Queen Creek loop road project sees daylight

Queen Creek’s headaches with Union Pacific Railroad on the Ellsworth Loop Road underpass are a thing of the past, and town officials expect to complete the project in the next 90 days.

Last week the Union Pacific Railroad track alignment was moved from a temporary detour to the newly constructed bridge, and trains are now running across it.

The first train crossed the bridge April 22, but not before town taxpayers footed the bill for more than $639,000 in construction delays caused by the railroad.

The underpass and remainder of the Ellsworth Loop Road project north of Rittenhouse Road will be open to traffic as early as the end of July, said transportation director Dick Schaner.

“This leaves the rest of the work entirely up to the contractor,” Schaner said. “He can set a timeline he can live up to because he’s in control.”

The town’s contractor is completing the remainder of the work, which includes removal of the train’s detour, forming and pouring retaining walls, installing storm drains, water lines, curbs and additional paving.

“There’s close to 90 days worth of real work left out there,” Schaner said.

By the end of the week, drivers could look under the bridge and see light where there was once a large wall of dirt, he said. Schaner said the town is not anticipating any more delays — and definitely not from the railroad because that portion of the work is done.

Queen Creek resident and real estate appraiser George Easton said he’s excited about the loop road progress.

“Any time there’s a road improvement here, it makes me a little more proud of our town,” he said. “This is probably the biggest road improvement in the past three years in Queen Creek because it’s providing multiple lane access to and from the town.”

Easton, who heads up Advantage Appraisals, said the road also is good for Queen Creek’s residential property values.

“There’s a lot of negative press because of accessibility,” he said. “It’s going to definitely be one less negative thing people can complain about — that coupled with the commercial stuff that’s come in.”

In addition to the loop road work in downtown Queen Creek are projects to expand Ellsworth north and south. Work to expand Ellsworth from Queen Creek Road to Germann Road will begin in the next couple of weeks.

Schaner said people also will begin seeing work in the next 30 days to expand Ellsworth south to Cloud Road.

A separate project done jointly with Maricopa County would expand loop road to Empire Road, but funding is not available for that portion of the project yet. Maricopa County does not anticipate having funding for that project until 2012, Schaner said.