Freeway canyon assailed

Corinne Purtill
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 23, 2005 12:00 AM

The state's plans to carve a canyon in South Mountain Park to accommodate the proposed South Mountain Freeway were met with skepticism by a committee of the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Board.

After a presentation Monday by the Arizona Department of Transportation and its consultants on the freeway's possible effects on the mountain, the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve Committee decided to wait for more information before making its official recommendation.

But, members indicated, their immediate impression wasn't favorable.

"Based on what we're seeing here, it's not going to fly," committee chairman Daniel Cleland said.

Plans for the proposed 10-lane, $1 billion-plus freeway route is through the westernmost portion of South Mountain Park, calling for cuts up to 200 feet deep and 800 feet wide in two of the mountain's ridges.

"I think that is an extremely severe cut," Cleland told the presenters.

In September, the parks board voted unanimously against allowing any freeway through South Mountain Park, essentially stating the city's official position on protecting what is often called the largest municipal park in the country.

Because the preserve is a public park and has cultural significance to the Gila River Indian Community, federal requirements dictate that planners must find ways to avoid or minimize the impact on it.

The only way to avoid the park would be to route the freeway on land owned by the Gila River Indian Community. After about four years of negotiations with ADOT, tribal officials have not consented to any study of the freeway on their land. Rerouting the freeway on their land could wipe out the residential community of St. John's, said Ralph Ellis, an environmental planner with ADOT.

"We all understand the dismay (surrounding cuts to the park)," said environmental planner Jack Allen of HDR Inc., the consultant working with ADOT. "But if we can't come to another solution, we are going to have to look at how we'll minimize impact to the park."

Also speaking out against the freeway's alignment at the meeting were several members of the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council, a conservation group.

"At all costs right now, we should be looking at other alternatives" to cutting through the park, said Michael Goodman of PMPC. Goodman also represents the council to the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team, a volunteer group that advises ADOT.

Resident Jan Hancock inquired about the possibility of tunneling under the preserve to avoid cutting the ridges. Amy Edwards of HDR said that alternative had been studied but was dropped after it was determined that they would need to build two or three tunnels to handle all the lanes. In addition, the tunnels' air shafts would require cuts to the mountain tops.