Photo courtesy of Jeff Gardner/Inside Tucson Business
Inside Tucson Business wrote an in-depth feature on the Southern Arizona road projects on tap in 2019. The article covered Marana, as well as the City of Tucson, Oro Valley, Pima County, and state highways.
From the section on the Town of Marana:
Marana: Ina Road rebirth tops 2019 projects
The Town of Marana will be celebrating the completion of the Ina Road/Interstate 10 interchange this spring, along with a makeover of Ina Road itself.
Mo El-Ali, who serves as the director of Marana’s Public Works Department, highlighted some of the biggest improvements on the horizon in 2019.
Topping the list for El-Ali is the series of improvements made along Ina Road, including the new bridge that spans the lanes of I-10, as well as the Union Pacific tracks next to the roadway.
There’s also the bridge built by the consortium of the Arizona Department of Transportation, his department and the Regional Transit Authority.
The Town of Marana budgeted $6.9 million to the Santa Cruz bridge development in the 2019 fiscal year, along with $4.3 million for the Ina Road re-pavement project that runs from Ulene Place and the Cañada del Oro Wash.
For El-Ali, the Ina Road project, as well as the $307,000 re-pavement project along Avra Valley Road from Sanders Road to the town’s western limits and the $3.9 million sidewalk addition from Coachline Boulevard Twin Peaks Road are the most important efforts for residents.
“Good roads are critical to Marana’s economy and it has a variety of infrastructure needs,” El-Ali said. “It’s going to be safe, and safe roads connect people to work, to schools, doctors’ offices, grocery stores, places that are vital to everyone’s well-being. So, they’re essential.”
El-Ali’s department is tasked with maintaining and improving the 520 lane miles of road in the Pima County town.
The Town of Marana repaved 66 lane miles of road in 2018, according to El-Ali, comprising 13 percent of the town’s total roadway.
Residents can expect further improvements, in the form of repaving and adding ADA-compliant ramps along Gladden Farms Road (2020) and a new four-way intersection with stop lights at Arizona Pavilion and the Walmart parking lot entrance.
Read the full story on the Inside Tucson Business website.
