Tag Archives: Paulden

Kaibab National Forest considers new fiber optic line to support rural communities

Posted on by

ASH FORK/PAULDEN — The Kaibab National Forest (KNF) is considering authorization of a new fiber optic line between Paulden and Ash Fork, Arizona. Arcadian Infracom 1, LLC has proposed the installation of a high-capacity fiber optic line to create new connectivity for Tribal and rural communities to major metropolitan areas, providing these communities with access to sufficient bandwidth to enable data intensive applications which will benefit public education, healthcare, and economic development.

The southern terminus of the fiber optic line would be located near Paulden and follow the east side of the Arizona Department of Transportation right-of-way for Highway 89 to the vicinity of the Ash Fork. Approximately 50,579 feet (9.58 miles) of the project is proposed to run through the Kaibab National Forest in the Williams Ranger District. The remainder of the line would be on the Prescott National Forest, as well as small sections of state and private lands. The total disturbance on the Kaibab National Forest would be a temporary right-of-way of 17.4 acres (15’ wide x 9.58 miles) for construction, with a permanent right-of-way totaling 11.6 acres (10’ wide x 9.58 miles).

Additional information about the project, including a map, can be found at http://bit.ly/PauldenAshforkFiberOpticPA.

Acting District Ranger Andy Kelher invites public comment about the proposed fiber optic line, and is considering use of this categorical exclusion to authorize the project on the national forest: Additional construction or reconstruction of existing telephone or utility lines in a designated corridor (36 CFR 220.6(e)(2)). If interested, please submit your written comments by June 9, 2021, by email to comments-southwestern-kaibab@usda.gov, mail to 800 South 6th Street, Williams, AZ 86046, or fax to 928-635-8208. For questions, contact Andy Kelher at andrew.kelher@usda.gov or 928-635-8230.

ADOT hosting public meetings about transportation study on SR 89 between Chino Valley and Paulden

Posted on by

The Arizona Department of Transportation is studying a 13-mile segment of State Route 89, between Road 3 North in Chino Valley and two miles north of Bramble Drive in Paulden. The purpose of this long-range planning study is to identify future roadway improvements as funding becomes available.

ADOT needs your input, and for your convenience the following public meetings have been scheduled:

  • Paulden Area Community Organization (PACO) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, at the Paulden Christian Fellowship Church, 165 Aspen Road, Paulden
  • Chino Valley Town Council Meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 10, at council chambers, 202 N. State Route 89, Chino Valley
  • Yavapai County Board of Supervisors Meeting at 9 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1015 Fair St., Prescott
  • Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization (CYMPO) Board Meeting, 4 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 1015 Fair St., Prescott

(Note:  The same information will be covered at each meeting.)

Pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ADOT does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability. Persons who require a reasonable accommodation based on language or disability should contact Tricia Lewis at 928.606.2420 or email tlewis@azdot.gov.  Requests should be made as early as possible to ensure the state has an opportunity to address the accommodation. 

De acuerdo con el título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964 y la Ley de Estadounidenses con Discapacidades (ADA por sus siglas en inglés), el Departamento de Transporte de Arizona (ADOT por sus siglas en inglés) no discrimina por raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, género o discapacidad. Personas que requieren asistencia (dentro de lo razonable) ya sea por el idioma o por discapacidad deben ponerse en contacto con Tricia Lewis al 928.606.2420 o por correo electrónico al TLewis@azdot.gov. Las solicitudes deben hacerse lo más pronto posible para asegurar que el equipo encargado del proyecto tenga la oportunidad de hacer los arreglos necesarios. 

For more information about this study, please call Tricia Lewis, Senior Community Relations Officer, at 928.606.2420 or email tlewis@azdot.gov.

Bridge work scheduled on SR 89 at Hell Canyon next week

Posted on by

Drivers traveling on State Route 89 at Hell Canyon Bridge (milepost 345) starting tomorrow (March 3) should expect intermittent delays of up to 30 minutes at a time as crews begin placing girders on the new bridge over Hell Canyon. Traffic will be stopped in both directions approaching the project.

Impacts for up to 30 minutes at a time are expected between 10 and 11 a.m. and again from noon and 1 p.m. The installation of the girders will be done by very large cranes, positioned in the bottom of the canyon, that need to be flown over the existing bridge causing the temporary closures.

In addition to the delays tomorrow, crews will again place girders next week, Tuesday through Friday (March 8 through 11) between 10 and 11 a.m. and again from noon to 1 p.m.

ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zones with caution, slow down, and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

Night work scheduled tonight on the Hell Canyon bridge replacement on SR 89

Posted on by

CHINO VALLEY/PAULDEN — Crews will shift traffic on State Route 89 to a new temporary detour parallel to the existing highway tonight, Dec. 3, approximately 18 miles north of Chino Valley as part of the bridge replacement project.

Work hours will be from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and drivers will be restricted to one lane and guided through the work zone with flaggers. Delays of up to 10 minutes are possible.

This $14.4 million bridge replacement project began in mid-July and is expected to be completed in late 2016.

Night work scheduled tonight on the Hell Canyon bridge replacement on SR 89

Posted on by

CHINO VALLEY/PAULDEN — Crews will place temporary concrete barrier on the existing bridge at Hell Canyon on State Route 89, approximately 18 miles north of Chino Valley tonight, Sept. 15 as part of the bridge replacement project.

Work hours will be from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. and drivers will be restricted to one lane and guided through the work zone with flaggers. Delays of up to 10 minutes are possible.

Blasting work for access roads is now complete. Crews are moving into the second phase of the project, which includes constructing the new Hell Canyon Bridge to the east of the existing bridge, switching traffic to the new bridge, and finally dismantling and removing the existing bridge.

This $14.4 million bridge replacement project began in mid-July and is expected to be completed in late 2016.

Hell Canyon bridge replacement to begin this month north of Paulden

Posted on by

hell canyonPAULDEN — While the Arizona Department of Transportation completed interim repairs to the Hell Canyon Bridge in 2013, the agency moved forward with plans to design a new bridge along State Route 89 in Yavapai County that would ultimately replace the aging and narrow bridge that does not meet today’s design standards. Two years later, ADOT will start construction on Tuesday, July 14 on a modernized bridge that will replace the current bridge when completed.

The existing nearly 600-foot-long bridge, which was built in 1954, is located 18 miles north of Chino Valley at milepost 346 and serves as a key connection linking Prescott and northern Arizona (Interstate 40 in Ash Fork).

The $14.4 million improvement project will include constructing a new four-span steel-plate girder bridge to the east of the existing bridge and removing the existing three-span steel deck truss bridge, which has been classified as structurally deficient by bridge inspectors. The current bridge is safe; however, some needed repairs or improvements have been identified during bridge inspections.

The new 665-foot-long two-lane bridge will feature wider travel lanes and will be approximately 47 feet wide, more than 17 feet wider than the current bridge. The bridge will also accommodate heavier loads, ensuring commercial trucks can conveniently carry goods and produce to their final destinations, particularly when I-40 traffic is diverted onto SR 89 during serious crashes.

There will be limited traffic impacts to motorists during construction because traffic will remain on the existing bridge, while work progresses on constructing the new bridge east of the current bridge.

The first phase of the project, which is expected to take up to 12 months to complete, will include construction of the new bridge as well as temporary access roads along the north and south sides of the canyon to assist with bridge construction and removal.

Daytime blasting operations, which will begin at 9 a.m. July 14, will be required for the construction of the access roads and intermittent closures will be necessary during that time. Delays of up to 20 minutes are possible until blasting operations are completed by the end of next month. ADOT will send advance notice to the public when any closure dates are finalized.

After the new bridge is completed, traffic will be switched to the new bridge. The existing Hell Canyon Bridge will then be dismantled and removed, which is expected to take up to three months. Additional road construction/realignment will be necessary to the north and south of the new bridge.

Unmasking Liberalism on the Arizona Range

Posted on by
The Drake Exclosure --- The American Thinker

The Drake Exclosure — The American Thinker

When I bring environmentalists here and ask them what they would do to remedy this apparent failure of one of their most basic principles, invariably, they say they would continue to protect the area even though that policy has failed for 66+ years.

By Dan Dagget
May 18, 2013

Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned about liberalism I’ve learned from an unexpected source — nature. Some of the clearest and most instructive of those lessons have come from a U. S. Forest Service “study area” in the central Arizona high desert.

In 1946, the U. S. Forest Service erected a fence around a portion of an area exhausted by human overuse and misuse in this arid rangeland to demonstrate one of the core principles of modern liberal environmentalism — that the best way to restore damaged land to ecological health is to protect it from the impacts of humans. Today, the Drake Exclosure (The Drake) (PDF) has been under the beneficent care of nature alone for more than 66 years, but…

Rather than the revived Eden one would expect to find after 66 years of environmental protection, much of the Drake, today, is as bare as a well-used parking lot.

“Actually, it looks pretty much the same as it did back in 1946,” said a Forest Service scientist studying the area, “but the trees were smaller.”

Read more at the American Thinker