By Jay Taylor | InMaricopa
Ask Maricopans what improvements are most needed in the city and you’ll likely hear a plea to do something about the traffic.
The widening of State Route 347 is often mentioned but another project could also have a huge impact on traffic in and around Maricopa – and perhaps sooner.
The proposed “ring road” around the city would allow residents of outlying communities – Tortosa and Sorrento, for example – to get to SR347 and the Valley without having to drive through downtown. Traffic would move off John Wayne Parkway, lessening congestion on the city’s main thoroughfare, City Manager Rick Horst told city council at a January planning session.
Horst said the ring road would also provide easier access to businesses that will begin to migrate away from the John Wayne Parkway corridor as the city grows and more homes are built farther from the downtown area.