Major northwest Valley corridor gets fast track

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

The city of Peoria has put a fast track on updating the northernmost portion of Lake Pleasant Parkway, from Loop 303 to State Route 74, because of rapid growth and development in the area.

Officials say this section of Lake Pleasant Parkway is the only one that has yet to be widened, with two lanes going in opposite directions, and plans for eventually up to three lanes in each direction.

Most of the land needed to expand this road this owned by the Arizona State Land Department. Because of this and many other factors, officials say there is a critical need to accelerate the design of the road expansion.

To begin this process, the city must create a design concept report, which will outline design, land acquisition and construction of that portion of the road.

To fund this report, city council recently approved $2.2 million from contingency to accelerate the process of designing this portion of Lake Pleasant Parkway. The approval advanced funding from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2024, allowing the city to get started on the design.

City Manager Henry Darwin said Peoria is a growth success story, but at times growth raises complex issues.

“Lake Pleasant Parkway is an example of that and needs to be assessed in terms of increased development and rapid growth in the region,” he said.

This project was initially funded as part of the adopted fiscal year 2025 capital improvement program.

This DCR update has many purposes: define the project scope; evaluate the phasing of the project between Loop 303 and the Central Arizona Project as well as the Central Arizona Project and State Route 74; identify issues, conduct utility coordination, develop and evaluate improvement alternatives; document environmental conditions; evaluate noise and lighting requirements; evaluate drainage impacts; coordinate with other studies being conducted within the area; provide a recommended alternative design; and estimate the improvement costs, as well as an implementation plan.

The accelerated process was needed because the previous DCR is about 14 years old, officials said.

Since then, major changes have occurred and city staff is concerned that stakeholders, such as Arizona State Land Department, Central Arizona Project, and utility companies have changed their standards, according to a report.

Based on general development trends of increased development in north Phoenix and Peoria, the city anticipates rapid growth within the project limits, so in an effort to address a critical need for improved roadway circulation and access along the corridor, Peoria staff requested the advance funding, the report said.

Acting Development and Engineering Director Dan Nissen said the DCR will also address costs to pay for the updated Lake Pleasant Parkway.

He said estimates include $4.7 million for design, $9.4 million for land acquisition and $40.3 million for construction, which is scheduled for fiscal year 2027.

Upon completion of the updated DCR, staff will proceed with the final design, land acquisition and construction phases which will span from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2028.

Nissen said the DCR update will allow the city to “determine the alignment of the roadway and provide recommended design alternatives, update the estimates and provide an implementation plan so we know how we are going to build this project.”

He added that there are a number of stakeholders the city needs to coordinate with because the roadway must comply with what other agencies, such as ADOT and CAP, are doing in the area.

“We are concerned that some of the major stakeholders that will work with us on updating this design study have changed their design standards and requirements,” he said. “Back in 2010 we only anticipated one wastewater and water line. So we want to make sure we get a proper corridor established for city utilities, but also non-city utilities.”

Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.