Clarification helps city agree to operational costs
After further review, the Surprise City Council has agreed to pay for maintenance and operation of a traffic signal at Reems Road and Peoria Avenue.
The City Council passed a resolution Sept. 15 to pay for maintenance and operation of the traffic signal after initially wanting Glendale to pay for part of that cost.
“We just needed more clarification from management,” Councilman Ken Remley said.
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After further review, the Surprise City Council has agreed to pay for maintenance and operation of a traffic signal at Reems Road and Peoria Avenue.
The City Council passed a resolution Sept. 15 to pay for maintenance and operation of the traffic signal after initially wanting Glendale to pay for part of that cost.
“We just needed more clarification from management,” Councilman Ken Remley said.
Some city councilmembers in August had taken issue with footing the whole bill to operate the light because it’s on a corner shared with the city of Glendale and Maricopa County.
Glendale and the county both kicked in a quarter of the $270,805 cost to construct the light, but Surprise is paying for the maintenance cost in exchange for having full control over operating the signal.
Those costs are estimated at about $3,400 a year.
Glendale took the lead in constructing the signal as energy drink manufacturer Red Bull and adult beverage bottler White Claw are building facilities on the southeast corner in their city limits.
Mr. Remley didn’t specify what was clarified, but he did say Red Bull chipped in some money to widen Peoria Avenue east of the Reems intersection.
“In this particular case, the people on the other side, the Red Bull guys sprung for cost for road improvements on our side of the fence,” Mr. Remley said. “That kind of evened things out. Everything ended up fair and square.”
Peoria Avenue makes up nearly a nine-mile southern border of Surprise from Dysart to Perryville Roads.
The agreement with Glendale and the county allows Surprise to maintain control of the signal corridor along Peoria. That gives the city say over when to time the lights to best benefit Surprise residents.
Surprise is also the closest city to fix the lights when there are problems.
Meet Jason Jason Stone joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2019, after a distinguished three decade media career that included stops at the Arizona Republic, iHeart Media/Clear Channel and Beckett Sports Card magazine. He remembers when airports sold newspapers.
Community: He is a big supporter of the Valley's original sports team: The Phoenix Suns.
Education: Northern Arizona University with a BS in broadcast journalism and a minor in sports coaching.
Random Fact: The capital of Nebraska is Lincoln.
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