By Joey Chenoweth
Coolidge Examiner
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has decided to make Casa Grande the center of its next metropolitan planning organization (MPO), which could bring a boost to Coolidge’s development.
An MPO consists of one or more cities that must work to make decisions as to how road and transportation projects are created, organized and developed. As the focal point of this MPO, Casa Grande has no choice but to become a part of it, but it now has the choice to bring in a select number of cities to be a part of the team. On Monday, it met with Coolidge to gauge the interest in city officials to join the MPO.
“Casa Grande has been told by ADOT that because of their size, they will be the next MPO,” said Coolidge City Manager Bob Flatley. “What they have to determine is who is going to be with them. They’re going to talk to Eloy and Florence, and maybe Maricopa.”
It is now up to Coolidge to decided whether or not it wants to be a part of the MPO before the deadline for Casa Grande to submit its final proposal to ADOT on March 27, 2013.
To get the process started, Flatley will bring the information on the MPO to the city council during a workshop to take place before its meeting on Oct. 22. Based off the feedback the council provides at the workshop, a resolution would then be produced to approve Coolidge’s consent in joining the MPO.
