Underpass snag delays Queen Creek work

Construction of Queen Creek’s Ellsworth Loop Road is ahead of schedule — except for a railroad underpass, which continues to be delayed, escalating costs.

See a slideshow of the work.

The Ellsworth Loop Road, the largest improvement district in the state, began last October and will route traffic around the heart of downtown Queen Creek on a six-lane road flanked with commercial development.

Most of the roadwork near Rittenhouse Road will be completed by mid-October but town officials will wait to decide if a portion of the road will be opened to traffic then, special transportation director Dick Schaner said. Construction of the railroad underpass has yet to start, he said.

“Although you see pavement done, the streetlight and electrical work has just gotten started,” Schaner said. “The bridge over Queen Creek wash is in the touch-up stage.”

According to the town’s original project schedule, the underpass for Union Pacific Railroad was supposed to be completed by March 2008, but now Schaner said it won’t be completed until June.

“The railroad crews will be back this week, and they’re not supposed to leave before they have the train switched over to the shoofly (a temporary track),” Schaner said. “We’ll start construction for the overpass in mid-September. Then, we won’t have to depend on the railroad until the new bridge is complete.”

Schaner said working with Union Pacific has caused “huge delays,” and because of those they are expecting an extra large bill from the contractor.

“They’ve hinted at large numbers, but until we actually review the bill, we don’t know how much it will cost us,” he said.

The original estimate put the project cost at about $60 million. Since that time, the town has also had to pay $500,000 for work on Ocotillo Road because developers backed out of improvements in the area because of the slowing housing market, Schaner said. The town has also picked up a $1 million tab for relocating Salt River Project power lines.

Edd Hennerley, Queen Creek Unified School District’s transportation director, said the district’s transportation department is largely affected by the Loop Road project. Located north of Ellsworth and Rittenhouse roads, its driveway is often blocked, with vehicle counts on Ellsworth Road reaching 18,000 a day. The district has had to reroute traffic in the transportation parking lot and has sent some buses to an off-site lot to get around some of the traffic issues.

“We are so anxious to get that loop open,” Hennerley said. “We know we have to battle this for this year, and we’re doing what we can to expedite the traffic flow.”

Union Bank, on Ocotillo Road west of Ellsworth, will be relocating to the southern edge of the loop road near Chandler Heights Road. Bank Manager Sandy Schrand said she’s excited to see the growth, both at the bank and in the town.

“You can really start to see the transformation of the town,” Schrand said. “If you go away for the weekend and come back things are really different.”

For information on the project visit www.ellsworthlooproad.com.