Canoa underpass at 1-19 closing Nov. 3

In a new schedule announced this month, the Canoa Road underpass at Interstate 19 will be closed to traffic starting Monday, Nov. 3, for 45 days.

Pima County officials said the closure is necessary “for reasons of public safety and to insure the work at the underpass is completed in a timely manner.”

Although the closure will result in some inconveniences to motorists, they shouldn’t be major ones, officials said, noting that the project will result in detours involving a maximum of five miles or less, both north and south.

The underpass was originally scheduled to close Oct. 1 and re-open Nov. 15, but Steve Playford, consultant for the $4.1 million project, said the closing was delayed because of the work involved in removing and replacing the pipe in the roundabout and the time it took.

“Because of that, we decided to reschedule the closing. It was more of a scheduling issue than construction delays,” Playford said.

To keep motorists informed, there will be message boards posted on both northbound and southbound I-19 directing traffic to alternate routes that service the east and west side frontage roads, said Carol Brichta, community relations representative for the Pima County Department of Transportation.

Southbound 1-19 traffic wanting to access the Canoa on the east side of I-19 will be directed to the Arivaca exit and then will need to return to Canoa Road on either the interstate or the east frontage road.

Northbound I-19 traffic wanting to access Canoa on the west side of can either exit at Arivaca and travel north on the west frontage road or exit at Continental Road and travel south on the west frontage road.

Motorists heading north on the east frontage road will be able to access northbound I-19 at Canoa, but not I-19 southbound.

All Interstate 19 on- and off-ramps as well and north and southbound frontage east side and west side frontage roads will stay open and accessible, Bricha said. The existing paved detour around the roundabout will remain in place connecting the frontage road on the west side.

County officials advised frequent users of the interchange at Canoa Road and Interstate 19 to use alternate routes where possible to reduce traffic volume during the closure.

Construction on the roundabout, financed by impact fees, began in May and is expected to be finished in June 2009.

In conjunction with the roundabout, developer Fairfield Properties, LLC. is financing construction of a new road, Canoa Ranch Road, which will run from the west frontage road at the Canoa-I-19 interchange to Camino del Sol, providing motorists with an extension of northbound access to Green Valley and southbound access to new planned residential and commercial development planned near the interchange.

Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. Contact her at kengle@earthlink.net.