San Luis, school district seek intersection upgrade

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — Two school construction projects expected to create heavier traffic have prompted the city and the Gadsden Elementary School District to partner in a project to upgrade an intersection on the north side of San Luis.

City Hall and the school district have agreed to share the cost to install traffic lights at Juan Sanchez Boulevard and 6th Avenue, an intersection where traffic currently is regulated in each direction by stop signs.

Also, the school district will fund a deceleration lane on the east side of 6th Avenue, so motorists dropping off or picking up children onto the Ed Pastor Elementary School property can do so without blocking the northbound vehicles following them on 6th.

Construction is drawing to a close on the district’s new administrative building on the northeast corner of the intersection. North of the building and along 6th Avenue, 19 new classrooms were added to Ed Pastor to handle increased student numbers.

The two construction projects are expected to create congestion on 6th Avenue and on what is already one of the city’s busiest streets, Juan Sanchez Boulevard.

“That is something that will be beneficial for the community,” said Raymond Aguilera, superintendent for the district. “From the time we planned the new administrative building, we knew that those improvements would have to be done.”

Under an intergovernmental agreement approved by both sides, the city will assume 75 percent of the installation of the traffic lights. The district will pay 25 percent of the cost up to $100,000.

The lights, the final cost of which have not been determined, is expected to be finished no later than next April.

The district will assume the full cost of the deceleration lane.

The new district administrative building and the school addition are among the projects financed with a $10.6 million bond issue approved in 2015 by voters in the district that encompasses all of San Luis and neighboring Gadsden.

The district is expected to be moved into the new administrative office by July.

PHOTO BY CESAR NEYOY/BAJO EL SOL THE INTERSECTION OF Juan Sanchez Boulevard and 6th Avenue in San Luis, Ariz., is being revamped to handle an anticipated increase in traffic on the city’s north side resulting from two school district construction projects.