Ellsworth Road Improvements: Ryan Road to Germann Road

This is an award-winning project. The Town of Queen Creek's access was limited to a few major roadways, including Ellsworth Road. With the opening of State Route 24, traffic shifted to Ellsworth Road, exceeding capacity and increasing accidents. The widening of Ellsworth Road between Ryan and Germann Roads to five lanes added turn lanes and addressed drainage concerns needed for safety reasons. Due to increased accidents, the Town Council advanced this project as its highest priority.

The project scope included sewer and waterline improvements, well preservation, traffic management, landscaping with solar-powered irrigation controls, reduced light pollution, and safety and aesthetic enhancements to overhead power. In addition, Hunter Contracting Co. (Hunter) creatively utilized jersey barriers to accommodate traffic, construction equipment, and personnel in their respective zones to sustain two lanes of continuous traffic during construction. Starting with the west half of the roadway and working east, Hunter sequenced the work into three phases: Western Roadway, Median, and Roadway Overlay. All improvement work was sequenced to be completed in the respective phase area before moving to the next, minimizing the number of changes in traffic controls.

Hunter provided value engineering on material selections that provided considerable savings, cost savings on temporary paving, and well site solutions. The design of the stormwater drainage system sized the catch basins and underground retention chambers to accommodate the 100-year, 2-hour storm event, and dry wells were used to dissipate the retained stormwater. In an extreme storm event, the outfall from the runoff water storage areas will be conveyed via surface flow toward the historical discharge locations at the intersections at Germann Road and Ryan Road, respectively, without inundating adjacent properties. This design saved the Town from a potentially expensive investment of property to construct retention basins and avoided the installation of lengthy storm drain piping.

The completion of this improvement project provided new elements: sidewalks, curbs, gutters, bike lanes, and landscaping to promote residents' health and safety, creating an attractive transition through the neighborhood.