Money in place for road work by mall
The money is now in place to pay for about $10 million worth of road and utility work around Yuma's new regional outdoor shopping center at the northwest corner of Pacific Avenue and 16th Street, said a city official.
Work should begin Monday near the Pacific Avenue and 12th Street intersection on the northern side of the mall, said Deputy City Administrator Bob Stull.
Stull told The Sun that WDP Partners, the Phoenix firm developing the Yuma Palms Regional Center, wired the city its nearly $3.2 million share for the infrastructure improvements earlier this week.
Then on Thursday, the city was wired nearly $7.3 million from the sale of bonds taken out to pay for the city's share of the off-site road work and utility improvements, Stull explained.
He said that before the actual road is built, the city will start by digging and placing new sewer lines along the road contours.
Yuma Palms is scheduled to have its grand opening on Nov. 11, although some stores at the 128-acre site have said they will open about a month earlier.
As far as the actual road work goes, city officials have said they will try to get the work on 16th Street done during the summertime, when traffic is lighter.
John Curts, the city's assistant director for economic development, says the Arizona Department of Transportation is requiring that two lanes in either direction on 16th Street be kept open during construction.
A new 10-lane intersection on 16th Street at Sunridge Drive will be built as the main entrance to the mall, Curts said.
The 10 lanes include two left-turn lanes as drivers head east on 16th Street, one right-turn lane as drivers head west on 16th Street and three regular lanes heading east and three heading west, plus a right-turn lane heading east to serve Sunridge Drive, Curts explained.
The current Castle Dome Avenue will be rerouted through the front of the shopping center to Yuma Palms Parkway, the main entrance to the shopping center, which will intersect 16th Street opposite Sunridge Drive.
