J.W. Powell Boulevard stops just east of Lone Tree Road. For anyone heading toward Fourth Street or the east side of town, that stop means backtracking to a longer route. The City of Flagstaff has now put a date on when the stop goes away. Under the City's J.W. Powell Extension Project page, the boulevard will continue from its current terminus all the way to Fourth Street. The City expects its portion to be finished by the end of 2028.
The extension is one of two projects coming together on this side of town. The other is the Lone Tree corridor, which is being rebuilt north toward Butler Avenue and Route 66. Read together, the schedules say the same thing. The far edge of south Flagstaff is being turned into a junction, and Juniper Point is at the hinge.
The route was drawn through the neighborhood in 2006
The road plan is two decades older than the construction. In 2006, City Council adopted the Juniper Point Specific Plan through Resolution Number 2006-08. According to the City's Lone Tree Corridor Specific Plan, that resolution "established the Lone Tree alignment through the proposed Juniper Point Traditional Neighborhood Development."
The same document lays out how the work was divided. The Juniper Point Specific Plan covers the southern portion of the preferred Lone Tree alignment, with connections to J.W. Powell Blvd, Coconino Community College, and I-40. The Lone Tree Corridor Specific Plan covers the northern portion. So the neighborhood was planned from the start as the place where a north-south arterial meets an east-west one. The dead end was always meant to be temporary.
City utility correspondence from 2020 places Juniper Point's Phase 1 site on the north side of J.W. Powell Boulevard. Capstone Homes lists Juniper Point II at 1905 E Magnolia Drive, in southeast Flagstaff east of I-17.
What was scheduled to start after Labor Day
The City's Aug. 4, 2026 announcement set the opening dates. Banicki Construction would bring equipment into the work zone the week of Aug. 31, and construction would begin Tuesday, Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day. The City held an open house at the Flagstaff Aquaplex, 1702 N Fourth Street, on Aug. 18. Banicki's own update names Peak Engineering as the project's designer.
Banicki had already done some groundwork. In a June 6, 2026 update, the contractor said it had "completed early clearing and erosion control activities before fire season," and that the wet utility, blasting, and mass earthwork package would start in September. Its Aug. 18 update listed what the first phase involves:
"Initial construction activities will include rock blasting and crushing, mass earthwork, 395 LF of 42-inch sewer interceptor, 2,698 LF of sewer main, 4,931 LF of waterline, and 4,265 LF of storm drain."
A mile is 5,280 feet, so the waterline alone is almost a mile of pipe. The storm drain adds most of another mile, and that is before any paving. The order of work explains why the first year of this project will look like rock work and trenching. A finished road comes later. Everything that has to sit under the pavement goes in first.
The sources reviewed for this post include no progress report dated after the Sept. 8 start. The dates above are the published schedule, not confirmed field conditions as of early October.
What the finished road is designed to be
The City describes the extension as a match for the J.W. Powell that already exists. It calls for "a similar look and feel to the existing JW Powell Boulevard."
| Feature | As described by the City |
|---|---|
| Lanes | One in each direction, with a center median |
| Under the road | New underground utilities |
| Beyond cars | Multi-modal amenities |
| Rio de Flag crossing | About 85-foot, double-span bridge |
| Bridge clearance | Bottom about 12 feet above grade, letting animals cross under the roadway |
| City's cost | About $45 million, funded by Proposition 419, approved by voters in 2018 |
| City's completion estimate | End of 2028 |
The City is building only the middle section. The project page says the remaining sections will be "built by others via agreements with the City." It names Juniper Point, STL405, and Canyon del Rio as properties in various stages of planning and construction of subdivision improvements, and it says the other segments are also expected to be finished by the end of 2028. The materials reviewed do not say which developer builds which segment.
Banicki describes the purpose in two phrases. The road will "connect South Flagstaff to East Flagstaff" and "provide an alternate route to Interstate 40."
The north side of the junction is already under construction
The Lone Tree Overpass project is the other half of the crossroads. Its goal is a new north-south connection that carries Lone Tree Road from Butler Avenue north to Route 66, funded by Propositions 419 and 420.
The current phase started Monday, March 2, 2026, with Ames Construction as contractor. The City's Feb. 27 notice covers Butler Avenue between O'Leary Street and Lumber Street, and Lone Tree Road between Butler Avenue and Sawmill Road. The work includes:
- Roadway reconstruction
- Water line, sanitary sewer, and storm drain installation
- Curb, gutter, sidewalk, and driveway improvements
- Re-alignment to add bike lanes and multi-use travel paths
The City expects this phase to be complete in December 2026. Work hours are Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some weekend work possible. From March 2 through Aug. 14, Lone Tree and Butler were each cut to one lane in each direction, with no left turns between Lone Tree and Butler. The City said a modified traffic plan for August through December would come later. That plan was not found in this research, so the August-to-December lane setup on that stretch is unconfirmed here.
The bridge itself comes in a later phase. The project's Spring 2024 fact sheet describes Phase 2 as the grade-separated bridge between Brannen Avenue and Route 66, plus the Route 66 intersection and project-wide art and landscaping. It puts the overall construction timeline at 2024 to 2027. An older Arizona Daily Sun timeline projected full completion in November 2026, but the 2024 fact sheet is newer and replaces it. No current date for opening the overpass to traffic was found.
Money has also been set aside for the stretch between the two projects. The City's capital summary for FY 2025–26 through FY 2029–30 lists $200,000 in FY 2025–26 for "Lone Tree: O'Leary to Pine Knoll" and another $200,000 for "Lone Tree: Pine Knoll to Powell," with larger amounts programmed for FY 2029–30. These are budget lines and do not set a construction start. Still, they show the City planning for the segment of Lone Tree that runs down to J.W. Powell.
The first building planned at the end of the road depends on the Nov. 3 ballot
The City has a plan for the corner where the dead end is now. On City-owned property near the current J.W. Powell terminus, east of Lone Tree Road, it plans to design and build a fire station, with a potable water filling station as part of the same project. The project page ties that plan to the Fall 2026 public safety ballot measures, Propositions 404 and 405.
The City's public safety committee page describes the two measures:
- Proposition 404 would raise the local sales tax by 0.5 percentage points. The City estimates it would bring in an average of $18.2 million a year for 15 years for public safety staffing and services.
- Proposition 405 is a $40 million bond for public safety infrastructure and equipment, including a new fire station. The City says the bonds would be issued within existing bonding capacity and would not raise existing property-tax rates.
Election day is Nov. 3, 2026, according to the City's publicity pamphlet, which has the full text and arguments for both measures.
The schedule, in order
Here is every scheduled date from the sources above, in one place. Each is a plan or estimate, not a confirmed finish.
| Date | Project | What is scheduled |
|---|---|---|
| March 2, 2026 | Lone Tree Overpass | Butler/Lone Tree corridor phase began |
| Aug. 14, 2026 | Lone Tree Overpass | End of the first traffic plan with one lane each way |
| Week of Aug. 31, 2026 | J.W. Powell Extension | Banicki mobilizes equipment |
| Sept. 8, 2026 | J.W. Powell Extension | Construction begins |
| Nov. 3, 2026 | Props 404 and 405 | Election day |
| December 2026 | Lone Tree Overpass | Butler/Lone Tree phase expected complete |
| Through 2027 | Lone Tree Overpass | Overall construction timeline, including the Phase 2 bridge to Route 66 |
| End of 2028 | J.W. Powell Extension | City segment and other segments expected complete |
Where the real-time updates come from
Several details on this list can change week to week and are not in the published documents: blasting notices, daily work hours on the J.W. Powell site, and the fall lane setup on Lone Tree. The City runs a project eNewsletter you can sign up for at jwpextension.com, and the J.W. Powell project hotline is (928) 255-5153. For the Butler and Lone Tree work, the City's notice lists two contacts: Jesa'Lyn Waggoner with Ames Construction at (602) 540-5410, and the City's senior project manager for the overpass at (928) 213-2682. The project site at lonetreeoverpass.org posts construction impacts as they are released.
A street that ends at your corner tends to shape how you think about your location. If you are trying to understand what a through road to Fourth Street, plus a Lone Tree link to Route 66, could mean for your own corner of Juniper Point over the next few years, Blake Cundick is glad to walk through the timelines with you. Let's Connect.
