A Homebuilder Helped Pay for This Road. It Finishes This Month.
Marana's $42M Twin Peaks Road widening through Rattlesnake Pass is scheduled to finish Aug. 30, 2026, and D.R. Horton helped pay for it.
Two miles from Silverbell Road to Quarry Road, four lanes where there were two, and a west-end subdivision whose building-permit count is what triggered the widening in the first place.
A homebuilder put roughly $14 million into a public road in Marana. That road is Twin Peaks Road through Rattlesnake Pass, and the Town of Marana has it reopening four lanes wide on Aug. 30 — two years and one complete mountain-pass closure after the work started. Why a private company is on the invoice is the most useful thing a buyer can know about this corridor. The town tied the widening to a building-permit count in a development agreement, so the road only got bigger once the houses at the far end were already selling.
- Aug. 30, 2026
- Scheduled completion, after a July 15, 2024 start
- ~2 miles
- Silverbell Road, through Rattlesnake Pass, west to Quarry Road
- $42M
- Project cost, funded by Marana, Pima County and D.R. Horton
- ~2,400
- Homes Saguaro Bloom is zoned for at the west end
Four Lanes Where Two Used to Fit
The project limits run along Twin Peaks Road from the intersection at Silverbell Road, through Rattlesnake Pass, and then west to Quarry Road — also signed as Cement Plant Road — a stretch the Town of Marana and Tucson Agenda both put at roughly two miles. The finished section carries two lanes in each direction with a center median, plus drainage improvements, curbs and sidewalks on both sides, a multi-use path, ADA features and landscaping, and a new traffic signal at Twin Peaks and Saguaro Peaks. Hunter Contracting built it for the town in four phases. Phase III was the one that closed Rattlesnake Pass outright, which is why anyone west of the gap has spent stretches of the last two years driving the long way around.
A Homebuilder Is on the Invoice
Arterials in growing towns are normally paid out of transportation funds and impact fees. Here the funding table has three seats, and one belongs to D.R. Horton, which owns Saguaro Bloom at the west end. KOLD reported at the start of construction that the work was expected to run about $35 million, with D.R. Horton covering roughly $14 million and most of the balance coming from transportation funds. Tucson Agenda put the whole project near $42 million, split among the town, Pima County and the builder. Either figure tells the same story about sequence: the houses did not follow the road out here. The road followed the houses, on a trigger written into a contract years before the first cone went out.
What Sits at the West End
Saguaro Bloom is the reason there was a permit threshold to cross. It covers roughly 700 acres along West Twin Peaks Road in the 85653 ZIP code, zoned for about 2,400 homes, and D.R. Horton assembled it in stages — the first 265 lots from Scottsdale-based Grayhawk Development in 2013, then Grayhawk's remaining interest in 2015. The built amenities include a community center, two pools with lap lanes and a lagoon entry, a fitness center, a splash pad, a regional park and pocket parks inside the individual subdivisions. Plans listed there this week run about 1,331 to 2,738 square feet, from roughly $349,900 to $539,900.
One Road, Two Price Lists, About $190,000 Apart
Cross back through the pass and the numbers change. Mattamy Homes opened Tavira at Twin Peaks in September 2025 on the interchange side of the corridor — a gated community of 75 homesites with five designs from 2,236 to 3,046 square feet, listed from about $542,000 to $746,750, with sunset viewing areas toward the Tortolita and Santa Catalina ranges, a pocket park, a picnic area and walking trails. Same road, and about $190,000 between where the two price lists start. That spread is the practical fact of this corridor: one commute, two budgets, separated by a gap in a mountain range that until this month was two lanes wide.
The Interchange That Made Any of It Possible
None of it works without the Twin Peaks interchange, which opened in 2010 as the first completed Regional Transportation Authority project at a cost of about $50.5 million and carried Twin Peaks Road over Interstate 10, the Union Pacific tracks and the Santa Cruz River to meet Camino de Mañana and Linda Vista Boulevard. That single bridge turned a dead-end corner of the valley into ground national builders could sell. Sixteen years on, Marana is the only Pima County community among Arizona's ten fastest-growing — state estimates released in May 2026 credited the town with more than 3,500 new residents in one year, a 5.7 percent jump that ranked fourth statewide. The pattern repeats at a smaller scale every time a subdivision fills in: build the crossing, sell the lots, widen the road.
Two Things to Check Before You Buy Out Here
First, the everyday errand map is still thin west of the pass. The nearest large retail concentration is back at the interchange, and the Cascada mixed-use plan at the northeast corner of Twin Peaks and I-10 — a 752.5-acre specific area plan advanced by Bourn Companies and Red Point Development — is entitlement work rather than open storefronts. Budget the drive time, because it is real today and the fix is years out. Second, drive the pass at your own commute hour after Aug. 30 rather than trusting how it felt during construction. A road that has been down to one lane, or closed outright, for stretches of two years is not a fair sample of what four finished lanes will carry — in either direction. Go drive it in September before you decide what this corridor is worth to you.
Quick reference (August 18, 2026): The Twin Peaks Road / Rattlesnake Pass widening runs from Silverbell Road west through the pass to Quarry Road (Cement Plant Road), roughly two miles, and is scheduled to finish Aug. 30, 2026 after a July 15, 2024 start. Scope: two lanes each direction with a center median, drainage improvements, curbs and sidewalks both sides, a multi-use path, ADA features, landscaping, and a signal at Twin Peaks and Saguaro Peaks. Contractor: Hunter Contracting, four phases. Cost: about $42 million per Tucson Agenda, funded by the Town of Marana, Pima County and D.R. Horton; KOLD reported about $35 million in construction cost with roughly $14 million from D.R. Horton. Trigger: a Marana development agreement tied the widening to a Saguaro Bloom building-permit threshold. Saguaro Bloom — about 700 acres, zoned for roughly 2,400 homes, plans listed at about 1,331 to 2,738 square feet from roughly $349,900 to $539,900. Tavira at Twin Peaks (Mattamy Homes, opened September 2025) — 75 gated homesites, 2,236 to 3,046 square feet, listed from about $542,000 to $746,750. Prices, schedules and plans change; confirm current details before relying on any single figure.
Sources
Town of Marana — "TRAFFIC ALERT: Twin Peaks Road, Rattlesnake Pass widening project" — maranaaz.gov/news/2024/7/12/traffic-alert-twin-peaks-road-rattlesnake-pass-widening-project — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the July 15, 2024 through August 30, 2026 construction window, the project limits from the Silverbell Road intersection through Rattlesnake Pass west to Quarry Road / Cement Plant Road, and the finished configuration of two lanes in each direction with a center median and drainage improvements). Town of Marana — "TRAFFIC ALERT: Twin Peaks Rattlesnake Pass Roadway Improvements" — maranaaz.gov/Newsroom-Entries/2025/Twin-Peaks-Rattlesnake-Pass-Roadway-Improvements — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the 2025 phasing and lane-shift updates during paving). KOLD News 13 — "Two-year improvement project underway near Rattlesnake Pass in Marana" — kold.com/2024/09/05/two-year-improvement-project-underway-near-rattlesnake-pass-marana — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the four-phase construction plan, Phase III's full closure of Rattlesnake Pass, the added traffic signals at Twin Peaks and Saguaro Peaks, the curbs, sidewalks and landscaping, the roughly $35 million construction cost with about $14 million from D.R. Horton and the balance largely from transportation funds, and the development agreement tying the widening to a Saguaro Bloom building-permit threshold). Tucson Agenda — "The Daily Agenda: In Marana, all roads lead to roads" — tucsonagenda.com/p/the-daily-agenda-in-marana-all-roads — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the roughly two-mile length, the about-$42 million total project cost, and the funding split among the town, Pima County and D.R. Horton). KGUN 9 — "Twin Peaks closure near Rattlesnake Pass begins May 23" — kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/marana/twin-peaks-closure-near-rattlesnake-pass-begins-wednesday — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the pass closure during construction and the contractor Hunter Contracting working on behalf of the Town of Marana). Grayhawk Development — "Saguaro Bloom" project page — grayhawkdevelopment.com/projects/saguaro-bloom — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the roughly 700-acre footprint zoned for about 2,400 units and the community center, regional park and pocket parks). D.R. Horton — "Saguaro Bloom, Marana" — drhorton.com/arizona/tucson/marana/saguaro-bloom — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the community's location along West Twin Peaks Road in the 85653 ZIP code and the clubhouse, two pools with lap lanes and lagoon entry, fitness center and splash pad). NewHomeSource — "Saguaro Bloom in Marana, Arizona — D.R. Horton" — newhomesource.com/community/az/marana/saguaro-bloom-by-d-r-horton/203484 — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the roughly 1,331 to 2,738 square foot plan range and the approximately $349,900 to $539,900 listed pricing). Arizona Daily Star / tucson.com — "Beleaguered housing project in Marana getting new life" — tucson.com/business/local/beleaguered-housing-project-in-marana-getting-new-life/article_0e8b2a46-8f5c-5f7f-8325-776c1c8177f7.html — accessed August 18, 2026 (for D.R. Horton's 2013 purchase of the first 265 lots from Scottsdale-based Grayhawk Development and Grayhawk's 2015 sale of its remaining interest). Mattamy Homes — "Tavira at Twin Peaks, Marana" — mattamyhomes.com/arizona/tucson/marana/tavira-at-twin-peaks-mpc — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the gated 75-homesite community, the five home designs from 2,236 to 3,046 square feet, the listed range of about $542,000 to $746,750, the September 2025 opening, and the sunset viewing areas, pocket park, picnic area and walking trails). Engineering News-Record — "14. I-10 Twin Peaks" — enr.com/articles/23581-14-i-10-twin-peaks — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the 2010 completion, the roughly $50.5 million cost, the status as the first completed Regional Transportation Authority project, and the bridges over Interstate 10, the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and the Santa Cruz River connecting Twin Peaks Road to Camino de Mañana and Linda Vista Boulevard). Arizona Capitol Times — "Arizona census shows metropolitan stagnation, suburban growth" — azcapitoltimes.com/news/2026/05/19/arizona-census-shows-metropolitan-stagnation-suburban-growth — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the more than 3,500 residents Marana added in a single year, the 5.7 percent rate, and the fourth-fastest-in-Arizona ranking). AZPM News — "Pinal County leads Arizona in growth, while some southern Arizona cities lag" — news.azpm.org/p/news-splash/2026/5/15/229771-pinal-county-leads-arizona-in-growth-while-some-southern-arizona-cities-lag — accessed August 18, 2026 (for Marana as the only Pima County community among Arizona's ten fastest-growing in the May 2026 estimate release). AZBEX — "Plan Revisions in Marana Would Yield New Commercial and Residential Developments" — azbex.com — accessed August 18, 2026 (for the Cascada II Specific Area Plan at the northeast corner of Twin Peaks Road and Interstate 10, its 752.5-acre footprint, and Bourn Companies and Red Point Development as the sponsors). All figures are current as of August 18, 2026; construction schedules, entitlements and builder pricing change, so confirm current details before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- High Growth Area
- Marana
- Twin Peaks Road
- Rattlesnake Pass
- Saguaro Bloom
- D.R. Horton
- Northwest Tucson
- New Construction
- Road Projects
- 85653
- 85743