THATCHER — Arizona Department of Transportation’s work on U.S. Highway 70 in Thatcher and Safford will begin next week.
During Monday’s Thatcher Town Council meeting, Town Manager Heath Brown said the pavement rehabilitation project will begin Monday, Sept. 22.
Mayor Jenny Howard, who sits on the state Transportation Board, said the town has not yet received word if the work will start in Thatcher or in Safford.
The 4.6 miles of work between 8th Street in Safford, east of the U.S. Highway 191 South interchange, to Reay Lane in Thatcher will include removing “the old asphalt and repaving with new asphalt. Pedestrian facility improvements, box culvert repair, fog seal, new pavement markings, sign replacement and other related work will also be completed,” as will “repair (of) drainage elements,” according to the ADOT website.
There will be intermittent daytime lane closures and speed reductions in the work zones, as well as nighttime lane closures and temporary closures to driveways and cross streets.
The work is projected to be completed by Spring 2026.
The second phase of pavement rehabilitation on Highway 70 — from Reay Lane in Thatcher to Cottonwood Wash in Pima — is in ADOT’s five-year plan and is scheduled to take place in 2030. That project is budgeted at $21.3 million.
