This study, and the resulting transportation plan, is funded through ADOT’s Planning Assistance for Rural Areas (PARA) program. ADOT and the Town of Colorado City have retained the consultant team of Wilbur Smith Associates to conduct the study under the oversight and direction of a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that includes members from the Town of Colorado City; adjacent Hildale City, Utah; Mohave County; the Arizona Department of Transportation Multimodal Planning Division; the ADOT Flagstaff District Engineer’s office; and other interested parties.

This paper provides a capsule perspective on the lessons economists have learned from investigating growth and income gaps across countries. After providing the lessons for growth and development across countries, the paper asks whether these lessons can be extended to growth and income differentials between regions or states of the United States. It should be stressed that applying to regional growth what is known about country growth is partly untested at this time, and hence merely suggestive.

This paper complements a detailed assessment of job quality, based on analysis of industrial and occupational mix, recently completed by the Seidman Institute’s Center for Business Research. The overall conclusions in this report are consistent with those of the more extensive CBR research. Arizona’s economy grows very rapidly, but per person or per worker measures of wages, compensation, incomes, and gross state product are below the national average. No evidence exists that the situation is improving appreciably (or deteriorating). Indeed, the state appears to be creating income, wealth and quality jobs at rates that are similar to those displayed by other states. Arizona is a job-generating marvel and is among the nation’s leaders in aggregate growth. If the state is successful at improving the quality of its labor force and creating higher-quality jobs, its per worker and per person comparisons will improve.

From May 2005 to June 2005, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality conducted a study, Potable Well Sampling Task 4.0, to determine if the chromium and chromium VI plume due to the discharge of the Pacific Gas and Electronic Topock Compressor Station has migrated under the Colorado River and impacted water supplies in Arizona. The ADEQ investigated the total chromium and hexavalent chromium (chromium VI) concentrations in (1) public water supply wells, (2) combined industrial and domestic water supply wells, and (3) private domestic water supply wells at Topock and Golden Shores, Arizona. The communities of Topock and Golden Shores have expressed their concerns regarding the findings. Thus, the ADEQ requested the Arizona Department of Health Services to evaluate the potential health effects of exposure to well water contaminated with chromium.

Grace Neal Parkway and Bank Street are located in the northern Kingman area partially outside of the Kingman city limits. This report discusses of creating a new arterial roadway providing safety and convenience for vehicular traffic and pedestrians. Although Grace Neal is referred to as a parkway, its designation for design is arterial.

It was decided to revise the 1980 Havasu area study, since the area had changed so much. The members felt that to retain some control over the growth a revised area plan was needed and decided to have the area covered to be just the 72 square miles of the Desert Hills Fire District, rather than the whole of the unincorporated Lake Havasu Area north of the City.

This plan is an action agenda that avoids the long-term strategic planning platitudes and broad generalizations that sound good but do not achieve a great deal. The steps presented in this document are ones we can take in the near term, over the next two years or so, that will provide the foundation for long-term economic growth and stability.