Thatcher looks to reduce highway speed to 35 mph continuously through town
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – Those traveling on U.S. Highway 70 may have noticed a change in the speed limit through the eastern side of Pima – or perhaps one of the town’s officers kindly informed you of the change.
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has extended the 35 mph speed limit for U.S. Highway 70 through Pima.
While the speed reduction is a new change, locals will need to adjust to it. In the meantime, the Pima Police are making “informational stops” only and are not ticketing those going the former speed until a grace period is over.
Now, as you enter town heading westbound, the highway speed of 55 mph through unincorporated Graham County reduces to 45 mph roughly 250 yards before Alder Lane. The town recently annexed a section of land at the intersection in anticipation of a possible new Super Circle K being constructed at the site. However, no property deal has yet been made for the convenience store, and the developers continue to examine other possible locations within the town limits.
The speed limit then quickly reduces to 35 mph roughly 300 yards east of the intersection with 300 South, where it previously reduced to 45 mph before the change.
According to Pima Town Manager Vernon Batty, ADOT facilitated the change due to the new Pima High School, which is set to open on Aug. 6. The school is scheduled to open its new football field on Sept. 5 against Round Valley.
The Pima School District has constructed a new high school on a 44-acre site located just north of the intersection with Highway 70 and 200 South on the east side of town. The current access is from E. Center Street, which connects to Highway 70 just west of the Dollar General store and east at 600 East. The new school will be just the second high school built in Pima’s 145-year history.
According to Batty, ADOT plans to make the intersection of E. Center Street and U.S. Highway a right-turn-only intersection to assist with school traffic. Additionally, ADOT has installed pedestrian signs for students crossing the highway, but no new crosswalks have been installed.
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani previously pushed through $1 million in funds through the House’s Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development package to assist with a new traffic light and road from 200 South to the new school, however, all of the funding preliminary secured in the last session by Rep. Juan Ciscomani was rescinded because it was not approved in the House of Representatives Full-Year Continuing Resolution. The lost funding included $1.9 million for the town of Duncan to repave more than 4,000 feet on Main Street and High Street in Duncan, which have not been adequately repaired in 45 years, and $1.2 million for Graham County to update its water and sewer lines. The funds would have replaced some of the county’s 40-year-old waterlines and allowed the county to utilize treated wastewater from the city of Safford for non-drinking purposes.
According to Pima Superintendent Sean Rickert, ADOT needs to construct roughly 500 feet of road to connect the new school to the highway. He said ADOT advised making the connection between the school property and the highway a town road, and that discussion has continued for the past two years as the groups continue to attempt to secure funding.
To help alleviate traffic in the meantime, while students and others traveling to school can arrive from any direction on E. Center Street, those leaving the school property must turn left only onto E. Center Street and then right (westbound) onto U.S. Highway 70 from E. Center Street. This is intended to help alleviate school congestion, and the Pima Police will be implementing the traffic change.
Thatcher is looking to lower the speed limit to 35 mph through town
Another area that locals will have to get used to having a lower speed limit is the section of Highway 70 in Thatcher between First Avenue and Allred Lane.
During a recent Thatcher Town Council meeting, the council voted to request that ADOT lower the speed limit from 45 mph to 35 mph in the area due to the increase in development. Lowering the speed limit to 35 mph would make it the same along Highway 70 through the town of Thatcher and the city of Safford.
The town council also voted to lower the speed limit on First Avenue from 35 mph to 25 mph, the same as its normal residential streets, despite First Avenue being one of the town’s three main arterial streets.
