Panel reaffirms freeway stance

Foothills planners oppose Pecos route

Geri Koeppel
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 25, 2006 12:00 AM  

Even though the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee has voted twice in the past on the proposed Loop 202 freeway alignment, at Monday night's meeting it discussed re-emphasizing its position against building it on Pecos Road.

Member Laurel Arndt said the committee should go on record again with the Arizona Department of Transportation before the South Mountain Citizens Advisory Team goes on hiatus Feb. 2.

"It needs to be documented," Arndt said.  

The group decided to try to look at traffic studies before taking a vote on it, though, and decided to meet again Feb. 6.

But on Tuesday, village planner Chris Hood said she was told studies may not be complete by then, so she isn't sure when the meeting will be.

The committee also heard more public comment about the freeway. George Rigg, an Equestrian Estates resident, said he is for the freeway because he doesn't want the kind of traffic jams he experienced while living in Los Angeles.

However, William Ramsay of Lakewood weighed in against it.

"I'm adamantly opposed to it," Ramsay said after the meeting. "It's going to be nearly 2020 before we see this road. . . . Effectively, it's no solution."