The U.S. Department of Transportation this week announced a $25 million grant to support a large-scale project to overhaul State Route 189, also known as Mariposa Road, in Nogales.
“This grant will go a long way towards ensuring the long-term growth and development of the county and the entire region,” County Supervisor Bruce Bracker said in a news release issued Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva’s office.
Last November, the Arizona Department of Transportation said it had applied for the federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to allow construction of all proposed improvements to SR 189, including a southbound flyover ramp at Interstate 19 to compliment a northbound flyover ramp that had already been funded. The TIGER grant would also pay for a bridge over Frank Reed Road as well as other improvements to the 3.75-mile route connecting the Mariposa Port of Entry with Interstate 19, ADOT said at the time.
“The TIGER Grant is a critical part of the financing package for the full build-out for the modernization of SR 189,” said Guillermo Valencia, chairman of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority, in the news release issued Wednesday.
ADOT had previously secured funding for the first phase of the overhaul, set to begin in fiscal year 2019. However, the agency had been facing a nearly $80 million funding gap to complete the entire project, which has a price tag of up to $147 million. ADOT has previously said that the TIGER grant could reduce the overall cost of the revamp to $134 million by allowing the entire project to be completed in one phase rather than two.
In addition to the flyover ramps at the junction with Interstate 19, the SR 189 plan includes other intersection improvements between Target Range Road and Grand Avenue and a widening of the roadway. Last fall, the federal government found that the plan poses “no significant impact” to the environment, clearing the way for ADOT to begin design and construction of the project.
“I hope this grant brings to fruition the full solution to the SR 189 bottleneck,” Nogales Mayor John Doyle said in the news release from Grijalva’s office.
The congressman’s office said Grijalva sent multiple letters to the Department of Transportation in support of the project and said “the efforts of Arizona’s Congressional Delegation and local leaders from across Southern Arizona were critical to securing this important funding for the infrastructure improvements.”
Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson, represents Nogales and Santa Cruz County as part of Congressional District 3.
In her own news release, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Tucson) said she had been fighting for the TIGER funding for two years.
“I am very thankful the (Trump) Administration granted my request to contribute $25 million towards the construction of this project, which is so vital to our state’s jobs and economy,” she said.
McSally represents Congressional District 2, which includes Cochise County and parts of Pima County.
Grijalva’s office noted that Trump had proposed eliminating TIGER grants in his recent presidential budget, “putting the future of important local infrastructure projects at risk for municipalities across the country.”
