Arizona State Route 195

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

State Route 195 (SR-195), or the Robert A. Vaughan Expressway is a planned state highway servicing the Yuma area. It will begin east of Yuma intersecting with Interstate 10 and then follow a 23 mile route, first south and then west, coming to an end at its junction with US 95 in San Luis.

Currently the only connection from I-8 to the port of entry in San Luis is US 95, which runs as a surface street through the downtown business districts of Yuma, San Luis and Somerton. The area has experienced significant population growth since the 2000 Census. In the period from 2000-2005, the city of Yuma grew in population by 9.3%, the city of San Luis grew by 41.3%, and the town of Somerton grew by 38.6%^[1], and anticipation that the growth trend will continue has fueled concerns about increasing traffic congestion. Additionally, the Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization (YMPO) has estimated that commercial truck traffic through the San Luis port to increase to over 12,000 daily by 2015.

Planning for the construction of SR 195 was implemented in response to these concerns. As of 1999, YMPO has secured an agreement with the state Department of Transportation to assist with funding for the project. In addition to addressing traffic concerns for the area, the highway will provide access for a proposed new port of entry east of San Luis. YMPO envisions these projects, along with potential expansion of cargo operations at the Yuma International Airport, as being parts of a concerted effort to increase the area's importance in regional and international trade and commerce. [1]

To date, no construction has begun on the expressway, although the planning process is well under way. YMPO anticipates completion of the project sometime before 2015. It is planned as a 4 lane, controlled-access highway.