Thompson Peak Parkway narrows from four lanes to two where it crosses Reata Wash, between E. Desert Camp Drive and E. Windgate Pass Drive. That stretch is the approach to the Windgate gate at 10321 Windgate Pass Drive, which DC Ranch lists as the entrance for Silverleaf Stone House. On September 22, 2026, the Scottsdale City Council approved a contract with Ames Construction to build a second bridge over the wash. The contract is capped at $8,085,461.26. City transportation staff said construction is expected to start in October.
The narrowing was never supposed to be permanent. The roadway was drawn with two bridges over the wash, and for 26 years only one of them existed. The second bridge is being designed to match the first, and DC Ranch has spent the past year pushing to keep it that way.
Half a Bridge Since 2000
The city's own account is short. City staff told a subcommittee of Scottsdale's Transportation Commission in 2025 that DC Ranch built the eastbound bridge in 2000 "as a half street improvement for their development." The original design also called for the City of Scottsdale to build a westbound bridge, and that bridge "did not come to fruition."
So the existing bridge has been doing two jobs it was never designed for. It carries both directions of traffic on a road that has four lanes everywhere else in this section. City Engineer Alison Tymkiw's staff report for the September council meeting put it plainly:
"Currently, the four lanes of traffic that travel Thompson Peak Parkway merge into two travel lanes over the existing bridge. Adding the second bridge will allow for the continuance of the four vehicular lanes of travel completing Thompson Peak Parkway to its ultimate cross-section and improving safety."
"Ultimate cross-section" is the city's term for the road as it was meant to be built. The merge near the Windgate gate is a road that was never finished.
Why the Second Half Took a Quarter Century
When a commissioner asked why the project took so long, city staff pointed to other infrastructure projects that came first and to funding. Staff also noted that 2019 was the first time since 2000 that the city had put bonds before voters. The year DC Ranch finished its half was also the last year Scottsdale had a bond election to pay for the city's half.
When a bond finally came, the DC Ranch Community Council pushed to get the bridge into it. By the council's account, that advocacy made the expansion the only transportation project in the 2019 Scottsdale Bond Election. Its board publicly backed the bonds in July 2019 and named the bridge and a dog park at Hayden Road and Thompson Peak Parkway as two long-standing resident priorities.
The cost has grown since then. Three figures are in circulation, and each measures something different:
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| $6.3 million | Amount in the 2019 bond package voters approved for the bridge | Scottsdale Progress |
| $8,085,461.26 | Maximum amount of the Ames Construction contract approved Sept. 22, 2026 | City Council agenda |
| $14 million | Total project cost, as reported by DC Ranch in July 2026 | DC Ranch Community Council |
The construction contract came in above what voters approved in 2019. City staff told the Transportation Commission on September 17 that the bids still came in below the city's engineering estimate. Scottsdale Progress described the project as one of the bond projects whose cost ran "far north of the original estimate." DC Ranch's 2023 notes give context. Inflation and national construction delays raised costs across the bond program, and the city found extra money rather than dropping any project.
What the New Span Will Carry
The 2025 staff presentation describes a bridge that copies the layout of the 2000 bridge instead of reworking it:
- Two 12-foot travel lanes
- A five-foot bike lane
- A five-foot sidewalk, with a barrier between the sidewalk and traffic
- A noise study to decide whether a noise wall or other noise mitigation is needed
- Connections to the multiuse path and trail network
When it is finished, westbound traffic will use the new bridge and the existing bridge will carry eastbound traffic only. One advocacy group describes the directions differently. This post follows the city's description. The listed goals go beyond removing the merge. They also include safer conditions for people walking and biking across the wash.
The work also touches the original bridge. The staff report says the contract includes a public art component and "minor improvements to the current bridge." According to DC Ranch, city ordinance requires a public art piece as part of the project.
The Look Was Negotiated Before Anything Was Built
The city's goal is to have the new bridge match the existing one. A staff member told the subcommittee the two structures will differ, with "similar aesthetic features." How close they end up depends on materials. When Scottsdale shared early drawings with the DC Ranch Community Council in July 2026, the board sent back specific comments:
- Fake stone is not acceptable. The stone should match the original bridge by using DC Cobble.
- Jersey barriers along the whole bridge are not acceptable either. The board suggested removing the sidewalk and continuing the natural path through the wash.
- Removing the arched supports under the bridge is not preferred, though the board understood the cost savings.
- Metal railings in place of wood are acceptable if the design matches the original bridge. The board also asked that the original bridge's railings, which it described as in poor condition, be replaced with metal.
At least one point carried into the final design. At the September 17 Transportation Commission meeting, staff showed the final drawings and said a metal feature will replace wood for longer life while matching the existing bridge's style. The available sources don't say how the city responded on the stone, the barriers, or the arches.
DC Ranch paid for the bridge in 2000, and in 2026 its Community Council is asking the city to build the second one with the same stone. If the city follows that feedback, the finished crossing should look like one design completed in two phases.
What Is Known About This Fall, and What Is Not
These milestones are confirmed:
- 2000. DC Ranch builds the eastbound bridge.
- November 2019. Scottsdale voters pass all three bond questions. The bridge is Bond Project 62.
- March 2025. Kimley-Horn is hired as design consultant and begins environmental and cultural resource surveys.
- September 9, 2026. The city holds a public open house on the design and construction timeline at The Homestead in DC Ranch.
- September 17, 2026. Staff present the final design to the Transportation Commission and say construction is expected to start in October.
- September 22, 2026. Council approves Resolution No. 13778 on consent, authorizing Contract No. 27IBF097 with Ames Construction.
Several things have not been published as of October 4, 2026. No specific start date, lane restrictions, or detour plan has been released. The completion date is also unconfirmed. In July 2025, DC Ranch reported that it had worked with the city to move completion up from 2028 to spring 2027. That date was set before the construction contract existed. Treat it as an earlier target until the city publishes a schedule.
The best places to watch for updates are DC Ranch's Thompson Peak Parkway Bridge page and the City of Scottsdale's traffic restrictions page. The DC Ranch page has tracked the project since 2019.
The Bond's Other Thompson Peak Project Is Already Open
The 2019 bond had a second item that DC Ranch named as a top resident priority, and it is finished. Thompson Peak Dog Park has opened at the southwest corner of Hayden Road and Thompson Peak Parkway. It has 3.5 acres of grass, shade canopies, benches, and water fountains, and it is open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. In 2020, the city's bond schedule had the dog park slated for 2023 to 2025. Both projects came from the 2019 vote and took years longer than that schedule. The dog park is now open, and work on the bridge is expected to begin this month.
Road work changes daily routes and timing around the gates. If you're thinking about how it fits a sale, a purchase, or a seasonal arrival in Silverleaf over the coming months, the Matheson Real Estate Team follows projects like this one closely. Request a Private Consultation and we'll go over what's confirmed and what's still pending.
