ADOT offers a roundabout solution for Florence highway intersection
by Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune
The state’s preferred alternative to the cumbersome intersection of state routes 287 and 79B is a two-lane roundabout near Burger King and a one-lane roundabout at Florence Heights Drive and State Route 79B, about 260 feet south of the existing intersection of those two roads. The Town Council voted 5-2 Monday to pay the town’s share of $42,750 for design and other costs. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) will also ask the town to pay a share for construction, expected to occur in 2022. ADOT illustration
After studying four main alternatives for improving the cumbersome intersection of state routes 287 and 79B in the southern town limits, state highway engineers have settled on two roundabouts, with construction expected in 2022, the Town Council was told Monday.
The council approved a payment of $42,750 as the town’s share of the cost for design, right-of-way acquisition and an environmental study of the new intersections. The plan calls for a two-lane roundabout near Burger King and a one-lane roundabout at Florence Heights Drive and State Route 79B, about 260 feet south of the existing intersection of those two roads.
Plans to replace the awkward intersection of 287 and 79B with a roundabout have been many years in the making. Town Manager Brent Billingsley told the council he was involved in it more than 20 years ago when he worked for Pinal County.
