County to discuss road maintenance with Florence residents

Florence residents are invited to attend a special open house to discuss road maintenance in Pinal County.

The event will take place from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 2 at the  Viney Jones Library & Community Center,  778 N. Main St.

Pinal County’s Dedrick Denton, transportation planning manager, and Tara Harman senior transportation planner will also be discussing the county’s Road Maintenance and Improvement Fund and how it affects Florence, according to a post on Florence’s Facebook page.

Denton and Harman hold a question-and-answer session after their presentation.

The half-cent road maintenance fund provides revenue for transportation projects throughout the county. Since being renewed in 2003, Florence has received more than $25 million which it has used to fund road maintenance and improvement projects, the post stated.

Some examples of the Florence projects that used the maintenance funds include:

• a five-year, 18-mile chip sealing project in town’s core area
• an asphalt overlay project along Arizona Farms Road that repaired potholes, cracks and other safety concerns.

The county’s half-cent road maintenance fund was originally passed in 1986 and renewed in 2005.

“This local funding is used to preserve and build our roads throughout our region. This fund is the only funding for our Transportation Improvement and Maintenance Program,” the county’s website stated. “TIMP is where Pinal County residents can submit roadway improvement recommendations that go before the Transportation Advisory Committee, which develops five-year transportation plans.”

The dedicated funding is set to expire at the end of 2026.