100s of buildings in South Mountain Freeway's path

Corinne Purtill
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 21, 2005 12:54 PM

The Arizona Department of Transportation has released a preliminary draft of the proposed South Mountain Freeway's design, showing which homes and businesses potentially stand in the way of the long-delayed highway's path.

Aerial photographs show hundreds of structures within the freeway's potential routes.

Though ADOT officials said there is still room for modifications to the design, some representatives of communities impacted by the freeway said they were disheartened by the look of the freeway as currently proposed.

"A lot of jobs in my village are going to go by the wayside if this alignment goes through," said Peggy Eastburn, a member of the Estrella Village Planning Committee.

ADOT distributed the report Thursday night to the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team, a volunteer citizens' group that has been working with ADOT for more than three years on the freeway project.

The draft design includes a series of aerial photographs taken in early 2005 outlining the land that could need to be acquired if the freeway is built. It is detailed enough to show individual houses and businesses that stand in the way of the freeway's proposed alignment.

Officials from ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration cautioned the group that the design is a very early version of the freeway's layout that could be changed after input from cities and residents. There is also the possibility that the freeway could not be built at all. However, designers indicated that the outline is not radically different from the $1.1 billion freeway ADOT would like to build.

"Assuming something is built, this [design] is probably pretty similar" to the freeway's final footprint, said Christopher Clary-Lemon, a transportation engineer working with ADOT on the project.

The proposed Loop 202 freeway would link Interstate 10 in the West Valley to the interstate's southern portion near Ahwatukee Foothills. The original alignment approved by the Maricopa Association of Governments in 1988 connects I-10 at 55th Avenue in the west and Pecos Road in the south, clipping the western portion of South Mountain Park.

In addition to the original 55th Avenue alignment, ADOT is also considering connecting the western leg of the freeway through 71st Avenue or Loop 101. The department has also been in negotiations with the Gila River Indian Community about possibly shifting the southern portion of the freeway onto their land.

ADOT has no specific figures yet on the number of homes and businesses that would need to be acquired if the freeway is built. "There's going to be homes that we have to acquire if it's built," ADOT spokesman Matt Burdick said. The public is "going to look at this information and have a very emotional response."

ADOT is holding three information sessions next month in communities potentially impacted by the freeway to show the public the maps and answer questions. (See box)

The report also details which interchanges on the freeway would be elevated and which would be built below ground level. Representatives of several Valley communities expressed frustration with the number of elevated interchanges proposed along the freeway.

"When the people of Laveen see that drawing . . . they will be very disappointed," said Laurie Prendergast, a member of the citizens' advisory team and president of the resident coalition Laveen Citizens for Responsible Development. Many residents had hoped for a below-grade freeway through their community; as currently designed, the freeway would be elevated over most of the cross-streets.

"I've heard citizens say that if a depressed freeway is good enough for Scottsdale . . . it's good enough for the people of Laveen," Prendergast said.