Pinal County Surface Transportation Infrastructure

Pinal County has a great surface transportation system including interstates, federal highways, state highways, county highways, and railroads. I-10 runs the length of the county north and south from Los Angeles, CA through Phoenix to Tucson and ends in Jacksonville, FL. Work continues on I-10 to expand the road to 6 lanes each way from Tucson to Phoenix - the entire length of Pinal County.

I-8 runs from its junction with I-10 at Casa Grande to San Diego, CA. Several national and state highways also provide access to the interior and peripheral areas of the County for goods and services and civilian transportation needs.

The Arizona Department of Transportation currently has plans to construct, in the future, another Interstate, I-11, that would begin near Eloy connecting at I-10, make a wide sweeping by-pass of western Phoenix, and proceed northwest to Las Vegas, NV, crossing I-40 near Kingman and ending at I-15 in Nevada, thus giving Pinal County direct access to all points in the nation; north, south, east, and west.

Union Pacific Railroad enters the county on the far western border with Maricopa County and exits at the southern border with Pima County 20 miles north of Tucson. This rail line begins in LA and runs to El Paso, Texas, and points further east. 60% of the line from LA to El Paso is now double-tracked in anticipation of increased rail-served opportunities. Plans are also being finalized to construct a 1000-acre rail yard and industrial park in southern Pinal County along this UP line and adjacent to I-10 and 20 miles south of the junction with I-8.

The Copper Basin Railway operates entirely in Pinal County and is used primarily to service the Asarco copper mine at Ray, AZ, and hauls the mined ore to the smelter at Hayden, AZ a few miles away. Union Pacific Railroad is now the owner of this historic railroad. Future opportunities exist for this rail line as the county's population increases and additional economic opportunities arise.

Pinal County Surface Transportation Infrastructure (PDF)