By Jay Taylor | InMaricopa
City Manager Rick Horst on Monday laid out the city’s proposals to improve traffic flow on State Route 347 during a presentation to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Following an update on the Western Pinal County/City of Maricopa Area Transportation Plan by Kevin Kugler of consulting firm Michael Baker International, LLC, Horst listed the city’s proposals for improvements that can be completed in the short term, with funds already appropriated by the Arizona Legislature.
“On the 347, even (the Legislature’s) minor proposal to solve part of the problem is a $290 million fix,” Horst said. “If they would just give us half that amount of money we could solve it. I do want to tell you what we are doing. We’ve asked a couple of things. As you come into town and you get to the (Cemex) cement factory, the trucks don’t run after about 3 p.m., yet traffic will stop (at red traffic lights) waiting for those ‘ghost trucks’ to turn. Why can’t it be synchronized so that it doesn’t even turn on the light? Put in that strip so it wont even trip unless a car approaches.
