Silent majority favors highway along Pecos Road

Guest commentary
By Susi Fathauer
Ahwatukee Foothills News
12-28-06

I am a member of the "silent majority" who want the freeway to be built along the Pecos Road route. I am also a fourth-generation Arizonan born in Phoenix so I feel I can justly weigh in on this topic.

My roots here run deep. I remember driving by the junkyard on 48th Street and Ray Road many times. I still shop at Sports Korner and Millie's Hallmark on Elliot Road. Although I appreciate reminiscing, I also realize that we have to move forward now and attempt to keep ahead of this growth and increasing traffic woes. It's not going to get better. With the new homes being built in Maricopa, Ocotillo, Coolidge and Florence, it will get worse.

Some here don't drive into Phoenix each morning and sit on Interstate 10 with the rest of the commuters. We must reroute some of the traffic coming up from the south on the way to California and west Phoenix.

Who has forgotten the time a few years ago when westbound I-10 was closed for many hours due to the pedestrian fatality and everyone had to try to find another way to work, winding through Tempe streets, trying to connect to U.S. 60? It was not pretty. In fact, it was serious. If there had been an emergency, the people in our community would have been trapped in this cul-de-sac behind thousands of cars trying to head east through five stoplights over the freeway. I do not want that to ever happen. We must have a route to the west for the safety of the community.

Some have asked if the freeway would be beneficial to anyone. I believe it would. If I were heading to a Coyotes or Cardinals game, a concert at Desert Sky or even a trip to Disneyland, I would much prefer to take the most direct route south of South Mountain than sit in bumper to bumper traffic around the Broadway curve. I'm sure many folks in Chandler and the Southeast Valley would agree.

We moved down here in 1989 but began looking for a home in 1988. We visited the models along Pecos Road near Lagos school. The home builders admitted that the proposed freeway was to be built along Pecos Road. They offered reduced prices as an incentive to buy one of their homes, but we declined and decided to build farther north. I also thought that the dust coming off the reservation would be pretty nasty when the summer monsoon hit. Hum ... wouldn't it be nice if the freeway would shield some of that dust rolling in? I was always surprised that so many people built homes in those areas that were clearly marked where the freeway would be built. I am sorry that they will have to sell their homes to ADOT and relocate, but things can't stay the way they are.

There was an argument that the freeway would be too close to the schools. Paradise Valley High School is close to state Route 51. Bustos Elementary in Tempe where I did my student teaching years ago is next to U.S. 60. There are schools near the Loop 101 and the 202. There are many schools around the Valley that are close to freeways. It is inevitable in a large city.

My lifestyle includes something other than sitting at a standstill on I-10. I am hoping that my elected officials come out in support of the Pecos freeway.

Susie Fathauer was born in Phoenix and has lived in Ahwatukee Foothills since 1989. The former teacher works part time as the gifted services specialist at Mountain Pointe High School and volunteers at the state archives.