The Ak-Chin Indian Community is nestled in the Santa Cruz Valley of Southern Arizona and encompasses 22,160 acres. Situated in northwestern Pinal County, the central portion of the Community is located five miles south of the City of Maricopa. State Route 347 runs north-south through the center of the Community, serving the Community, the City and the County. This roadway provides a direct route to Interstate 10 and the Phoenix metropolitan area, which is just 40 miles to the north. SR 347 also connects to Interstate 8 approximately 15 miles to the south. A second State facility, State Route 238 intersects the north end of the Community and provides east-west access to the City of Maricopa and SR 347 from the western edge of the Community. These regional facilities provide the Community with access to many needed services that are not available within the Community itself, including medical providers, shopping, and schools. Beyond the accessibility and mobility afforded by the State facilities, the Community is relatively landlocked served directly by only three rural roadways: Peters and Nall Road, Farrell Road and Ralston Road.

This planning project is to update the Ak-Chin Indian Communityís Long Range Transportation Plan. The study area is within the Community boundaries and adjacent Community-owned land. The principal focus of the project is to address the most critical transportation planning needs identified by the Community. This will include, but is not limited to a needs analysis and evaluation for all priority roadway corridors within the project area. The major transportation goals of the Community include: (1) Promote an effective, well-planned transportation system of roadways that establishes functional, safe, and durable streets; (2) Create ordinances, policies, or design guidelines that support the transportation plan; and (3) Provide for and encourage use of non-vehicle modes of transportation. The major product of the study will be a final report, which contains the updated Ak-Chin Indian Community Long Range Transportation Plan and a Plan for Improvements. Taking into consideration received input, the updated LRTP will span over five, ten and twenty year periods, incorporating both roadways and the multimodal needs of the Community.

Development of the Ak-Chin Indian Community Long Range Transportation Plan will be conducted according to a cooperative planning process involving stakeholders that include Community departmental staff, public agency staff, elected Community officials, and Community members. Throughout the study, information will be presented to and solicited from stakeholders through interviews and to the general public through public meetings and other means of communication.

Bellemont is a rural, unincorporated community with a population of approximately 1,000 residents in Coconino County that has become a suburb of Flagstaff, where residents commute to work. Three roads ó Interstate 40 (I-40), Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive ó are used to access virtually all the private land north of I-40 at Bellemont. Frequent congestion from heavy truck volumes and subdivision traffic causes traffic delays and creates concern for safety and timely emergency response. The 2008 closure of the ADOT Parks Rest Area on I-40, just west of Bellemont, has also increased vehicular traffic accessing the truck stop and restaurants. Future build-out of the subdivision and potential commercial/industrial uses in the area are expected to continue to negatively affect the Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive intersection and the I-40 traffic interchange. ADOT recently prepared the I-40 Bellemont to Winona Initial Design Concept Report, which recommended long-term improvements for the intersection and traffic interchange.

Ultimately, this access management and multimodal transportation study will provide a comprehensive review of the Bellemont area transportation system and provide guidance for determining priority needs for future improvements north of I-40, including alleviating congestion and improving/managing access, and improving and evaluating multimodal access to businesses from residential areas.

The Ganado-Burnside Area is a rural community located on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. Ganado was formally established in 1901 as the location for a Presbyterian Church Mission, a school and hospital. Later the community served as a center to distribute various types of Bureau of Indian Affairs services. Today, the community area serves as a major center for housing, education, health and government operations. Also in the Burnside area, the Ganado School District recently established a new high school and sports venue to accommodate track and field, baseball, and basketball activities.

There are four main roadway corridors that intersect the study area: State Route 264, US Route 191, Navajo Route 27 and Navajo Route 15. There are also county gravel roads and private and community dirt roads that intersect SR 264, the main traffic corridor. Within these routes there is substantial multimodal activity generated from the area schools, medical facilities, transit operations, government entities, utility providers and social programs. The principal focus of this study project is to address the most critical transportation planning needs identified by the Ganado Chapter and Apache County. This will include, but is not limited to, a comprehensive needs analysis of multimodal movements and traffic circulation as well as safety issues for the project area corridors. The major product of the study will be a final report, which contains a Plan for Improvements. Taking into consideration received public input, the Plan will span over five-, 10- and 20-year periods, incorporating both roadways and the multimodal needs of the area.

The Ganado-Burnside Area Traffic Circulation Study will also be conducted according to a cooperative planning process that involves stakeholders that include public agency staff, elected tribal officials and tribal community members. Throughout the study, information will be presented to and solicited from stakeholders through individual interviews and to the general public through public meetings and other means of communication.