By James Hodl | CopperArea.com
North-South Corridor linking U.S. 60 with Interstate 10 is biggest project in PRTA proposal
An effort to sell Pinal County residents on a 20-year plan to improve transportation throughout the county primarily by building new roads and improving existing roads – and to fund these projects through a 0.5% increase in the county sales tax – moved into high gear recently.
Between March 21 and April 5, the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority (PRTA) held five public meetings where citizens saw the plan unveiled and could learn how these road projects would benefit them. Meetings were staged in the towns of Apache Junction, Coolidge and Maricopa; the communities of San Tan Valley and SaddleBrooke.
Nearly all of the proposed transportation projects are in western Pinal County, where about 88% of the county’s population resides, according to Andy Smith, director of PRTA and transportation planning manager with Central Arizona Governments (CAG). The plan was created with a big assist from Phoenix-based Dibble Engineering.
