Next summer The Times is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Much has changed in Fountain Hills the past four decades, but the one constant that’s remained all those years is Saguaro Blvd.

We’ve witnessed a lot on Saguaro Blvd. over that time period – traffic jams for concerts and festivals, hail storms that look like snow showers, flooding, fatal car accidents, chip seal projects, lots of potholes, plenty of speeding tickets, Band-Aid patches, traffic light installations, utility cuts and likely millions of vehicles going back and forth.

In many ways such a roadway could be considered the main backbone of our community, but often infrastructure needs get overlooked or delayed because of the dollars involved to replace them.

Let’s face it – Saguaro Blvd. is worn out, just like one letter writer said recently. Sure, we would all survive if the boulevard were simply patched up once in a while, but this dying patient is in dire need of a complete transplant. A new life. A new beginning.

Voters soundly rejected a $30 million street maintenance bond package a few years ago, so town officials went back to the drawing board and made budget cuts, made adjustments to plans, made another proposal.

This pared-down $8.2 million bond package addresses our community’s main entrance only. A complete reconstruction of the boulevard will enhance our community and its many positive qualities. The bonds provide a financially feasible way for the Town of Fountain Hills to perform this project in a prompt and efficient manner. Yes, property taxes will go up for five years because of this package, but property owners will benefit from this improvement.

We urge a “yes” vote on the ballot question to authorize bonding to finance the complete reconstruction of Saguaro Blvd.