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AUGUST 2021
www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com
AROUND GLOBE
PROJECT UPDATES SPONSORED CONTENT BY THEA WILSHIRE
Rick Powers (L) and Jerry Barnes (R) stand in front of the existing bridge which will be demolished once the new one is completed. Photo by LCGross.
August, 2021 – This monthly feature takes residents behind-the-scenes to learn of the accomplishments occurring at the City of Globe as they advance their four pillars of community wellbeing: public safety, infrastructure, quality of life, and economic development. This month highlights several infrastructure and public safety projects, including rebuilding local bridges, refurbishing the pool, and adding sidewalks for safety. Every 3 years, ADOT does an assessment of transportation infrastructure around the state. They found several structurally deficient bridges within the City of Globe. Jerry Barnes, the City Engineer, explains, “While they’re not going to fall down today, these issues are serious enough that we have to replace the most impacted bridges.” Fortunately, that is happening now. Barnes shared that two of Globe’s most deficient bridges are being replaced. Barnes has invested 6 years of work into the safety assessments, engineering, and contracting for the bridge replacement projects and their culmination comes at an ideal time when the city is looking at 3 to 5 years of heightened flood risk secondary to the Telegraph fire. A major component of any infrastructure project is acquiring funding, a process made more difficult with the economic challenges secondary to COVID-19. Barnes led the city in applying for grants and advocating at the state level for infrastructure funding and his work has paid off. The city received $2.82 million in state appropriations to replace Connie’s bridge and $1 million in federal grant dollars for the Cottonwood bridge (near the train depot) for which the city matched $500,000 to complete the Cottonwood project. For safety reasons, the new Connie’s bridge will be at a higher elevation than currently which changes the grade and impacts the railroad crossing. This makes the project more complicated and adds an additional $600,000. Representative David Cook sponsored a bill that brought in $1.16 million to help pay for the signalization expenses, grade adjustments, and improvements to Hill Street (specifically paving and repairs to sidewalks) for the blocks between Highway 60 and the new bridge. Barnes is not sitting on his laurels and continues to research additional grants for a slew of other infrastructure projects. He recently applied for $2.2 million of competitive Rural Transportation Advocacy Council funding administered by Central Arizona Governments. If granted, the request will fund sidewalks from Connie’s bridge into the canyon to keep walkers safe, particularly kids heading to the Community Center. This ties in well with the recreation planning for this site that includes repairing the pool, replacing the playground equipment, adding a splash pad, and making major
AROUND GLOBE, Continued on page 9
“Connies Bridge” serves over 18,000 cars a day and has been showing structural issues, including constant pavement repairs, which put it at the top of the list for replacement. The bridge is a critical element in Globe’s transportation planning since it is the only connection allowing residents in Six Shooter and Ice House canyon to get to and from town. Photo by LCGross
The masterplan shows the sidewalk project being done in four phases, depending on funding. Graphic courtesy of Rick Powers.
