Pinal County presents draft 2025 five‑year Transportation Improvement and Maintenance Program; 30‑day public comment period set

Pinal County Transportation Planning Supervisor Tara Harmon presented the draft 2025 five‑year Transportation Improvement and Maintenance Program (TEMP) at Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, describing the plan’s funding sources, project scoring and schedule for public comment and board approval.

Harmon said the TEMP is the county’s near‑term transportation guide and that revenues for the plan come primarily from the half‑cent maintenance and improvement fund created by county ballot measures and distributed through the Arizona Department of Revenue and the Pinal County Treasurer. In the presentation Harmon said annual collected revenue has risen in recent years and staff were projecting more than $20 million in county collections by the end of the current fiscal year; as of March staff reported about $16.1 million collected and an average monthly collection near $1.8 million.

Nut graf: The TEMP identifies and prioritizes road construction, reconstruction, major maintenance and safety projects in unincorporated Pinal County and the county’s 10 incorporated cities and towns; staff said the plan balances maintenance of recently paved miles with projects that support traffic flow and economic development.

Harmon summarized the program process: project requests are accepted annually (submissions on or before Sept. 30 are considered for the fifth year), projects are reviewed for eligibility and scored 0–3 across eight categories (examples cited: connectivity, safety improvement, fugitive dust reduction, county maintenance cost reduction), and eligible projects are prioritized by the 10‑member Transportation Advisory Committee. For budget year 2028–29 the committee recommended 30 projects totaling just over $16.3 million; for the current budget cycle staff reported 23 projects in the 2024–25 year totaling about $21 million.

Deputy Public Works Director Celeste Garza added an overview of other funding sources used by Public Works, including highway user revenue funds (the state fuel/vehicle registration share commonly known as HURF) and development impact fees for site‑specific projects. Garza said most HURF funds support operations and the county’s maintenance yards but staff have allocated smaller amounts of those funds as local matches to advance design and environmental work on longer‑range corridors such as State Route 24.

Harmon said staff will publish a press release (stated in the presentation as starting “on Monday, the 20 first”) to announce a 30‑day public comment period; the comment period will continue until May 20, and staff expect to return to the board for final approval at the June 18 regular meeting.

Ending: The board asked clarifying questions about flexibility in the plan, funding sources such as bonds and impact fees, and the Transportation Advisory Committee schedule; staff emphasized the TEMP is a dynamic document that can be amended as funding opportunities or priorities change.