101 freeway alignment looking likely

John Machay, staff writer

West Valley View

4-11-06

The chances of the upcoming South Mountain Freeway cutting through Tolleson may have gotten a little greater.

The Loop 101 alignment, which Tolleson has been aggressively staving off, is one of three options that have been considered as a means of connecting the new freeway to Interstate 10.

But Tolleson’s one in three odds may have changed for the worse. The proposed 71st Avenue alignment has been all but eliminated from contention, said Matt Burdick, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation.

“I can’t say it’s no longer an option,” Burdick said. “But of the three, 71st Avenue is definitely the least likely candidate. The 55th Avenue and Loop 101 alignments are the options that are really being considered at this point.”

Among the reasons the 71st Avenue alternative has fallen out of favor is the fact that constructing it would mean bulldozing an estimated 780 homes, a figure that bests those of the Loop 101 and 55th Avenue alignments combined, according to ADOT estimates.

“When we started this process several years ago, we asked people if they were to build a freeway, where would they put it?” he explained. “That initial phase predated a lot of the new home construction that’s now in place near 71st Avenue. So, while it seemed like a viable option then, it doesn’t as much now.”

Swayed by the public
Another factor is public opinion, which ADOT has culled from numerous open meetings on the project in recent months, Burdick said.

“We’ve gotten opinions from a lot of people and it’s been pretty much unanimous,” he said. “Those who are within the 71st Avenue alignment are opposed to it, and those who aren’t support connections at either 55th Avenue or the 101. The support for both is about even, although the 101 might be slightly ahead.”

That’s not to say all of the Loop 101 supporters live near 55th Avenue. Contributing to the West Valley alternative’s lead are Tolleson’s very own neighbors, according to the latest report from the project’s Citizens Advisory Team.

Of the Avondale, Goodyear and Buckeye residents who attended public forums in November 2005, 70 percent voiced their support for the Loop 101 alignment, the report reveals.

“The way it’s been is everyone wants the freeway as long as it’s not in their back yard,” Burdick said. “I think that’s what’s going on with Buckeye, Avondale and Goodyear. They want it, and having the connection as close to them as possible makes it all that more convenient.”

A city divided
But likely not for the 240 to 530 Tolleson families who would lose their homes in the path-clearing venture, which would also take with it Tolleson Union High School, the municipal center and up to 15 businesses, according to ADOT projections.

It would also destroy “the city’s character, history and culture” and create “a city that’s divided,” Tolleson Mayor Adolfo Gamez has said.

For those reasons, a coalition of Tolleson leaders and residents has been championing the 55th Avenue option. The alignment, which would displace 120 homes and 78 businesses, was ADOT’s original choice when it first drew up plans for the freeway in 1988.

Tolleson isn’t alone in its fight. Both the Avondale and Phoenix city councils have joined the West Valley community in passing resolutions that encourage ADOT to stick with its initial selection.

Fighting for the other side, however, is the Maricopa Association of Governments, which has unwaveringly supported the Loop 101 option. And just last week the anti-55th Avenue alliance picked up some ammo in the form an ADOT study that determined a Loop 101 connection would create the smoothest traffic flow during morning and afternoon commutes.

Misinformation
Still, contrary to a recently published report, the results of the study have not persuaded ADOT to back the Loop 101 option, Burdick said.

“It’s certainly something that we’ll take into consideration,” he said. “But that traffic report is one of about 30 different issues that we have to look at. There are also some financial considerations involved.”

Being that money talks, that could be good news for Tolleson. The cost of land acquisition to build a Loop 101 connector would be three times as much as it would for the 55th Avenue alignment, Burdick said. And that doesn’t include construction costs, which stand to dwarf 55th Avenue’s price, he added.

“The fact is if we connected at the 101, we’d have to make a lot of improvements to the I-10,” Burdick said. “We might have to completely rebuild the 101 connection to the I-10, or, in the best case, rebuild two of the four ramps. So there would be a considerable cost involved.”

After mulling over each site’s pros and cons for the better part of the last four years, the Citizens Advisory Team is due to make its recommendation to ADOT at its April 27 meeting. ADOT is expected to reveal its preliminary decision in May or June.

Once the dust has settled, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the final leg of Loop 202 and connect the West Valley to the East Valley.

John Machay can be reached by e-mail at jmachay@westvalleyview.com.