TONTO BASIN, AZ — The Tonto Creek bridge in Gila County is officially open after years of construction and debate.
ABC15 has been covering the flooding issues in the Tonto Creek area in Gila County for years. It is an area prone to the power of Mother Nature during the monsoon and can be deadly if crossed at the wrong time.
The $21-million bridge project began in 2022 and is intended to connect one side of the creek to the other, and hopefully save lives.
When the creek floods, the dirt road crossings in the area can oftentimes become impassable and dangerous.
See previous coverage on the bridge development in the player above.
About half of the residents in the remote community of Tonto Basin live on the east side of the creek, isolated from many services on the west side when the creek floods.
The millions of dollars pumped into the bridge project were from a federal grant that was announced in September 2020.
In January 2020, Governor Doug Ducey called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the bridge project, which was included as a policy priority in the Governor’s State of the State address.
The bridge officially opened on Monday and there will be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 22.
“The Arizona Department of Transportation has been administering the contract for Gila County and done an outstanding job,” says Gila County Engineer Thomas Goodman. “Other than some weather delays and additional environmental mitigation measures back in late 2022 and early 2023, the project has been on schedule and within budget."
Tragedy sparks action
The bridge project has been debated for decades, but only got national attention and action from the government after a tragedy involving children at the creek.
In November 2019, the Rawlings family tried to drive their oversized military-style vehicle through a part of Tonto Creek called Bar X Crossing. It's about five miles south of where the bridge has been built.
Daniel Rawlings pleaded guilty to several counts of manslaughter and child abuse in the deaths of his two children and niece.
His wife, Lacey, also pleaded guilty to child abuse charges in a plea deal.
The two were sentenced to supervised probation.
Gila County Public Works Director Steve Sanders said he believes it was that incident that put the project into motion.
"There had been previous tragedies, drownings out here and stuff, but that's the one that caught the national attention and I think, you know, helped get the funding for the bridge," Sanders said.