At the regular monthly Snowflake Town Council meeting on March 6, Public Works Director Terry Cooper presented several road improvement projects to the council. Town Manager Brian Richards noted, “These projects are all being funded by the town’s general fund monies.”
One of those projects includes the road safety improvements to the Snowflake Junior High School. Between bus traffic, parents dropping kids off and kids crossing the street, the junior high is a challenging and often times unsafe area to maneuver during certain parts of the day.
The town is partnering with the Snowflake Unified School District, the Town of Taylor and other private entities to create a new drop-off and pick-up lane behind the school to ease traffic congestion and make the process of getting kids to and from school safer. Cooper said, “We are very proud of this project.” The estimated cost is $12,000.
Council member Allison Perkins said, “If there was one project I wanted to accomplish while on this council it was the junior high school.”
The school project includes improvements to Rodeo Road that will help funnel traffic toward Centennial Road. In May of last year, the Snowflake Town Council approved road improvements on Rodeo Road. The staff has now reevaluated the approved plans and is now planning to pave Rodeo Road coming off of Main Street and the portion of Rodeo Road, formerly known as Hatch Road, coming off of Centennial Road. This portion of the project will be a partnership with Navajo County and is estimated to cost $49,000 for the town’s share.
Another road project that residents have been hoping for are improvements to Third Street South. The Public Works Department will be paving Third Street South between Main Street and First Street West at an estimated cost of $20,000. Third Street South will also be paved between Third Street West and Fourth Street West. Cooper said, “There is a drainage issue on Third South but we are making it work.” The estimated cost for that portion is $20,600.
The town and Navajo County will also be partnering to perform chip sealing on Staley, McLaws and Kellis roadways. The estimated cost for the town is $20,000 for that project.
The council voted to approve all of these road improvement projects. The public works department was also requesting approval of the purchase of a new vehicle. The department obtained three bids for a new truck, with Tate’s Auto Center submitting the lowest bid. The purchase of a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 in the amount of $28,886 was approved.
The next regularly scheduled Snowflake Town Council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3. All council meetings are held at the council room located at 81 West First South in Snowflake.
