Signing for INFRA Grant completes funding for I-10 Expansion Project

On Jan. 17, Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) Governor Stephen Roe Lewis was joined by Jennifer Toth, Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and Karla Petty, Division Administrator of the Arizona Division - Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for the signing of the $95 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant awarded to the state in 2024 by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The grant will be put towards the completion of the Interstate 10 Wild Horse Pass Corridor project: The 26-mile stretch of I-10, between Loop 202 (Santan/South Mountain Freeway) in south Phoenix and State Route 387, near Casa Grande. It remains a major commuter route and connects the Gila River Indian Community to surrounding cities and vital services. 

For many years, this portion of the I-10 has been unreliable, unsafe, and has stretched the resources of the Community’s first responders due to the high number of accidents and fatalities in what is often described as the “fatal funnel.” The consistent strain on the Community’s families, students, elders and employees led to an aggressive advocacy push by the Community to ensure funding is received and this stretch can be widened to match the roadways off the Community.

The INFRA grant was awarded to improve travel safety and conditions and will be used to widen the portion ten-mile portion of I-10 between Gas Line Road and State Route 387, improve the SR 387/SR 187/Pinal Avenue interchanges, and build a new interchange at Seed Farm Road. These new interchanges will be vital to ensure safe and adequate travel conditions.

“I am so proud of the Community’s aggressive effort to ensure that this long-neglected stretch of the I-10 will be widened and improved to enhance the safety and reliability of this roadway for our members and all those who travel through the Community,” said Gov. Lewis. “It not only will improve this vital stretch of highway in our State, it will improve the Community’s access to it by building a new intersection at Seed Farm Road, connecting our government services directly to this vital transportation corridor.”

This project will widen and improve ten-miles of I-10 by adding one additional 12-foot lane in each direction and 12-foot shoulders, adding fiber conduit, installing concrete barrier between the eastbound and westbound I-10 to prevent crossover crashes, and installing a wrong way driving detection system. It also includes the following improves at interchanges and crossroads: 

1.) Gasline Road: eliminate low clearance at the bridge. Improve crossroad by adding sidewalks and wider shoulders.

2.) Seed Farm Road: convert from crossroad to interchange. Improve crossroad by adding sidewalks and wider shoulders.

3.) Dirk Lay: remove low clearance bridge.

4.) SR 387/SR 187: reconfigure interchange, including adding sidewalks and widening the shoulders and reconfiguring the crossroad.

For more information and timelines on the I-10 Wild Horse Pass Corridor construction projects, visit: i10wildhorsepasscorridor.com