PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA -- The Board of Supervisors on March 5 approved a proposal for the Pima County Regional Flood Control District (District) to partner with a private land developer on a bank protection project in Marana that also will extend the Chuck Huckelberry Loop along the north bank of the Cañada del Oro Wash (CDO) between Interstate 10 and Thornydale Road.
The plan calls for soil cement bank protection, an underpass where the river channel passes beneath the Union Pacific Railroad and I-10, and a paved maintenance road. The project will be completed in two phases with placement of bank protection first, followed by work on the river park.
The developer, Alta Vista Communities, will cover most of the cost of construction with the County's Regional Flood Control District funding only the underpass ramp and half of the bank protection. The District also will review and approve the plans, hire the project's contractor and oversee management of the work. It also will retain a right-of-way for future maintenance and repair activities. The County's Native Plant Nursery will provide cactus and other landscaping for the river park.
“This project will protect some important infrastructure: the railroad tracks, Kinder-Morgan pipeline, I-10 and the frontage road, and wastewater lines,” Flood Control Division Manager Andy Dinauer said. “It will also provide another access point to the Loop from the west side of Thornydale.”
Final plans for the project remain in development. The Union Pacific Railroad must sign off on the proposed underpass before construction begins.