Panel to hear updated vehicle count for proposed freeway

If the South Mountain Freeway were built, Ahwatukee Foothills could see about 145,000 vehicles a day whizzing by its southern border in the year 2030, a freeway advisory committee learned Thursday evening.

That is less than a previous projection of 153,000 vehicles because motorists have apparently begun to consolidate their errands and take fewer trips, said Chris Clary-Lemon, a transportation engineer with HDR Inc. of Phoenix and Omaha.

The projections are based on trip-reduction surveys conducted by the Maricopa Association of Governments.

Clary-Lemon said the consolidation trend could be because of high gas prices.

An environmental study is under way through 2007 for the proposed freeway, which would link Interstate 10 in west Phoenix with Interstate 10 east of Ahwatukee Foothills.

Pecos Road, which forms the southern border, already gets about 6,700 vehicles a day, and if the freeway is not built, that is expected to grow to 10,800, Clary-Lemon said.

After the numbers were presented to the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team, Amy Edwards, a project manager with HDR, cautioned that numbers can change because people may further change their driving patterns.

"There is no simple math when it comes to freeways," she said.

The citizens group, consisting of representatives of both the West Valley and Ahwatukee Foothills, is meeting monthly to advise the consultants and the Arizona Department of Transportation as part of an environmental impact study of the roadway.