15 to Jan. 26.

East- and westbound lanes will be restricted to one lane weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a two-mile stretch starting at milepost 137, located about 30 miles southwest of Maricopa.

Other plans include eventually paving approximately 1.5 miles of Anderson Road to Peters and Nall Road, then to Antone Street. The project will cost $1.6 million.

A timeline for the project was not made available.