The Pinal County Board of Supervisors established the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority (PRTA) in 2015 as a public improvement and taxing subdivision of the State of Arizona to coordinate multi-jurisdictional transportation planning, improvements and funding. This organization developed a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that was taken to the voters in a November 2017 Special Election.

Pinal County voters approved the RTP and a 20-year, half-cent sales tax to fund the transportation improvements contained in the plan. However, the structure of the tax was challenged in a 2018 lawsuit and ruled invalid by the Arizona Supreme Court in March 2022.

The East-West Corridor (now the Sonoran Desert Parkway) project is part of the RTP and involves construction of a 21-mile corridor of new and existing roadways beginning at State Route 347 in the city of Maricopa and extending east through northern Casa Grande to Interstate 10. When it became clear funding from this tax would not be forthcoming, the city moved to fund this regional corridor with developer impact fees (not citizen-paid taxes). Impact fees are charged to contribute to costs associated with infrastructure and public services that need to be expanded as a direct result of new development in the growth areas of the city of Maricopa, as defined in the General Plan.

This corridor is critical to future transportation needs and will support significant job creation and economic prosperity for the citizens of Maricopa.

The December edition of InMaricopa Magazine is in Maricopa mailboxes and available online. 

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