My response to the update

Subject: Re: Traffic & Safety Concerns – Empire Rd / Charbray / Circle Cross Ranch

Dear [Name / Pinal County Development Services Team],

Thank you for your detailed response and for acknowledging the concerns raised regarding traffic and safety conditions in and around Circle Cross Ranch. I appreciate the clarification on the original roadway design assumptions, the Skyline Drive extension timeline, and the County’s role in lighting and long-term planning.

That said, I would like to respectfully clarify and reinforce several points that remain critically important to residents in the interim, prior to the Skyline Drive extension and the formal transition to the future Town of San Tan Valley.

1. Design Assumptions vs. Current Operational Reality

While Empire Road may have been planned as a major collector with projected future volumes, the current operational reality reflects arterial-level use occurring ahead of supporting infrastructure. As you noted, the original traffic analysis assumed completion of the Skyline Drive connection to Gantzel. Until that connection is constructed (currently projected for early 2026), Empire Road and internal residential streets are absorbing regional traffic without the benefit of the planned relief route.

This gap between assumed build-out conditions and present-day conditions is where the safety concern lies.

2. Secondary Cut-Through Traffic on Residential Streets

Even if Empire Road was anticipated to experience delay, the use of Charbray Road, Busa Road, and other internal residential streets as cut-through routes was not part of the intended design function. Residents are experiencing through traffic on streets designed strictly for local access, particularly during peak congestion periods.

This secondary cut-through behavior introduces risks that are distinct from Empire Road itself, including:

Reduced pedestrian visibility at night

Difficulty for residents entering and exiting their homes

Increased exposure of children, pets, and pedestrians

Degraded emergency access within the neighborhood

We believe this warrants interim evaluation and mitigation, even if larger capital improvements are planned for the future.

3. Lighting Clarification and Safety Context

Thank you for clarifying that Pinal County does not own or maintain street lighting and does not have a dark sky ordinance. Regardless of ownership, the absence of lighting combined with increased non-local traffic volumes materially affects safety outcomes on residential streets.

Our concern is not solely about installing lighting, but about managing traffic behavior and volumes on streets that were never intended to function as connectors or relief routes under low-visibility conditions.

4. Empire & Charbray Identified in Strategic Safety Planning

We appreciate the confirmation that Empire Road and Charbray Road have already been identified through the County and Sun Corridor MPO Strategic Safety Plan as a location with long-term traffic considerations, including potential signalization or a roundabout. This reinforces resident concerns that the intersection has been recognized as sensitive from a safety and operational standpoint.

5. Request for Interim Actions and Formal Tracking

Given the above, residents respectfully request the following near-term steps, prior to 2026 and independent of future Town governance:

Formal logging of this issue as an active traffic safety concern

Review of cut-through traffic patterns on Charbray and Busa

Evaluation of interim traffic calming or access-management options on residential streets

Consideration of enforcement or signage to discourage non-local through traffic

Clarification on whether updated traffic counts or operational reviews are planned before the Skyline extension is completed

Additionally, we respectfully ask:

Whether a reference or case number has been assigned to this concern

What the expected follow-up process and timeline will be

Which department(s) will be evaluating interim safety options

6. Coordination with the Future Town of San Tan Valley

We appreciate the County’s coordination with the future Town of San Tan Valley and fully understand the eventual transition of responsibility. However, residents are seeking assurance that current safety risks will be addressed during this transitional period, rather than deferred entirely to future governance.

Our intent remains collaborative. Residents are not seeking to assign blame, but to prevent predictable safety incidents while long-term infrastructure projects and jurisdictional transitions move forward.

Thank you again for your response and for your continued engagement on this matter. We look forward to your guidance on next steps.

Sincerely,

Josh

Circle Cross Ranch

San Tan Valley, AZ