By Melissa St. Aude | Casa Grande Dispatch
Within the next 25 years, the population of the 1,200-square-mile area that encompasses Eloy, parts of Coolidge and Marana is expected to increase from about 48,100 to an estimated 160,000.
The growth spike would strain the road system. To prepare for the future, a transportation planning study funded by the state and federal governments, is evaluating the area’s roads and proposing what the infrastructure should look like to accommodate the anticipated additional people, housing developments and commercial growth.
Ensuring that the transportation system keeps up with growth is linked to the area’s economic development potential, study coordinator Jennifer Love told a group assembled for a study workshop in Casa Grande last week.
