MARANA- A Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation project is bringing new improvements to portions of the Chuck Huckelberry Loop in the Town of Marana.
It is a project years in the making and includes a new pathway along the west side of the Santa Cruz River that is out of the flood zone. The new pathway opened on February 6, 2023 between Ina and Cortaro Roads near the Amazon Distribution Center.
“The old section of pathway was closer to the river and in large flow events we would have a lot of debris wash across the paved path which would be a maintenance issue for Marana and just an inconvenience for Loop users in general so with this new project we’ve actually elevated the Loop further and put it behind additional bank protection keeping it high and dry and less of a maintenance issue for the Town of Marana who maintains a portion of the Loop,” explained Division Manager Engineering Deirdre Brosnihan with the Pima County Regional Flood Control District.
“We had about a quarter mile that was under water maybe 12 times a year and a major major cleanup. Our Parks Maintenance staff annually cleaning this area up,” said Marana Parks and Recreation Director Jim Conroy.
Conroy said with the seven mile pipeline from the Wastewater project to improve the infrastructure, they saw an opportunity to move the pathway approximately 80 feet and raise it 8 feet or so out of the flooded area.
New section of Chuck Huckelberry Loop out of the flood zone
Conroy also said this project will benefit thousands of people who use this portion of the Loop. With an electronic counter, the Parks & Recreation Department have been tracking that more than 11,000 people per month use this section of the Loop.
Deirdre Brosnihan served as a liaison for the Flood Control District during the project working closely with Pima County Wastewater Reclamation and the Capital Program Office as well as the the Town of Marana to make sure that when the Wastewater project was complete that the Loop and biking and pedestrian facilities were restored and improved.
“There are still more phases of the Force Main project to come and as sections become available to pave, the District will coordinate with the Town of Marana and Wastewater to get sections of the Loop back online and trailing behind that will be the restoration of the landscaping and irrigation so we’ll have a usable path that will continue to get prettier over time as the landscaping comes in,” said Brosnihan.
“This project is a long overdue project to offset the capacity and provide additional capacity for the Town of Marana and the expansion of all of the residential new development in the area,” said Shawn Tillson, Project Manager with the Pima County Capital Program Office.
Tillson said they will now continue to move forward with Phase Two of the project, but he believes the collaboration between all the key partners involved help the project run smoothly.
Brosnihan said this is one of many projects that Pima County has worked on with the Town of Marana.
“It’s one more project in the partnership between Pima County and the Town of Marana working together to provide better infrastructure and recreation amenities for our joint communities.”
“That type of collaboration with government agencies working together in the region, the benefit is, the public benefits. We’re all serving the public. We all have the same mission and this is a great example of producing a project that will make a better environment for our people to enjoy,” said Marana Parks & Recreation Director Jim Conroy.
In August 2023, the Loop Pathway Improvement Project won the Arizona Parks & Recreation Association’s State Outstanding Partnership Award. Marana Parks & Recreation presented the award to their key partners including Pima County Wastewater, Pima County Flood Control and Amazon on November 13, 2023.
