By Kimlye Stager | Pinal Central
A long-awaited project will start at the end of June to improve State Route 347 for commuters.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Department of Transportation hosted an open housewith its project partners from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. The event had two 15-minute presentations on the State Route 347 Improvement Project with a Q&A session afterward. The first session filled the council chambers, with overflow watching from a TV.
The project will improve a 14-mile section of SR 347 between Interstate 10 and Maricopa with the corridor running through Maricopa and Pinal counties, primarily located within the Gila River Indian Community. When the project is completed, it’ll provide added capacity, help alleviate congestion and improve traffic flow and safety.
Planned improvements include adding a third lane in each direction from I-10 to Maricopa, constructing a concrete median barrier to physically separate the directions of travel, rehabilitating the existing pavement along that 14-mile stretch of roadway, constructing new grade-separated interchanges at Mammoth Way and Riggs Road and adding turn lanes, signal improvements and acceleration and deceleration lanes.
