Project Underway
Sun City, AZ — The Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is launching a community-wide roadway median landscape project converting all grass roadway medians to a water conserving landscape design. The $895,000 construction effort will transform all 39 acres of grass roadway medians throughout Sun City to a combination grass and decorative rock landscape design to improve community aesthetics and reduce water usage.
“We can never lose site of the fact that we live in a desert and water is a precious commodity. This grass median conversion project underscores our shared commitment to water conservation with the added benefit of beautifying our community,” said Clint Hickman, District 4 County Supervisor. “MCDOT anticipates up to a 70 percent reduction in annual water use with the new sprinkler system and combination grass and rock landscape design.”
Work is beginning on roadway medians located along Alabama Avenue between 99th Avenue and 111th Avenue and on Peoria Avenue between 99th Avenue and 111th Avenue. Improvements include the placement of a concrete curb border and decorative rock around the new “grass islands” and installation of a new water-conserving drip irrigation and sprinkler system for existing trees and center grass lawn areas.
“We eagerly await the completion of this project. It has been in the conceptual planning and discussion phase for several years,” said Jim Powell, Sun City Home Owners Association vice president and former Transportation Committee chairman. “Replacing the outside grass areas with desert landscape and retaining a grass walking path down the middle will make such a big difference both aesthetically and economically. The current flood-type irrigation doesn’t reach all areas of the medians and there just weren’t funds available for over-seeding during winter months.”
The median conversion project will take approximately four months to complete. The MCDOT contractor is Somerset Landscape and Maintenance. MCDOT Construction Hotline: 480-350-9288
photo: Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman at roadway median tree planting event held this spring with County road crews and Sun City PRIDES volunteers
