The push to keep the Valley from being an endless sea of traffic signals is alive and well.
Unfortunately, at least for one Buckeye intersection, the lack of space has derailed that momentum, for now.
At a Feb. 1 meeting, the Buckeye City Council approved an engineering and architectural services contract with Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. for intersection improvements at Miller and Baseline roads for about $580,000, but not before Councilor Tony Youngker asked questions about the contract and the plan for the intersection.
Youngker said it was his understanding the plan was to create a roundabout for the intersection rather than an intersection with traffic lights.
However, a staff report calls for lights and traffic signal poles.
Chris Williams, construction and contracting manager for the city, told the council the initial planning for Baseline and Miller was to create a roundabout.
“However, after we did the initial design and construction report and ran it past city and (Union Pacific) railroad staff, a decision was made that with moving the intersection north and having to purchase additional right-of-way, it would not be a roundabout,” Williams said.
In its current configuration, the intersection of Miller and Baseline is one travel lane in each direction with no curb, gutter, or sidewalk in the project vicinity.
The intersection is about 150 feet north of a Union Pacific Railroad crossing.
Youngker asked why a staff report calls for Miller to be widened to only a five-lane section — two travel lanes in each direction with a striped median.
Scott Zipprich, engineering director for Buckeye, explained the initial construction of five Miller Road lanes will be done with space and placement of utility poles and other items to allow for paving of more lanes at a later date.
“Miller is ultimately going to be a six-lane road,” Zipprich said. “The design places all permanent items at their ultimate locations, so that when traffic capacity needs to be increased, we won’t have to move any of those structures.”
There is also an existing tailwater ditch that runs along the west side of Miller north of the intersection, crosses underneath Baseline, and then runs along the south side of Baseline west of the intersection.
While construction has been happening on Miller for some time, from Interstate 10 to south of Monroe Avenue, the start of work on the Baseline-Miller intersection isn’t set to begin until at least March of 2023.
The council also approved several other expensive items on its consent agenda Tuesday. The priciest of these is to pay Stanley Consultants Inc. almost $1.37 million for the design of Watson Road from MC85 to Southern Avenue.
The council also approved a separation agreement for Roger Klingler, city manager since 2017. He is retiring, with Assistant City Manager James Shano taking over as interim city manager at a pro-rated salary equal to $235,000 annually, while the Council completes the final phases of its hiring of a new permanent city manager.
The council approved the increase of its municipal court enhancement fee from $10 per case to $20 per violation after a lengthy presentation from Judge John Burkholder.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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