Freeway advisory panel schedules public meeting

Doug Murphy
Staff Writer
Ahwatukee Foothills News
Jan. 21, 2005

If a freeway was built where Pecos Road lies, how much land would it and the interchanges require?

That question, and more, will be discussed during a South Mountain Loop 202 Citizens Advisory Team meeting from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 27.

The public meeting will be held at the Gila River Indian Community's Komatke Learning Center on the northeast corner of 51st Avenue and St. John's Road, just north of Pecos Road.

The Arizona Department of Transportation designated Pecos Road as the route for the Loop 202 in 1988. Since then Ahwatukee Foothills has grown dramatically, requiring a search for alternative routes.

As part of the study, ADOT will look at constructing the project along Pecos Road, a no-build option and building on the Gila River Indian Community.

The advisory team is made up of community representatives from the neighborhoods that will be affected by the construction of the freeway, which was designed in 1988 to extend west from Interstate 10 near Pecos Road in Ahwatukee Foothills around South Mountain and reconnecting with I-10 in the West Valley somewhere between 51st Avenue and Loop 101.

The reporter can be reached at (480) 898-7914 or by e-mail at dmurphy@aztrib.com.