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Bipartisan INfrastructure Law

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Local First Arizona

A 40-year-old bridge in rural Santa Cruz County Arizona will soon receive a much-needed, multi-million-dollar overhaul to improve connectivity and emergency response. Communities in the country haven’t seen infrastructure investments on this scale in some time, if ever. 

Transit and emergency services response are lifelines for rural counties like Santa Cruz, ensuring essential connectivity and safety for residents. In these communities, efficient transit systems facilitate daily commutes, support local businesses, and enable access to vital services like healthcare and education. The Ruby Road Bridge, located near Potrero Creek not far from the growing unincorporated community of Rio Rico, is a vital east-west connector that is experiencing a rise in traffic and is increasingly in need of repair. 

A variety of grants will cover the cost of the improvements, including $6.6 million in federal funding as part of a pilot program supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden.

Leonard Fontes, public works director for Santa Cruz County, said the project is also being funded with a grant from the Arizona Department of Transportation, congressionally-directed spending, state funding and county funds. He anticipates the project will cost about $17.5 million.

“There was no way we’d have the funding for a project of this magnitude,” Fontes said of the county. “It’s a great project. We’re pretty excited about it at this point. We knew we had this project and we wanted to do it, but the funding was beyond our capacity.”

The federal grant the county received, known as the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant, is a first-of-its-kind funding program aimed at reconnecting communities that have been cut off from economic opportunities due to transportation infrastructure. Once replaced, the Ruby Road Bridge will elevate traffic above a floodplain and the Union Pacific Railroad line.

While the floodplain mitigation is important to the area, Fontes said the biggest impact will be seen from elevating the bridge above the railroad. Trains in recent years have become longer and more frequent, taking more time to pass and restricting traffic flow. Those traffic restrictions not only impact residents and businesses, but emergency response, as well. Reliable infrastructure like the Ruby Road Bridge plays a pivotal role in enabling these services to operate seamlessly, and for rurally-based food and goods to reach markets.

“The railroad is a big issue because it blocks traffic,” Fontes said. “There are so many trains coming into and out of Nogales. It’s significant. This will provide an all-weather crossing for everybody.”

In addition to vehicle traffic, the new bridge will make accommodations for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, which will be new for the community. And Fontes said the county is also working with the Arizona Department of Transportation to improve the Ruby Road interchange as the area experiences population growth and additional traffic because of it.

“Within Nogales, there isn’t really much room to expand anymore so people are moving to the Rio Rico area, which is a nice area. As a result, we’ve had to change the way we look at circulation,” he said. “In the past, we didn’t have a lot of pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and now it’s a reality. We’re going to be able to address a lot of that.”

Fontes can’t remember anything comparable to the scope of this project in Rio Rico. The last large infrastructure project the county initiated, Fontes said, was close to two decades ago. It cost about $4 million. 

“It’s kind of like the lottery. You know you want to do something and hope one of the funding opportunities is the winning ticket. We understand the magnitude. This thing is going to be huge,” he said.

The design phase for the new bridge is expected to be completed by the fall of this year. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2025, and the entire project is projected to be completed by mid-2026.

“We’re finally there. It’s a good position to be in and we had a lot of support from our congressional delegates, from local to state to federal, businesses and the community,” Fontes said. “We’re happy for everybody and it’s why we’re here, to be able to make these things happen.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The law will invest billions of dollars in federal funding into rural infrastructure, disaster assistance, high-speed internet and more.