Pinal County (By Alia Beard Rau, Arizona Republic) February
21, 2004 - Maneuvering through Pinal County these days is a game of chance.
With a little luck, the drive along back farm roads and through an Indian reservation from Interstate 10 to Central Arizona College near Coolidge takes no time at all. Without it, the 35-mile trek from Florence to south Chandler takes forever along a two-lane highway crowded with construction trucks.
Pile on an exploding Pinal County population that is expected to grow from about 245,000 to almost 1 million over the next 20 years, and residents say transportation is a serious problem.
"The East Valley is soon going to go all the way to Florence," said Chuck Backus, who lives in Gilbert and owns a ranch south of Apache Junction. "It's just a matter of time, and somebody needs to plan it."
A study developed in 2003 by the Maricopa Association of Governments, Central Arizona Association of Governments and Arizona Department of Transportation recommended four new transportation corridors be developed in Pinal County to help ease traffic in Pinal and Maricopa counties.
• A 31-mile East Valley corridor that connects Interstate 10 to U.S. 60 at Florence Junction, probably running along Hunt Highway.
• A 36-mile Apache Junction/Coolidge corridor that begins at Interstate 10 south of Coolidge and follows Arizona 87 north to U.S. 60.
• A 7-mile extension of U.S. 60 from Goldfield Road to Ray Road that loops to the west of Gold Canyon.
• A 15-mile Williams Gateway Freeway that runs west to east from Loop 202 through Williams Gateway Airport and connects to U.S. 60 just south of Gold Canyon.
The transportation organizations, led by ADOT, last month started gathering public comment on the suggested corridors and will continue with the first phase of public input through early April.
ADOT staff will first determine a need for the corridors and later this year conduct traffic studies, environmental studies and land use impact studies. They need to decide if the corridors are needed; what type of roads are most appropriate; the general area where they will be built and who will maintain them.
Once that is done, the organizations will make a recommendation to the state Transportation Board in November.
"These are planning studies," ADOT regional planner Dianne Kresich said. "We're talking to a lot of people to see how their needs would best be met."
The first focus groups were held in Apache Junction and Gold Canyon. Residents overwhelmingly said these corridors are needed, and sooner than later. Other public meetings will be scheduled for late March and early April.
"It's brutal out there," Gold Canyon business owner Victorya Goodrich said. "Driving on (U.S.) 60 is really getting dangerous."
Gold Canyon resident Dave Burden predicted growth in Pinal County will be tremendous and transportation vital.
"It's a ways out, but I think the economies from Tucson and the Valley are going to merge," he said.
Ron Reinagel, president of the Gold Canyon Business Association, agrees.
"They are building 800 brand new homes a month in Pinal County and most of them use Highway 60," he said.
ADOT's Kresich said early discussions with area residents and leaders have determined there is intense interest in making transportation improvements to the area.
"They want to know when and what," she said. "Development is happening so fast and we're doing a good job trying to meet those needs, but there is a fine line between building a highway to nowhere and being behind the development curve."
She said she doesn't want residents to assume these potential roads would all be freeways, and she would not estimate a construction timeline if some freeways are recommended.
The freeway process is a long-term one that often takes decades.
Mesa is banking on the Williams Gateway Freeway to provide easy access to the several hundred thousand people who will live and work in that corridor in years to come.
"Ten years from now, the freeway will be desperately needed," said Jeff Martin, Mesa's assistant development services manager.
Roc Arnett, president of the East Valley Partnership, said there will be a "phenomenal need" for the Williams Gateway freeway in 20 to 25 years. "It takes about 20 years to build a freeway," he said. "If you look at what we're doing with the 202, SanTan and Red Mountain, those were on the drawing boards 20, 25 years ago."
He said the freeway will help achieve the goal of "100,000 jobs and 35,000 students" in the Williams Gateway area in the next 20 years.
Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce CEO Rayna Palmer said she is afraid the proposed corridors won't be enough to handle the expected growth.
"I see this as an immediate remediation, but I don't see it as long term," she said. "There is such tremendous growth out here."
Corrine Cornn, who lives south of Queen Creek in the Copper Basin neighborhood, said her area also needs the corridors to combat increasing traffic problems.
"We are in a world of hurt," she said. "We desperately need freeways."
She estimated there are about 10,000 vehicles going out Hunt Highway to jobs in the East Valley each morning, and an equal number coming in to help build the hundreds of houses rising each month in the San Tan/Johnson Ranch area.
"It's a 45-minute drive into Mesa on crappy roads," she said. "It's tough when you're sharing that road with everyone else and a tractor going 10 miles an hour."
Coolidge officials support the corridors, but not because of any need to alleviate traffic. They see them as an economic generator.
"Ever since traffic ceased to move through Coolidge back when I-10 was constructed, Coolidge has been virtually at a standstill," City Manager Bob Flatley said. "A limited-access freeway would bring back a lot of the traffic that used to come through Coolidge."
Westcor has announced plans to build a regional mall in Coolidge next to a future freeway. Flatley said a freeway would also help the city build a business airpark around their airport, like those in Scottsdale, Chandler and Mesa.
"These things are a big benefit to the city tax-wise," he said.
With a little luck, the drive along back farm roads and through an Indian reservation from Interstate 10 to Central Arizona College near Coolidge takes no time at all. Without it, the 35-mile trek from Florence to south Chandler takes forever along a two-lane highway crowded with construction trucks.
Pile on an exploding Pinal County population that is expected to grow from about 245,000 to almost 1 million over the next 20 years, and residents say transportation is a serious problem.
"The East Valley is soon going to go all the way to Florence," said Chuck Backus, who lives in Gilbert and owns a ranch south of Apache Junction. "It's just a matter of time, and somebody needs to plan it."
A study developed in 2003 by the Maricopa Association of Governments, Central Arizona Association of Governments and Arizona Department of Transportation recommended four new transportation corridors be developed in Pinal County to help ease traffic in Pinal and Maricopa counties.
• A 31-mile East Valley corridor that connects Interstate 10 to U.S. 60 at Florence Junction, probably running along Hunt Highway.
• A 36-mile Apache Junction/Coolidge corridor that begins at Interstate 10 south of Coolidge and follows Arizona 87 north to U.S. 60.
• A 7-mile extension of U.S. 60 from Goldfield Road to Ray Road that loops to the west of Gold Canyon.
• A 15-mile Williams Gateway Freeway that runs west to east from Loop 202 through Williams Gateway Airport and connects to U.S. 60 just south of Gold Canyon.
The transportation organizations, led by ADOT, last month started gathering public comment on the suggested corridors and will continue with the first phase of public input through early April.
ADOT staff will first determine a need for the corridors and later this year conduct traffic studies, environmental studies and land use impact studies. They need to decide if the corridors are needed; what type of roads are most appropriate; the general area where they will be built and who will maintain them.
Once that is done, the organizations will make a recommendation to the state Transportation Board in November.
"These are planning studies," ADOT regional planner Dianne Kresich said. "We're talking to a lot of people to see how their needs would best be met."
The first focus groups were held in Apache Junction and Gold Canyon. Residents overwhelmingly said these corridors are needed, and sooner than later. Other public meetings will be scheduled for late March and early April.
"It's brutal out there," Gold Canyon business owner Victorya Goodrich said. "Driving on (U.S.) 60 is really getting dangerous."
Gold Canyon resident Dave Burden predicted growth in Pinal County will be tremendous and transportation vital.
"It's a ways out, but I think the economies from Tucson and the Valley are going to merge," he said.
Ron Reinagel, president of the Gold Canyon Business Association, agrees.
"They are building 800 brand new homes a month in Pinal County and most of them use Highway 60," he said.
ADOT's Kresich said early discussions with area residents and leaders have determined there is intense interest in making transportation improvements to the area.
"They want to know when and what," she said. "Development is happening so fast and we're doing a good job trying to meet those needs, but there is a fine line between building a highway to nowhere and being behind the development curve."
She said she doesn't want residents to assume these potential roads would all be freeways, and she would not estimate a construction timeline if some freeways are recommended.
The freeway process is a long-term one that often takes decades.
Mesa is banking on the Williams Gateway Freeway to provide easy access to the several hundred thousand people who will live and work in that corridor in years to come.
"Ten years from now, the freeway will be desperately needed," said Jeff Martin, Mesa's assistant development services manager.
Roc Arnett, president of the East Valley Partnership, said there will be a "phenomenal need" for the Williams Gateway freeway in 20 to 25 years. "It takes about 20 years to build a freeway," he said. "If you look at what we're doing with the 202, SanTan and Red Mountain, those were on the drawing boards 20, 25 years ago."
He said the freeway will help achieve the goal of "100,000 jobs and 35,000 students" in the Williams Gateway area in the next 20 years.
Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce CEO Rayna Palmer said she is afraid the proposed corridors won't be enough to handle the expected growth.
"I see this as an immediate remediation, but I don't see it as long term," she said. "There is such tremendous growth out here."
Corrine Cornn, who lives south of Queen Creek in the Copper Basin neighborhood, said her area also needs the corridors to combat increasing traffic problems.
"We are in a world of hurt," she said. "We desperately need freeways."
She estimated there are about 10,000 vehicles going out Hunt Highway to jobs in the East Valley each morning, and an equal number coming in to help build the hundreds of houses rising each month in the San Tan/Johnson Ranch area.
"It's a 45-minute drive into Mesa on crappy roads," she said. "It's tough when you're sharing that road with everyone else and a tractor going 10 miles an hour."
Coolidge officials support the corridors, but not because of any need to alleviate traffic. They see them as an economic generator.
"Ever since traffic ceased to move through Coolidge back when I-10 was constructed, Coolidge has been virtually at a standstill," City Manager Bob Flatley said. "A limited-access freeway would bring back a lot of the traffic that used to come through Coolidge."
Westcor has announced plans to build a regional mall in Coolidge next to a future freeway. Flatley said a freeway would also help the city build a business airpark around their airport, like those in Scottsdale, Chandler and Mesa.
"These things are a big benefit to the city tax-wise," he said.
