Just before adjourning for the summer the Fountain Hills Town Council approved a plan for street improvements for the coming year.
There are 19 streets included in the program covering approximately 10 lane miles with an estimated cost of approximately $5 million. The council chose a program recommended by Roadway Asset Services (RAS), the consulting firm that has been involved in evaluating Fountain Hills streets for several years. There was one addition to the proposed program. The council added the section of El Lago Boulevard between Panorama Drive and Saguaro Boulevard. This is the section that runs along the south side of Fountain Park past the Veterans Memorial.
Staff had prepared a list of additional street projects for the council to consider integrating into the plan. These were locations where staff and council members received a lot of feedback from residents about the conditions of the pavement. This included seven streets totaling nearly 17 miles. As a group, these streets alone had a price tag of around $14.4 million. Not only was the price tag somewhat intimidating, the council, as Vice Mayor Brenda Kalivianakis suggested, should try to keep any political element out of the decision.
