After five years of planning and construction, the Tonto Creek Bridge opened to traffic on Monday.
It’s near the town of Tonto Basin in Gila County, where multiple people died after their vehicles were swept away while crossing the flooded creek in 2019. Tonto Creek is nearly 73 miles long on the north edge of the Tonto National Forest, and the stream flows year round.
Construction of the bridge, which began in September 2022, cost more than $20 million.
"The bridge will definitely stabilize access," said engineer Tom Goodman. "People will never be cut off from food and medicine and getting to work."Designed to withstand severe weather events, the bridge accommodates bicyclists, pedestrians and vehicles.
Goodman highlighted the bridge's role in integrating with the landscape and ensuring environmental sustainability through effective erosion control measures."Everybody is really impressed with how the bridge turned out," Goodman said. "It's really a beautiful structure ... it's an engineering marvel."
Gila County will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bridge, also known as the Greenback Valley Road Bridge, on Saturday.
KJZZ's Greg Hahne and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
