The project to improve the Grand Avenue and Indian School Road intersection is moving into the final design and right-of-way acquisition process.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has released the final Environmental Assessment and Design Concept Report, which stated the project poses “no significant impact.”

Project plans include raising 35th Avenue to create an elevated intersection with Indian School Road above Grand Avenue and the BNSF Railway tracks to improve traffic flow and safety, ADOT officials stated in a release.

“This will allow Grand Avenue traffic to flow freely at this location without any cross traffic and eliminate 35th Avenue and Indian School Road traffic crossings with the railroad,” they said.

ADOT will design and build the project in coordination with the city of Phoenix and the Maricopa Association of Governments, the metropolitan planning organization for the greater Phoenix region.

The project is identified in MAG’s Regional Transportation Plan and is funded in part by Proposition 400, a half-cent sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. 

For more: azdot.gov/Grand-35.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.