Open house to discuss possible Yuma Expressway

City officials have long recognized the need in the future for a loop expressway around Yuma to move traffic from one side of the city to the other, bypassing increasingly clogged streets.

Currently, the Arizona Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the city, is working on a study to assess the feasibility of a proposed corridor alignment along the southwestern portions of the city.

The Yuma Expressway Study will evaluate the need to provide a southwest Yuma link to Interstate 8 and State Route 195. The study will also identify a proposed location for this roadway corridor alignment. The study area includes a two-mile corridor between County 14th Street to the south, Avenue D to the west, I-8 to the north and SR 195 to the east.

As part of the process, public input is being sought during an open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Yuma County Development Services Building in the Aldrich Auditorium at 2351 W. 26th St.

Public input is very important to the success of this study, say officials, inviting Yuma County residents to participate in the open house.

During the meeting, a brief presentation will be provided about the study. Various maps and project information boards will be on display and representatives from the project team will be available to collect comments and answer questions.

No funding for this proposed project has been identified at this time. In order for it to move forward, the project would need to be added to ADOT's Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program, which serves as a blueprint for future projects and designates how much local, state and federal funding is allocated for those projects.

A potential project goes through several levels of review to become part of the Tentative Five-Year Program before the program is presented to the State Transportation Board for consideration and approval.

For more information about the study, visit www.azdot.gov/yumaexpressway or contact Gabriella Kemp, ADOT Yuma District spokeswoman, at 317-2165 or gkemp@azdot.gov.

Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853. Find her on Twitter at @YSJoyceLobeck.