By Richard Dyer
Twitter: @RHDyer

A shuttle service, vans, buses and having commuter rail travel through Queen Creek to connect Tucson and Phoenix are some of the ideas Queen Creek Town Council candidates have for transportation needs.

Queen Creek residents Robin Benning, Jeremy Benson, Jeff Brown, Jason Gad and Leah Martineau have filed petitions to run for Town Council.

The seats of three members of council --- Mr. Benning, Mr. Brown and Councilmember Jake Hoffman --- all who were elected in 2016, are up for re-election. Mr. Hoffman is not running as he is seeking office at the Arizona House of Representatives.

The deadline to register to vote in the Aug. 4 primary election is July 6. If needed, the general election will be Nov. 3. Register to vote at Servicearizona.com or request a form from Maricopa County at 602-506-1511 (maricopa.gov) or Pinal County at 520-866-7100 (pinalcountyaz.gov).

For more information, contact the town clerk’s office at 480-358-3211.

Independent Newsmedia reached out to each council candidate seeking answers to a variety of questions, which will be detailed at yourvalley.net/queen-creek-independent in the coming weeks. Below are their answers on how they would rate the state of public transportation in the Town of Queen Creek and what changes they would recommend.

Council candidate Robin Benning

Commuter rail should connect Tucson and Phoenix through Queen Creek, and a van system is needed locally, Mr. Benning, 60, said.

“Public transportation in Queen Creek today is limited to ride-sharing and park-and-ride. The regional public transportation agency is underfunded and unable to serve Queen Creek due to traditional prejudices and the high cost of implementing buses and light rail,” he said.

“Over the next four years, I plan to work tirelessly to grow and expand public transportation opportunities for our residents. I will continue to advocate for commuter rail to connect Tucson and Phoenix through Queen Creek,” he said.

Buses are needed from Queen Creek and San Tan Valley to Gateway Airport, the adjacent educational campus and to a regional mall, Mr. Benning said,

“I will work with our partners in Pinal and Maricopa (counties) to provide bus service from San Tan Valley and Queen Creek to the two regional hubs at Phoenix Mesa Gateway/Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus and at Superstition Springs Mall. And I will work locally to implement a small-scale local circulator van system within Queen Creek to help people get from the neighborhoods to schools, shopping and business centers,” he said.

He is on Twitter @RobinBenningQC and on Facebook @ReelectRobin.

Mr. Benning can be reached at bennarch@msn.com or 602-762-1496.

Council candidate Jeremy Benson

Many of the road improvements needed for transportation in the Town of Queen Creek have been scheduled, Mr. Benson, 37, said.

“Our town leadership has worked hard to manage the dramatic growth conditions that we continue to experience,” he said.

“Clearly, there are road improvements that still need to happen but most of those are scheduled and we are headed in the right direction,” Mr. Benson said.

He owns iFixem Phone Repairs in Queen Creek Marketplace; and Light Your Garage.

Mr. Benson is on Facebook @VoteForBenson and has a website at www.VoteJeremyBenson.com. He can be reached at jbensonpro@gmail.com and 480-619-0600.

Council candidate Jeff Brown

Road networks, improving bicycle travel and working with Valley Metro on services such as buses, shuttles and paratransit services are priorities, Mr. Brown, 53, said.

“As we continue to grow in numbers beyond our current 53K or so population, there will be a greater need for public transportation. As it stands right now, our surveys find that residents prefer their dollars go towards improving the road network for cars/autos --- 75% believe this is where we should continue to spend in the near future; and then bicycle considerations --- 35% of our residents think improving bicycle travel through town is very important,” he said.

“That said, I plan to stay engaged with Valley Metro over the term of office to ensure that QC continues to participate in dialogs related to bus service, local circulators or internal shuttle-type systems, and especially the paratransit services like Dial-a-Ride where I think the greatest need exists in the near future,” Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Brown is self-employed in consultant services --- since 2007.

He is on Twitter @JeffBrownQC, on Facebook @JBQCTownCouncil and has a website at https://www.friendsofjeffbrown.com. He can be reached at jbforqc@gmail.com and 480-442-8127.

Council candidate Jason Gad

Transportation infrastructure has fallen behind the needs of the Town of Queen Creek, Mr. Gad, 46, said.

“(B)ecause of our rapid population growth, the No. 1 development issue our residents have expressed to me is concern how our transportation infrastructure has fallen behind the needs of our community. I believe we must accelerate our focus, our budget prioritization and our Town Council actions to more proactively build, widen and improve our essential arterial roads --- especially north-south focus, but also important east-west connections,” he said.

One change the town should pursue is re-ordering the way it develops road networks, Mr. Gad said.

“In most cases, when a new housing development is coming to Queen Creek, the developer partners with the town on roadway improvement adjacent to their development. However, road improvements away from the development fall solely to the town. In my observation, we tend to be slower making those improvements than are needed for smooth travel for everyone as we add residents,” he said.

Additional funding is needed to hire transportation staff members, he said.

“We have an incredible, professional town staff working on public transportation. However, I recommend we look to expand the number of staff in this department working on these projects, revisit and increase our budget in this area in a fiscally responsible way, and change our transportation development project approach from a ‘build it after they come’ to a proactive ‘build it before they come’ model,” Mr. Gad said.

He works as a strategic supply chain manager in the financial services industry.

Mr. Gad is on Twitter @jason_gad, on Facebook @jasongadqc and has a website at votejasongad.com. He can be reached at jasongadforqc@gmail.com and 623-217-7697.

Council candidate Leah Martineau

Instead of playing catch-up with transportation and roadways, the town needs to get ahead of growth, Ms. Martineau, 38, said.

“Queen Creek’s No. 1 most critical need is additional roadway infrastructure. Getting ahead of the growth curve, as opposed to always playing catch-up, will reduce commute times, improve quality of life and reduce stress for our citizens,” she said.

“I believe the Town Council should consider evaluating a seven-lane model for our major thoroughfares, instead of the five-lane model currently in place; improve the flow of traffic with better stoplight timing; and more aggressively undertake new projects. These three items would have an undeniably positive effect on everyone who calls our town home,” Ms. Martineau said.

She teaches 11th and 12th grade government and economics at East Valley High School. She previously taught preschool, kindergarten and first grade for 13 years combined.

She is on Facebook at Leah Martineau for Town Council and has a website at leahmartineau.com. She can be reached at voteleahmartineau@gmail.com and 480-343-1489.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia, Inc.. USA, since 1987. Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. He also is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows