Mesa to pay half of $22M flood project on Pecos Road

Mesa approved entering into an agreement with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County to split the $22 million cost of construction of basins and storm drain improvements on Pecos Road.

At its Monday meeting, Mesa Town Council unanimously voted to approve the intergovernmental agreement with the flood district. The agreement was on the council’s consent agenda in which all items are handled through one motion and vote. No councilor or member of the public commented on the agreement.

The agreement covers the construction, construction management, operation and maintenance of the Pecos Road Basins and Storm Drain Improvements Project.

“The Pecos Road corridor between Meridian and Ellsworth roads has a long history of experiencing damaging floods due to its location, which functions as a regional concentration point for sheet flow and small wash flooding,” according to a council staff report.

The project's cost is not to exceed $22 million, with the town paying up to $11 million of the costs.

“These regional drainage improvements will shift runoff from current flow paths, which are a patchwork of private conveyance facilities and undeveloped parcels, to an engineered system with capacity to convey the 10-year event, at a minimum,” the report continued. “This will increase roadway access during rain events and expand flood protection for existing developments.”

The project is funded by local streets sales tax.

In 2015, the flood control district commissioned the development of a concept for a proposed system to capture water flows near the Meridian Road alignment and ultimately discharged at the Ellsworth Channel at Ellsworth Road.

Since 2015, “improvements in the watershed have altered drainage conditions in the Pecos Road corridor,” the report stated.

“These include upstream roadways and developments, primarily along the new State Route 24 freeway and Meridian Road between Ocotillo Road and the SR24 interchange,” the report stated.

The agreement originally was on the council’s Oct. 26 meeting agenda, but the item was pulled as talks on the cost of the project continued.

In the original agreement, the total cost of the project would not exceed $17.8 million, and the town’s share would be up to up to $8.9 million.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.