Ashton Woods to build 600 homes south of Ak-Chin inmaricopa.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inmaricopa.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
InMaricopa
Eastbound traffic on Honeycutt Road passes through the Plainview Street intersection in the inner lane on Wednesday afternoon. The outer lane will be closed for several months for utility work. Photo by Bob McGovern
Commuting eastbound on Honeycutt Road will be more difficult for the next several months as the city on Monday began a construction project that will close the outer lane.
The lane currently is closed along the one-mile stretch from State Route 347 east to Santa Rosa Parkway with electronic signage alerting motorists.
The lane will reopen Fridays-Sundays, and close again Monday mornings for until the project is completed, tentatively expected July 30. Work on the project will progress eastward to Porter Road.
InMaricopa
John and Mary Lou Smith. Photo by Michelle Chance
People are moving to Maricopa every day. But do the newcomers â or the old timers, for that matter â give any thought to the names on our street signs, with the possible exception of John Wayne, of course.
InMaricopa delved into local history to tell you how some of our local roads received their names.
PORTER ROAD
Elton K. Porter farmed in Maricopa in the early 1950s. He and other community volunteers dug a large ditch at Porter Road and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and filled it with water, creating a popular swimming hole for teens in the early 1950s. In 1954, he died of a heart attack while fighting the fire that destroyed Maricopa Elementary School, the townâs 1914 red-brick school. The name of the school was changed to Elton K. Porter Elementary School for the former school board member, but over time returned to its original name.
Transportation Committee approves SR347-Riggs overpass
Traffic backs up at the scene of an accident on northbound State Route 347, just south of Riggs Road, in October 2020. ADOT image
A state House bill appropriating $35 million to construct an overpass at State Route 347 and Riggs Road passed out of the Transportation Committee and was assigned to the Appropriations Committee.
All present members voted in support on Wednesday.
If eventually passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, HB 2068 would move the money from the General Fund to the Arizona Department of Transportation in Fiscal Year 2022. The project would require more funding and multi-governmental cooperation. Its lead sponsor is Rep. Bret Roberts of Maricopa (R-District 11), who sponsored a similar bill in the last session.