Taking a look at last week’s paper, it appears we will be having difficulty getting around not only in Fountain Hills but in the east Valley in the coming months.

Over the next year, we will see major construction projects on Saguaro Boulevard, Shea Boulevard land the 101 freeway.

Details regarding where work will begin and how traffic will be managed during construction of Saguaro will be addressed by the contractor, according to town Development Services Director Paul Mood.

The project’s construction contractor will not be on board until near the end of the year. The firm of Kimley-Horne is expected to complete the design work by the end of August, allowing nearly four months for the bid process.

The project includes significant drainage work for the intersection of Saguaro and Palisades boulevards. Four new catch basins will be installed leading to a 48-inch storm sewer under the pavement. That line will connect to an existing line along Panorama Drive just east of Saguaro.

Drainage issues near the south end of the project adjacent to the Desert Canyon Golf Club are also being addressed. Four new culverts will be installed along Saguaro between Palmer Way and Ledferd Lane to improve runoff in that area where there is significant flooding during storms.

One future project that appears will be well coordinated with the Saguaro work is the construction of a box culvert under Saguaro at Ashbrook Wash. This project is being coordinated and designed by the Maricopa County Flood Control District.

Mood said the district appears to be on track to construct the culvert at about the same time Saguaro is being done. He added that even if the timing is off there would be no significant issues related to the Saguaro work.

There are future plans for a 16-inch sewer line under Saguaro Boulevard, but that work will not be coordinated with this project.

Nesbitt Construction submitted the low bid of $3,218,591 for construction work on Shea Boulevard.

The town has $4.3 million budgeted for the work in its capital projects plan for this fiscal year.

The scope of the project is to widen Shea Boulevard to three lanes in each direction between SR 87 (Beeline Highway) and Technology Drive at the west end of the Target shopping center. The work will also include drainage structures, a new signal at Saguaro Boulevard and pavement replacement on Saguaro to a location just north of Trevino Drive.

The project is being funded with 70 percent from a Maricopa Association of Governments grant and Prop 400 transportation excise tax funds. The additional 30 percent is being funded from the town Capital Improvement Fund and street development fees.

Finally, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced that initial work has begun on a $72.7 million project that will widen 11 miles of Loop 101 South of Shea Boulevard. One new lane will be added in each direction.

There will be a variety of additional improvements including new lighting, signs and landscaping, new merge lanes between the interchanges at Indian Bend Road and McDonald Drive, wider freeway bridges and realigned on- and off-ramps and a new layer of rubberized asphalt will be added across all lanes.

The improvement project is scheduled for completion by late 2016.

Keep reading The Times for updates on work schedules for all three projects.