THATCHER — At its most recent meeting, the Thatcher Town Council was informed that the town is finalizing its agreement with the state to improve 8th Street, between 1st and 20th avenues.
The state is making available $4.5 million to the town to turn 8th Street into a three-lane roadway, with curbs and sidewalks. There will also be new crossings at the canal and the railroad tracks.
Town Manager Heath Brown said it appears the town will be able to move quickly on the work, because the town will be completely responsible, rather than have oversight by Arizona Department of Transportation, as occurred with Safford’s work on 20th Avenue, which experienced numerous delays.
“Maybe they have heard from enough municipalities and entities that have tried to build these big projects, and they see a lot of waste and redundancy,” Brown said. “So it does seem like they are trying to streamline and simplify the process.”
Town Engineer Tom Palmer said the town is in the process of formalizing the final agreements for right-of-way to do the work, including with Arizona Eastern Railway.
