PINAL COUNTY, AZ — The Arizona Department of Transportation has proposed a 55-mile route that could someday connect portions of the far southeast Valley in Pinal County to Interstate 10 in southern Arizona.
The proposed "North-South Corridor" would connect the U.S. 60 between Apache Junction and Gold Canyon to Interstate 10, between Eloy and Picacho, passing through Coolidge, Florence, and unincorporated parts of Pinal County along the way.
State Route 24 would also be extended east from Ironwood Drive to the proposed North-South Corridor, according to a study recently published by ADOT.
Currently, no money has been allocated to actually build the proposed corridor so any future potential timeline is unclear, according to an ADOT fact-sheet.
"The purpose of the North-South Corridor study is to enhance the area’s transportation network to accommodate the current and future population and employment growth, improving access to future development and other centers of activity, improving regional mobility, providing an alternative to and reducing congestion on Interstate 10, improving north-to-south connectivity and integrating the region’s transportation network," ADOT said in its impact study.
The published study, officially called the North-South Corridor Study Final Tier 1 EIS, can be viewed online or at libraries in Apache Junction, Coolidge, Eloy, Florence, and Queen Creek.
Immediate future steps include additional environmental and engineering studies and selecting where interchanges, bridges, "and other design features" would need to be.
You can view more information on the proposed corridor here.
