PRIORITIZING TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS TO LEVERAGE FEDERAL FUNDING.

Dibble reviewed and refined the Gila River Indian Community’s (GRIC’s) existing Transportation Master Plan to remove completed and unnecessary projects and to add information on new potential projects. After conducting data collection, our team met with stakeholders—including the seven GRIC Districts, Arizona Department of Transportation, Maricopa County, and Pinal County—to develop a list and GIS map of potential projects on GRIC land. In conjunction with the GRIC Department of Transportation and Community Council, Dibble selected projects to be funded by the American Rescue Plan; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law/Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and/or other federal, tribal, state, or local funding. Our team developed short scopes of work, cost estimates, and implementation strategies for each prioritized project and classified them by short- and medium-range projects.

In addition to prioritizing new projects in the Transportation Master Plan, Dibble updated other sections of the report, including socioeconomic conditions, the existing transportation network and functional classifications, heavy truck routes, multimodal facilities, the regional context, and transportation issues and goals. Dibble also completed an improvement analysis, which covered a long-term analysis with Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) 2040 conformity models; proposed MAG improvements on major routes over the next 20 years; existing and future MAG level of service operations; future long-term roadway improvements; and recommendations for safe, accessible, and multimodal uses.

The updated Transportation Master Plan provides a critical path forward for GRIC to prioritize transportation infrastructure needs while capitalizing on available federal funding.

Project Lifecycle