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La Paz County wins $1.6 million ADOT engineering grant; seeks alternatives after FLAP rejection
Summary
Supervisors announced an ADOT SMART grant of $1,600,000 to fund engineering on Vicksburg Road and said the county will pursue other funding sources after a FLAP grant application for Oxbow Bridge was not selected.
La Paz County supervisors announced April 20 that the Arizona Department of Transportation approved a $1,600,000 SMART grant to pay for engineering work on Vicksburg Road.
Supervisor Puckett told the board the grant covers the engineering phase: “We did get approved for a smart grant through ADOT for $1,600,000 to do the engineering on Vicksburg Road,” and said the award is a significant step because engineering alone is a large portion of road project costs.
The funding news came amid other infrastructure updates. Supervisor Irwin said the county applied for a Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant for the Oxbow Bridge but was not selected from a competitive pool of 16 applicants. “Our project was not selected for that funding,” she said, adding that transportation staff told her traffic volume was a key factor in selection. Irwin said she will pursue four or five alternative funding sources suggested by FLAP program representatives.
Puckett also briefed the board on economic development planning tied to federal opportunity zones. He said La Paz County has five census tracts that qualify but will be able to designate only one opportunity zone; the board is expected to take up the selection at its next regular meeting.
The board did not take additional formal action on the Vicksburg Road engineering work at this meeting. County staff said they are assembling budgets and next steps for the engineering phase and will present details at an upcoming work session.
What's next: the board has scheduled a work session to review the draft budget and related project plans; staff will report back with more specifics on timelines and funding sources for the Vicksburg Road project and on alternatives to pursue for Oxbow Bridge funding.
