MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — People who live in Marana may need to adjust their routes, as a new phase of construction on Twin Peaks Road through Rattlesnake Pass will lead to road closures. The construction starts on Wednesday.
The entire project, started in July 2024, and covers a roughly 2-mile stretch of Twin Peaks Road from its intersection at Silverbell Road, through Rattlesnake Pass, and then westward to Quarry Road.
Fausto Burruel, Public Works Director for the Town of Marana, said it’s needed because of the Saguaro Bloom development— a new housing development.
The road project features include:
- An additional lane of travel in each direction
- New traffic signals at Twin Peaks/Saguaro Peaks and Twin Peaks/Silverbell
- Drainage improvements
- Curbs and sidewalks
- Multi-use path
- Underground utility improvements
- Landscaping and irrigation
In the next phase of construction, beginning on May 23, Twin Peaks between White Stallion Ranch and Silverbell Road to the north side of the Twin Peaks Raod and Silverbell Road intersection and from that intersection north on Silverbell to Sunflower Park Drive will be closed until August 3.
Burruel said the closure was going to start a little earlier, but he said that because of a school event, it will now start at about 9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 23.
In fact, he said this entire phase of the project is largely based on the school schedule.
He said they did not want to impact school traffic, which is why the closure starts the day after school ends for the Marana Unified School District.
“So we’re really using these summer months, where it’s still going to impact traffic obviously, but we’re trying to minimize the impacts as much as we can,” Burruel said.
He explained that the closure is needed for safety reasons, but said it will also increase construction speed.
“Obviously, when you close it, that allows us to do a lot of work in less time,” Burruel said. “So we’re looking at approximately two months of time saved.”
He says the entire project cost is about $42 million, with funding coming from the town, Pima County and DR Horton.
The road closure is scheduled until August 3, which is the day before school starts for MUSD.
The entire project is expected to be completed August 2026.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
