Independent Newspapers

Maricopa County Department of Transportation officials are preparing bid requests for the El Mirage Road construction project and work on the roadway is expected to begin in February 2010.

Department officials moved up the construction of the new three-mile stretch of El Mirage Road between Bell Road and the newly completed segment of El Mirage Road at Deer Valley Drive, according to Roger Ball, MCDOT spokesman. The new roadway will provide a continuous connection between Bell Road and Loop 303. Eventually, the road will be improved south of Bell Road, including a continuous run across Grand Avenue.

"This last stretch of El Mirage Road will help relieve congestion on Bell Road and get traffic up to the 303 in a more direct manner, saving time and gas," stated Max Wilson, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman, in a June 4 press release.

Some Sun City residents are concerned about the alignment of the new roadway, expressing concern it would be too close to community common walls. During a May 29 legislative forum in Sun City West there was confusion over the final alignment as some residents could not visualize it as described by Larry Woods, PORA board president, and some residents offered different alignments they heard about.

Mr. Ball said the road will continue on the current alignment for a short distance north of Bell Road, but will then move between 300 and 600 feet to the east and remain that distance from the old alignment until it connects with the extension roadway between Deer Valley Drive and Loop 303.

"Plans right now are for the project to go to bid this fall — probably November," he said.

Construction will take approximately 10 months and is expected to start in early February 2010. Roadway opening is slated for December 2010.

Improvements include the construction of a new four-lane divided roadway (two travel lanes in each direction with bike lanes and a center median) just east of the existing roadway alignment, according to Mr. Ball. The project will also construct two "all-weather" crossings of the MicMicken Dam Outlet channel and include the installation of additional turn lanes at the northern half of the Bell Road intersection.

"Parts of the portion of El Mirage Road south of Bell are still being finalized," Mr. Ball explained.

The portion south of Bell Road could have far-reaching consequences. While many residents agree the project will benefit the Northwest Valley’s nightmare traffic situation, some have other major concerns.

"There are potential right-of-way conflicts," said Roberta Crowe, MCDOT spokeswoman. "We are looking at ways to deal with them."

Consistent with the overall plan to provide roadway network continuity and sufficient roadway access, mobility and capacity enhancements to meet future traffic demand, the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan identified and established the specific need to widen and extend El Mirage Road between Northern Avenue and Bell Road through the cities of El Mirage and Surprise.

In the current phase of project development, MCDOT and the cities of El Mirage and Surprise partnered to prepare a design concept report and conduct an environmental assessment of the El Mirage Road corridor between Northern Avenue and Bell Road.

"We are still very, very early on in the process," Ms. Crowe explained.

However, those improvements to El Mirage Road south of Bell Road would require purchase and relocation assistance for several large condominiums, a gas station and a row of mobile homes on the east side of the El Mirage Road alignment.

Many in attendance at a March 3 open house outlining the project worried about the future consequences.

Clyde Pechstedt lives in El Mirage, just south of the border with Surprise. His residence is threatened should the county proceed with the plan as presented.

"The way I see it, it would make a lot more sense to take this to the other side of the street," Mr. Pechstedt explained. "You could swing it around and come in with a west alignment. There is HUD housing there but the impact would be minimal."

The resident said more than 60 homes would be displaced on the eastern alignment of the road.

"And this is a lot of tax dollars that will just go away," Mr. Pechstedt added.

Kent Bro of the Scottsdale-based Bro Retail Group owns the 4 Sons Chevron station that could be eliminated under the current plan.

"They told me they will probably condemn me and buy me out," Mr. Bro said. "If they go six lanes wide on my side of the street, it would destroy me. They are bigger than me – I don’t know how to fight it."

Ms. Crowe confirmed MCDOT is studying the possibility of employing an "s-curve" that would take the expanded portion of El Mirage Road south of Bell to the west side of the corridor.

The expansion could commence sometime in the next two to three years. Total project cost is $200 million.

"We are looking to the public to give us feedback on what the top priorities should be," she added. "Should it be right of way acquisition or maybe the Bell Road intersection? This is what we want to know."

MCDOT plans another public meeting on the El Mirage Road project this October, according to Ms. Crowe.