Somerton begins Main Street upgrades to boost downtown business

Main Street in Somerton is getting its first visible upgrade as the city moves ahead with the opening phase of a downtown redevelopment plan aimed at bringing more customers, more private investment and a stronger business mix to the city’s core. The work begins on the corridor that doubles as U.S. Highway 95, where Somerton has long tried to balance regional traffic with the slower pace, parking and walking access a downtown street needs.

The first phase centers on new irrigation systems in landscape areas that do not already have them or that may now rely on private systems. Once installed, the city said it will operate and maintain those systems itself, a sign that Somerton is taking direct ownership of the streetscape as it works to make Main Street more attractive to shoppers, diners and passersby.

City leaders have described the broader plan as a downtown redevelopment effort designed to revitalize Main Street and encourage reinvestment by businesses, property owners and future private development. In July 2025, City Manager Louie Galaviz said the city still intended to move ahead with improvements such as pathways, parking, lighting and traffic-flow changes to support local retailers, even after losing some expected grant money. Mayor and Council members also had been meeting with legislators and state leaders to pursue future funding.

The push comes as Somerton leans into a downtown that has been part of the city since its earliest years. Somerton was established in 1898, incorporated in 1918, and Main Street was paved in 1917. The downtown business district later survived a major fire in 1926, underscoring how much of the city’s identity has been tied to this stretch of road for more than a century.

Planning documents have long made the economic case for the corridor. A 2013 pathway master plan said Main Street is important to Somerton’s economic vitality, but it also noted the street has to serve two competing roles: as a through corridor and as a traditional downtown street where slower speeds, on-street parking and pedestrian and bicycle activity are preferred. That tension still defines the redesign effort.

The project was also flagged regionally when the Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Technical Advisory Committee listed the City of Somerton Main Street Improvement Project among its 2026 priority projects in September 2025. Somerton issued the phase-one bid on April 9, 2026, held a pre-bid meeting on April 14 and set bids due April 23 at 10:00 a.m., moving the work from planning into construction.