(First InMaricopa) PAYSON and MARICOPA — By 8:30 a.m., most seats at the Maricopa Community Center were filled. The back wall was lined with fresh fruit and donuts, but the real energy came from the screen in front, a livestream of a hearing room in Gila County.

They were spectators of an away game. One hundred and ten miles to the northeast, the hearing room was packed with Maricopa commuters, officials and teens urging the Arizona Department of Transportation to finally act.

Toryn Terrell, a Palo Brea resident who has three teenage drivers at home, said he worries constantly about their safety on the road and jokes that his hair is getting grayer with every commute.

“It’s exhausting being the squeaky wheel,” Terrell told InMaricopa in the hearing room. “We speak up, we organize, we show up—not because it’s easy, but because the stakes are real. What we face daily on that road isn’t theoretical. It’s a reality etched into our lives.”

The ADOT Board today approved Option 3 in its 2026 to 2030 five-year construction plan, officially adding the long-awaited widening of State Route 347 to its project list.

“Three-forty-seven is a main priority,” said Pinal County Supervisor Rich Vitiello (R-Maricopa). “We have 50,000 cars a day to drive up and down that road every day, and they pray to get home. They pray to get to their job.” He held up an oversized check, showing the $20 million that Pinal County agreed to chip in earlier this year.

The plan puts an estimated $235 million aside for the SR 347 corridor, which connects Maricopa to Interstate 10 and the Phoenix metro. Design work will begin as soon as September with construction slated to begin in FY2026. Mayor Nancy Smith noted that that “our very conservative city council made the hard decision to raise our sales tax … to help fund this project.”

“SR 347 is our only access route … it’s in the crisis mode,” said Maricopa City Council member Eric Goettl.

The SR 347 project includes widening the highway through both Maricopa and Pinal Counties. Local governments have pledged $50 million in matching funds, and the Gila River Indian Community formally endorsed the expansion Wednesday, citing safety and economic concerns.

Other projects around the state lobbied equally hard, more than what the state can fund. Namely, Star Valley residents asked ADOT to improve State Route 260, the tourist-heavy route between Payson and Heber-Overgaard.

“We’re trying to feed six children with one slice of bread,” said ADOT Board Chairwoman Jenn Daniels. She said that out of “everything we heard today, Option 3 really is the best option.”

At the board meeting in Payson this morning, dozens of speakers representing Maricopa reminded the state board that this daily commuter route has seen more than 2,500 crashes and 43 fatalities since 2015. City officials and residents have lobbied for improvements for more than a decade.

“Time wasted while staff and deliveries sit on a broken and outdated state highway costs businesses, both in Pinal and Maricopa Counties, untold thousands of dollars a year,” Kelly Anderson, executive director of the Greater Maricopa Business Alliance, told the ADOT board. “SR 347 might be the longest driveway in the state, but it’s our driveway.”

ADOT’s five-year program totals $12.7 billion statewide. Option 3 streamlines the construction to have it funded and completed the fastest.

“Fact is, we love our city. We love our states, but a simple yes vote proves that you love us back,” said Terrell, the Palo Brea dad.

David Iversen reported from Maricopa. Monica D. Spencer reported from Payson.