Santa Cruz County and South32 have addressed some of the safety concerns expressed by residents of Red Rock Acres Homeowners Association regarding the Cross Creek Connector (CCC), but one key issue remains: Whether the CCC will be open to the general public.
“We want the road closed to the general public,” said Linda Shore, president of the homeowners association. “That was the original South32 presentation to the county, only open to the people who live there and the mine traffic, and somewhere along the way it got changed at the county level.”
County manager Jesus Valdez and consultant Rob Lane addressed about 35 local residents at a public meeting on Sept. 18 at Patagonia Union High School regarding the CCC, which is an access road between SR 82 and Harshaw Road that is being constructed for trucks hauling ore from the South32 mine in the Patagonia Mountains.
Lane described several changes that have been made to the CCC to address resident concerns, among them:
- The intersection point of the Cross Creek Connector and Red Rock Drive has been shifted and Red Rock Drive will be elevated by three feet so that the sight line for drivers exiting Red Rock will no longer be through the parapets of the bridge over Harshaw Creek.
- A polymer matting will be added to the metal bridge over Red Rock Wash so that traffic noise will “sound more like pavement,” Lane said.
- The speed limit on Harshaw Road as it approaches the intersection will be lowered from 35 to 25 mph, contrary to the recommendation of a third-party engineer, who suggested that 35 mph was appropriate.
The third-party engineer also recommended the installation of a shielded street light at the intersection, though Lane suggested that there might be pushback from residents.
Valdez said the issue of closing the CCC to the general public “is complicated” because it was not written into the transfer agreement granting South32 the easement for the Cross Creek Connector. But he said the county would be agreeable to closing the road if South32 requested it.
Shore said she intends to reach out to Pat Risner, president of the Hermosa Project, to seek an agreement on closing the road.
“I believe the original plan by South32 was some sort of gate that would be activated by a device in the trucks or a passcode,” Shore said, adding that signage indicating the Cross Creek Connector is a private road would be inadequate in deterring off-roaders and others looking for a short cut between SR 82 and Harshaw Road.
Shore also believes a streetlight at the Harshaw-CCC intersection would be an important safety enhancement, with little downside, given that the ore trucks will be operating 24 hours a day.
“It’s a foregone conclusion,” she said, referring to the CCC. “So what we have asked is that they take us into account. The last meeting there were several issues that were raised. One of them was the sound baffling on the bridge, and they did that. The line-of-sight issue was a huge one, it was really dangerous, so they’re going to bring our road up, which will help. South 32 and the county have been listening to us.”
Other issues raised at the meeting included traffic and dust (including manganese) monitoring on the CCC, traffic safety issues on Highway 82, and blackout periods for heavy equipment traffic.
On SR 82, there will be a right-turn lane and acceleration lane heading northbound, and a left-turn lane heading southbound, so in essence, there will be four lanes across the expanse at the intersection with the CCC.
Lane said the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality maintains standards for dust monitoring, and that South32’s conditional use permit includes provisions for monitoring traffic, speed, crash potential and other safety factors.
“The question, and I have dealt with it my whole career, is how will law enforcement enforce it,” he said.