MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — A little rain wasn't going to stop this parade.
Marana's mayor, town leaders and members of the community gathered at Rattlesnake Pass on Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the Twin Peaks Road Widening Project. As they did, a monsoon storm gave the new roadway its first real test.
The roughly two-year project rebuilt about two miles of Twin Peaks Road through Rattlesnake Pass. The road is now a four-lane divided arterial between Silverbell Road and the Saguaro Bloom development. But Bill Buntin, the town's public works division manager, said the most important upgrade is one drivers can't easily see.
"The biggest component was the drainage," Buntin said. "At one point in time, before this project was done, you would have easily on a day like today, you'd have a foot of water across the road. The road would be closed."
The project added new storm-drain structures and stormwater catch basins. On Tuesday, cars kept moving through the downpour.
Along with the drainage work and the extra travel lane in each direction, the project added:
- A raised median between eastbound and westbound lanes
- New traffic signals at Twin Peaks and Saguaro Peaks roads and at Twin Peaks and Silverbell roads
- A multi-use path for walkers and cyclists from White Stallion Ranch Road to Old Silverbell Road
- Curbs and sidewalks with ADA-compliant ramps
- A new slope containment wall with an architectural finish through the pass
- Landscaping, irrigation and underground utility upgrades
Hunter Contracting began construction in July 2024. The work included a full closure of Twin Peaks Road from May 22 to Aug. 3, 2025, which the town said cut about two months off the schedule.
"We finished the project well ahead of schedule and well under budget, so another big accomplishment for the town," Buntin said.
He said the toughest part was the heavy rock crews hit at the top of the pass, which took longer to work through.
The project was paid for with town transportation funds and impact fees, with contributions from D.R. Horton and Pima County. Buntin said the corridor will help handle future growth in west Marana and the Avra Valley area.
Meet Serpentina
The new road also comes with a new neighbor. During the ceremony, the town revealed the name of the large rattlesnake sculpture at the pass: Serpentina.
The sculpture stands more than 8 feet tall on a concrete foundation about 14 feet across. The rattlesnake theme was an easy choice, said Daniel Bradshaw, a principal landscape architect with the Planning Center, which conceptualized the piece. The area has been known as Rattlesnake Pass for about a century.
"The sculpture out here should really reflect that identity and celebrate the pass as an area where there have historically been a lot of rattlesnakes, so that was an easy one," Bradshaw said.
The Planning Center drew up several concepts for the town. Some sat lower to the ground, and the town picked the tallest one. Tucson-based Cemrock, a company known for building zoo and aquarium habitats, fabricated the snake from structural steel and carved foam. Crews then covered it in shotcrete, hand-carved the scales and eyes, and stained it. Bradshaw said the whole process took about a year, and building the sculpture itself took about three months.
He said he hopes drivers are caught a little off guard the first time they see it.
"I hope that they're a little shocked by it," Bradshaw said. "But in a good way. I hope that when they see it, you know that it's something that becomes memorable. And that's the whole idea, actually, with public art, right? That this is the kind of thing that when you pass by it, you recognize it, and it becomes an icon for the town to celebrate its identity."
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