Monthly Archives: January 2016

Queen Creek Tunnel lighting project starting on US 60 east of Superior

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The Arizona Department of Transportation will be starting a new lighting project beginning Monday, Jan. 25, to replace the existing lighting system in Queen Creek Tunnel. The tunnel is located on US 60 at milepost 228 just east of Superior.

The $3 million project, which is scheduled for completion by the end of July 2016, will include:

  • Removing the interior lighting and installing a LED lighting system
  • Replacing the exterior lighting at both ends of the tunnel
  • Retrofitting the current electrical control building
  • Cleaning the tunnel walls and ceiling

The removal and installation of the lighting in the tunnel will require lane closures during different phases of the work. Crews will be removing the old lighting system from both sides of the tunnel and installing the new lighting system down the center of the ceiling in the tunnel. During these times, different lanes within the tunnel will need to be closed for crews to work safely in those areas.

The speed limit will be reduced, barricades and barrier wall will be installed and lanes will be narrowed. Officers will be present during these restrictions to strictly enforce all traffic laws. Due to the limited work area within the tunnel it is imperative all motorists obey the traffic control changes for the workers’ safety.

Work hours will be Monday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Toward the end of the project US 60 will be closed in both directions for crews to clean the tunnel walls and ceiling. Those times and dates will be advertised when they get closer.

Drivers are asked to use caution, expect lane closures, watch for construction equipment and personnel, and allow extra time for your commute.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur.

ADEQ Recognizes Town of Springerville Leadership in Proactive Environmental Protection Programs

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SPRINGERVILLE — Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) officials announced today that the Town of Springerville in Apache County is the third municipality in the state to complete a Small Community Environmental Protection Plan (SCEPP).

With a SCEPP in place, Springville is now better positioned to contribute to a cleaner, natural environment and more livable community. The Town also is eligible for up to a 100 percent penalty reduction for future environmental violations.

Steve West, Springerville Town Manager said, “Participation in the ADEQ Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance Program exemplifies the Town of Springerville’s commitment to continual improvement and environmentally stewardship for the benefit of those we serve.”

A SCEPP is a component of the ADEQ Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance Program (SCECAP). Small cities, towns and special water and wastewater districts often lack resources and staff to address their environmental concerns. This program helps them comply with state and federal environmental laws and reduce the number of violations and enforcement actions.

“We are committed to helping small communities in the state affordably protect their public health and air, land and water resources,” said ADEQ Director Misael Cabrera. “We congratulate the Town of Springerville for being a leader in the effort to build environmental cooperation and hope other small towns and wastewater and water districts join the program,” Director Cabrera added.

With completion of this milestone, the Town of Springerville also applied for recognition under Arizona’s Voluntary Environmental Stewardship Program (VESP). ADEQ accepted the Town into the VESP at the Silver Level for its superior compliance history demonstrated by at least three years without environmental enforcement action.

The Silver Level recognizes organizations going above and beyond what is legally required to prevent pollution and conserve natural resources. The Town of Springerville has an ongoing commitment to protect air quality through its Branch Cleanup Project, which reduces smoke in residential neighborhoods. Town officials are measuring program participation, working to increase each year.

ADEQ will present the Town with Certificates of Recognition for both proactive, voluntary environmental protection programs at the Jan. 20, Springerville Town Council meeting.

Bearizona remains open

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ZBearizona160113-01WILLIAMS — For over five-years Bearizona has entertained thousands of kids and adults. We visited the very first year when they allowed residents in free for a period of time. It was impressive, but not spectacular.
Bearizona16-01-13-15
Over the years we have watched Bearizona grow. They have built an expansive gift shop with a fantastic diorama and separate room for close up introduction to animals and other activities. For Christmas, this year, they introduced the Wild Wonderland. This amazing light and music display I found as impressive as the Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo. We got to see both.
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This year—despite the most snow Williams has seen in some time—Bearizona even managed to stay open to the public. The snow even makes the animal displays more impressive just like the snow did for the Wild Wonderland display.

During the summer the animals tend to sleep during the heat of the day. With the cold weather, they are more active throughout the day. Especially the wolves and the bears. The same for the animals in the walk-through area. The otters are out and the bear cubs are playing in the snow.
Winter-Bearizona16-01-13-010b800-160113-09b800-160113-11b800-160113-13
If you plan to come to Williams, you should plan to visit Bearizona and the Grand Canyon Deer Farm petting zoo. For about the same price as the entrance to the Grand Canyon, you can get up close and personal with various animals of north America. If you are on a planned tour to Williams, you should urge the driver to visit these Williams attractions.

Fredonia, Kanab Elementary Schools receive grant for fourth graders

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FREDONIA — Fredonia Elementary School and Kanab Elementary School are each one of 186 sites recently selected to receive a field trip grant from the National Park Foundation for the 2015-2016 school year in support of the White House youth initiative Every Kid in a Park.

As the official charity of America’s national parks, the foundation officially made the announcement in December. A full list of grantees and their projects may be found at http://www.nationalparks.org/ook/every-kid-in-a-park. Leading up to this year’s 100th birthday of the National Park Service (NPS), President Obama announced the Every Kid in a Park initiative in 2015 as a call to action to get fourth graders outdoors spending time with nature, family and friends.

Specific to fourth graders, the Forest Service and other land and resource management agencies already have conservation education programs in place to connect 9-to-11 year-old children to learn about landscapes surrounding their homes and schools. Every Kid in a Park aligns well with these education programs.

Shortly after the program’s announcement in September, representatives from the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest, Bureau of Land Management Kanab Field Office, Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, and the National Park Service’s Pipe Spring National Monument partnered together to visit fourth graders at schools in Fredonia, Ariz., Colorado City, Ariz., Centennial Park, Ariz., Hildale, Utah, and Kanab, Utah, in order to generate support for the program.

During these visits, each fourth grade student was given a one-year Every Kid in a Park pass, providing the student and anyone accompanying them in the vehicle with free entry to hundreds of parks, forests and sites across the country. In addition to the Every Kid in a Park pass, the National Park Foundation awarded grants to both schools in December. Grant funding will provide field trip opportunities for each fourth grade class to participate in three field trips during the 2015-2016 school year; one each hosted by the North Kaibab Ranger District, Bureau of Land Management Kanab Field Office, and Pipe Spring National Monument. The funding will be used to provide schools with funding for transportation, learning materials and meals.

“We are excited to have this opportunity available to our fourth graders here in Kanab and Fredonia,” said Wildlife Biologist Lisa Church, Bureau of Land Management, Kanab Field Office. “Anytime we can motivate students and teachers to get outside and enjoy nature, it helps the children better understand how they can care for and protect the natural treasures that we have right here in our own backyards for future generations to also someday appreciate.”

Church assisted with the grant application process, resulting in $3,700 being awarded to the Kanab fourth-grade class and $9,000 to the Fredonia fourth-grade class.

“The Every Kid in a Park program has been a great benefit for our students, especially when you consider our location,” said Fredonia Elementary School Principal Joe B. Wright. “Being surrounded by multiple parks and forests, this program provides even greater accessibility for our 4th graders and their families. We sincerely appreciate the federal employees who have spent time working cooperatively with Fredonia Elementary School. Our students are very excited about the grant funded field trips that will be coming up in the next few months.”

National Park Foundation grants have made it possible for more than 400,000 students (including this year’s grantees) to visit national parks and other public lands and waters.

“It is inspiring to see the National Park Foundation and many other partners step up to support our goal of getting fourth graders and their families into parks, public lands and waters that belong to all Americans,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “These generous grants will ensure children across the country have an opportunity to experience the great outdoors in their community while developing a lifelong connection to our nation’s land, water and wildlife.”

US 60 east of Superior to close briefly for blasting operations Jan. 19 and 21

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Motorists traveling along US 60 between Phoenix and Globe next week need to plan ahead or allow extra time as the Arizona Department of Transportation continues blasting work as part of an improvement project to build a new passing lane and widen roadway shoulders east of Superior, approximately 65 miles east of downtown Phoenix.

The construction of the two-mile-long climbing lane from Devil’s Canyon to Oak Flat (mileposts 231-233) will require four full closures of US 60 for up to 90 minutes:

>> Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and again from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
>> Thursday, Jan. 21, at 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and again from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Traffic on eastbound US 60 will be stopped east of Superior (milepost 227) and traffic on westbound US 60 will be stopped at the Top of the World, west of Miami (milepost 235), until the blasting work is completed and the roadway is reopened after all debris is cleared. Law enforcement officers will be stationed at each closure to assist with traffic control.

Approximately 30 minutes prior to each blast, motorists should be prepared for possible delays and lane closures as crews set concrete barrier prior to each scheduled closure.

Motorists seeking an alternate route can consider state routes 77 and 177, which is approximately 68 miles long. Motorists headed to the White Mountains region, including Show Low and Springerville, can also take State Route 87 through Payson and travel east on State Route 260 as an alternative.

ADOT will work to minimize the traffic impacts as much as possible, including scheduling some nighttime work.

There will be narrow traffic lanes, wide-load restrictions and a reduced speed limit through the work zone. Flaggers and pilot cars will be used at different times throughout the project.

Drivers are asked to use caution, watch for construction equipment and personnel, and allow extra time for your commute.

Contractor selected for project to relieve congestion at US 60 and Bell Road

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PHOENIX — With a contractor selected, the Arizona Department of Transportation is moving forward with a $41.9 million project to relieve traffic congestion at US 60/Grand Avenue and Bell Road in Surprise.

On Friday, the Arizona State Transportation Board approved Coffman Specialties Inc.’s proposal to design and build a Bell Road bridge, creating an interchange that will allow continuous traffic flow on Grand Avenue. The project is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan.

Construction on Grand Avenue is scheduled to begin in late January and will continue through March. In April, Bell Road will be closed at Grand Avenue for six to eight months to accommodate construction of a bridge over Grand and the adjacent BNSF Railway tracks.

“A condensed schedule not only avoids having construction continue through the holiday shopping season and next year’s spring training but provides for the safety of workers and motorists,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s state engineer and deputy director for transportation.

Grand Avenue will remain open during the project.

ADOT and Coffman Specialties will continue working with local leaders to minimize impacts by conducting business outreach, communicating with residents and implementing a comprehensive access plan that includes signage to assist motorists and businesses.

“This project is so very important to the city of Surprise, as it will provide much-needed traffic relief at the county’s third-busiest intersection and enhance the aesthetics at a signature gateway into our beautiful city,” City Manager Bob Wingenroth said. “I applaud our partners at ADOT in working in concert with city staff to ensure a construction plan that protects local business access throughout the work, and I encourage people to continue to support these businesses during the condensed construction schedule.”

Women in Wildland Fire boot camp opening soon

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The USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region is seeking a small group of career focused women to be on-call Wildland Fire Fighters for the 2016 fire season. These on-call positions will provide support to wildland fire operations over the summer when needed and can help pave the way for future employment and career advancement inside of the Forest Service.

If you are selected for this opportunity, your first assignment will be a Women in Fire Boot Camp. The Boot Camp will provide comprehensive, formal physical wildland fire training and orientation. Upon successfully completing this training each person will receive a Wildland Fire Fighter certification and protective gear.

If you or someone you know may be interested in this opportunity, please carefully review the attached documents for additional information and instructions. The application deadline is Feb. 5, 2016.

The Arizona contact for the Women in Wildland Fire Boot Camp is:

Cory Ball
(928) 477-5024
cjball@fs.fed.us

ADOT projects invest in US 60 corridor east of the Phoenix area

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PHOENIX — Several projects that are underway or planned during 2016 will significantly upgrade US 60 from Superior to Globe.

In all, the Arizona Department of Transportation has committed nearly $50 million to projects in the corridor, including the addition of a passing lane and wider shoulders as the highway climbs east from Superior, five miles of new divided highway, rockfall mitigation, bridge work and drainage improvements.

As progress continues, including an upcoming project to replace lighting in the Queen Creek Tunnel, motorists traveling between Superior and Globe should plan ahead and be prepared for intermittent closures.

Two improvement projects are currently underway, and a third will start later this month:

A project started in August 2015 is adding a two-mile westbound passing lane between mileposts 231 and 233, widening the shoulder in Devil’s Canyon (mileposts 233-234), improving a bridge at Waterfall Canyon (milepost 229) and making drainage improvements west of Miami (milepost 242). Blasting operations for this project have required occasional closures, usually lasting up to 90 minutes, and these are expected to be needed through the end of April with crews more than halfway through excavating 108,000 cubic yards of earth.

ADOT is widening five miles of US 60 just west of and through Superior, a project that when completed in 2017 will convert the last two-lane stretch between Phoenix and Superior to four-lane divided highway. This work will require some traffic restrictions later this year.

This month, ADOT will add LED lighting to improve visibility in the quarter-mile-long Queen Creek Tunnel, which was built in 1952, as well as new conduit and wiring.

In 2015, ADOT completed a rockfall-mitigation project along mileposts 228-229, where crews removed loose boulders along a rocky and steep section of highway adjacent to the Queen Creek Tunnel.

Visitor center hosts “Kaibab National Forest, A Historic Snap Shot” display

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WILLIAMS — The Williams Visitor Center is hosting a showing of historical images, maps and documents of the Kaibab National Forest from the late 1880s to 1960 as part of the “Kaibab National Forest, A Historic Snap Shot” visual display, which will be available for public viewing through this summer.

This photo and map display represents the historic evolution of public land from the early Grand Canyon Forest Reserve to the Grand Canyon Monument, the Tusayan National Forest, and then eventually the Kaibab National Forest. The photos, which were taken on both sides of the Grand Canyon, are a representative sample of historic activities and places on the national forest. The maps show a stark contrast in boundaries from the early forest reserve to the 1949 version of the Kaibab National Forest. Display visitors will also note additional changes in forest boundaries even after 1949.

“The historic development of the Kaibab National Forest has played a significant role in the overall history of the City of Williams and our surrounding communities. But few have looked at local history from the perspective of the Forest Service,” said Margaret Hangan, heritage program manager for the Kaibab National Forest. “Therefore, the emphasis of this display is to show how the identity and function of the Kaibab National Forest have shaped our region using the forest’s own historic photos and maps to tell the story.”

In 2009, the Kaibab National Forest and Williams Public Library formed a partnership to preserve historic images and documents of the City of Williams and the surrounding area. To date there are more than 2,464 photos, documents and oral histories in the collection, and new collections are always being identified. The collection boasts items representing iconic places and themes such as “the Mother Road” Route 66, cattle and sheep ranching, logging and the timber industry, railroads and more. In 2012, 127 of the collection’s images were posted online as part of the Arizona Memory Project.

The collection, which is entirely digital, is stored on a computer dedicated to the project at the Williams library and is made available to the public free of charge. The purpose of the project is to preserve these precious treasures of the past and to make them available to the public for historic research. Hangan and Williams Public Library director Andrea Dunn have led the multi-year effort to create what is now an indispensable resource for learning about the history of the local area.

The Williams Visitor Center is located at 200 W. Railroad Ave. in Williams.

Safety improvement project begins next week on SR 169

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PRESCOTT — The Arizona Department of Transportation will begin a safety improvement project on State Route 169 next week that includes new turn lanes at Cherry Creek Road (milepost 9.3) and Orme Road (milepost 4.5).

Drivers can expect delays of up to 15 minutes on Monday (Jan. 18) and Tuesday(Jan. 19) between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. near the Cherry Creek intersections as crews set up traffic control and place concrete barrier to provide a safe work zone.

Work hours are from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Once the traffic control and barrier are in place, drivers will have minimal impacts during construction.

ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down, and be alert for construction equipment and personnel. The speed limit through the work zone will be 45 mph until the project is complete.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up-to-date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit the ADOT Traveler Information Center at www.az511.gov or call 5-1-1.

This $1.6 million safety improvement project includes widening the existing roadway to provide new turn lanes, drainage improvements, signing and new striping.

For more information about this project, please call Tricia Lewis at 928-606-2420 or email tlewis@azdot.gov.