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52. IGA WITH THE TOWN OF GILBERT FOR THE ABANDONMENT OF HIGLEY ROAD NORTH OF STATE ROUTE 202L Authorize the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) Director/County Engineer to request abandonment of Higley Road north of State Route 202L (SR202L) from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to the County in accordance with Arizona Revised Statues (A.R.S.) Section 28-7209. The Town of Gilbert is seeking to make improvements to Higley Road approximately 650 feet extending north from SR202L in the fall of 2014. To accomplish this project in a timely manner, the Town needs to acquire Higley Road right of way that is currently under the control of ADOT. However, due to the provisions in state law related to annexation (A.R.S. 9-471), ADOT may not abandon the right of way directly to the Town, but must first be abandon the right of way to the County, and then the Town can subsequently annex the right of way from the County. The first step is to accomplish the ADOT abandonment of Higley Road to the County in a timely manner. Normally under A.R.S Section 28-72029, ADOT must provide four years advance of abandonment to an affected jurisdiction and the pavement must be in such a condition that additional surface treatments and major maintenance are not required for at least five years. However, the same statute allows ADOT and the affected local jurisdiction to waive these requirements by mutual agreement. These waivers are needed to ensure the Town of Gilbert can acquire the right of way to complete their project on Higley Road. Therefore, MCDOT is requesting the Board of Supervisors to authorize the MCDOT Director/County Engineer to official ask ADOT for and agree to waivers from these requirements for the abandonment of Higley Road. The waivers would ultimately be agreed to by the State Transportation Board. The second step will be Gilbert’s annexation of Higley Road approximately 650 feet north of State Route 202L (SR202L) interchange, which will be administered through the normal statutory process and facilitated under a separate agenda item for Higley Road. The Town of Gilbert is the lead agency for the Higley Road project and will be responsible for 100 percent of the cost of the project. The County will have no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for any aspect of this Higley Road design and construction project. Supervisory Districts No. 1 and 2 (C-64-14-100-M-00)

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