US Grant To Pay For Bridge Over Tonto Creek Where 3 Children Died

Gila County will receive a $21 million federal grant to build a bridge over Tonto Creek where three young children died last November when a family’s truck was swept away in rural east-central Arizona.

Sen. Martha McSally said the bridge to be funded by a U.S. Transportation Department grant “will provide safe passage over Tonto Creek during flooding" and provide critical access to school, health care, and work for residents during floods. Two siblings ages 5 and 6 and a 5-year-old cousin died while trying to cross the creek. McSally said a total of eight people have since since 1995 while trying to cross the flooded creek.