Engineering, Streets & Right-of-Way

Resident Hours (by appointment):

2nd Thursdays 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Carefree Maintenance Shop

7177 Ed Everett Way
Carefree, AZ 85377
Phone: 480-488-3686
Fax: 480-488-3845

MISSION:
Ensure the traveling public has a safe and efficient roadway system, coordinate with Planning and Zoning and Economic Development to accommodate growth, oversee the safe and efficient operations of the Public Works Department, and give technical guidance for the public and all other Town staff.   

The Engineering Department oversees the following functions:

A curved asphalt road with yellow lane dividers cutting through a desert landscape.

  • Roadways

  • Signing and Striping

  • Sight Lines

  • Crosswalk Maintenance and updates

  • Drainage and Grading including culverts and washes

  • ROW Permits

  • Public Works

  • Inspection of Storm Drains, roadway construction, parking lots, signage, and town owned streetlights.

  • Review of Building, Development, and Planning and Zoning Permits

  • All Resident concerns

  • Inspection of commercial properties for compliance with engineering tasks.

Public Works Department MISSION: 

Provide reliable, efficient, friendly customer service in its duties to keep the Town maintained in a manner that represents a clean, safe, beautiful Town for all those who reside within its boundaries.

The Public Works Department performs the following functions:

  • Refuse collection

  • Maintenance of the Carefree Desert Gardens

  • Sightline trimming

  • Special event activities

  • Collection of illegal dumping

  • Roadway sweeping

  • Catch basin maintenance

  • Pothole repair

  • Monsoon cleanup

  • Streetlight bulb replacement

  • Bull nose painting

  • Sign maintenance

  • Traffic incident cleanup

  • Roadway animal carcass removal

  • Shoulder maintenance

  • Facilities maintenance

  • Fleet maintenance

  • Erosion control activities including Rip Rap placement

Public Street Management

Carefree’s Engineering Department's overall priority is the safety of the traveling public and pedestrians which use its roadways. Since the roadway system is the Town’s largest resource, this department is constantly working to be proactive when it comes to a safe roadway system. In that vein, this Department also oversees the Public Works Department, which is committed to ensure a safe, clean Town which raises the level of pride in the staff that keep it clean and the residents who live within the Town. The Engineering Department has issued it’s Pavement Preservation Program which outlines preservation activities for the following period: 2023 through 2032. This document is used as a blueprint for roadway maintenance pursuits. The Department is also working on an initiative similar to ‘Vision Zero’ to work toward keeping pedestrian incidents and injuries to zero. Finally, the Engineering Department looks forward to using it’s newly adopted Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to be able to execute crucial improvements that do not fit into the Towns annual budget.

10-Year Pavement Preventative Maintenance Plan

Approximately every 7 years, the Town evaluates the condition of streets to determine and prioritize the level of maintenance to extend the life of the streets. On January 10, 2012, the 10-Year Pavement Preventative Maintenance Plan was considered and approved by the Town Council. The 10-Year Preventative Maintenance Plan gives an introduction to pavement preventative maintenance. It outlines why asphalt typically cracks and  summarizes the different procedures used to minimize this effect and prolong the life of streets.

The plan summarizes the results of the 2011 evaluation of the Town’s streets and outlines the recommendations for the type of maintenance, scheduling, and the estimated cost. The recommendations are grouped into larger projects that will occur in intervals over a 10-year time horizon. The new 10-Year plan will be available in early 2022.

Town of Carefree Stormwater Management Plan

This Stormwater Management Plan (also referred to as a Stormwater Management Program [SWMP]) has been prepared by the Town of Carefree (Town) as required by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (AZPDES) General Permit Number AZG2016-002 (Permit). The Permit was issued on September 29, 2016 and became effective on September 30, 2016.

This SWMP describes the policies and procedures the Town will implement to reduce, to the maximum extent practicable (MEP), pollutant discharges to and from the small municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). The overall goal of the program is to ensure to the MEP that discharges from the MS4 do not cause or contribute to exceedances of surface water quality standards.

As required by the Permit, the SWMP addresses the six minimum control measures (MCMs):
1. Public Education and Outreach
2. Public Involvement and Participation
3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination Program
4. Construction Activity Stormwater Runoff Control
5. Post-Construction Stormwater Management in New Development and Redevelopment
6. Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations

The SWMP is designed to be a comprehensive program document outlining how the stormwater program is implemented and maintained; therefore, additional sections have been added to describe other Permit-required support activities, including Analytical Monitoring, SWMP Evaluation and Revision, Reporting, and Signatory Requirements.

The SWMP describes the best management practices (BMPs) the Town implements and also describes the overall planned approach to stormwater pollution prevention. This SWMP addresses the requirements of the Permit and reflects the needs and constraints of the Town.

The SWMP complies with the requirements specified in Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Chapter 40 Part 122.32, incorporated by reference in Arizona Administrative Code (AAC) R18-9-A902 and A905. The SWMP has been prepared to meet the requirements identified in the Permit and is certified according to Permit Section 9.9.

Relevant Documents

Contact Information:
Town Administrator
Gary Neiss
Phone: 480.488.3686
Email Gary Neiss