USDA Blog: Hualapai Tribe celebrates opening of critical road

The Hualapai Tribe operates the popular Grand Canyon Skywalk over Grand Canyon West. The glass platform juts out in a horseshoe 70 feet over the canyon and is an attraction that draws over 700,000 visitors from around the world annually.

The paving of Diamond Bar Road had been a dream of the tribe for many years. As the Tribe began to develop Grand Canyon West into a captivating tourist destination, they realized that the many visitors would need a more comfortable ride to the destination.

USDA Rural Development and the Hualapai Tribe have had a long and productive relationship. In 2010, USDA RD funded a water system to serve tribal members who were living and working at the developing Grand Canyon West. The $13 million loan/grant combination through our Water & Environmental Program allowed the Tribe to use other resources to begin the costly work of reconstructing and paving the Diamond Bar Road—a primary goal of the Tribe’s long term community economic development plan. The Tribe invested over $35 million to pave just the final nine-miles of the roadway.