Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Those traveling on 1200 South attempting to turn south onto 800 West are turned away by large cement blocks across the roadway. The town of Pima closed down the section of road to through traffic.
Meeting will be shown live on Facebook
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The last half mile of 800 west just north of 1200 South has long been an issue for the town of Pima. Since the town recently decided to close the road down at the intersection, a number of county residents southwest of Pima off Cottonwood Wash Road have issued their concerns.
The topic will be up for discussion at the Pima Town Council’s meeting Tuesday night, starting at 7 p.m. A representative for the county residences will be allowed to speak and a representative for the town of Pima will speak as well. The meeting will be live-streamed on the town’s Facebook page here.
The town decided to close down the intersection to minimize traffic on the half-mile dirt portion of 800 West. The portion used to be paved, but it deteriorated so much that the town removed the asphalt and was maintaining it as a dirt road to the tune of about $20,000 per year, according to Town Manager Sean Lewis.
With the closure, Lewis said he believes the town will be able to reappropriate about $18,000 per year to use on town streets elsewhere while still keeping the dirt road maintained for those who use it to drive from the south to the Vard Lines Memorial Arena and town ballfields. While the intersection at 1200 South is closed, the road all the way up to the ballfields from the north is still open for access. Additionally, the town is currently making gates for the intersection with 1200 South, which will be open for events at the arena and ballfields, including soccer matches.
Lewis said the closure will direct traffic from 1200 South down Main Street, which is made to handle such traffic
“A tremendous amount of traffic was cutting through 400 West and 450 South, right through residential areas,” Lewis said. “And we don’t have the right-of-way on those roads. We have the road and then the sidewalk. By sending people down Main Street we have – in a lot of areas – a 100-foot right-of-way there. And so, there is a bigger buffer. It’s just a safer way to go.”
Lewis said the town hopes to pave the section of the road in the future when it finds a revenue source to do so. He estimated the cost of paving the section to be about $100,000.
“We’re striving to get that paved so it can be open all the time,” Lewis said. “But until we can get a financing source for that this is our option.”
