Posted on 10/06/2019 8:27:48 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Interstate 10 is now three lanes both ways between Tucson and Casa Grande, but your commute probably wont get faster.
The Arizona Department of Transportation projects I-10 could be bumper-to-bumper all the way to Casa Grande during rush hour by 2035. The route currently carries around 60,000 vehicles daily, and that could quadruple depending on the regions growth, according to an ADOT spokesperson.
John Moffatt, director of economic development for Pima County, said those backups wont just be bad for commuters. He said they will hurt trade with Mexico.
Trucks are like water. They find the path of least resistance and thats what they use. And time is money to those guys, he said.
ADOT plans to widen the highway all the way to Phoenix, but Moffatt said that wont alleviate traffic in Tucson. ADOTs Long Range Travel Plan forecasts that even with the planned widenings, I-10 wont be able to serve expected travel demand.
Moffatt said he supports the proposed Interstate 11 route that would bypass Tucson to the west through the Avra Valley. The bypass is one segment of a planned direct route from Nogales to Las Vegas. Moffatt said it would allow for greater trade with Mexico while reducing truck traffic on I-10.
The proposed route is controversial. It would run through undeveloped desert close to protected wilderness like Saguaro National Park.
The Tucson City Council came out against the project in June, saying it would have enormous adverse impacts to economic, environmental, historic, cultural and archaeological resources that could not adequately be mitigated.
(Excerpt) Read more at azpm.org ...
PING.
Refugees from California?
Planning on fleeing from Fresno?
Or mebbe Mexico.
Maybe a bullet train? /s
LOL!
10 bullet train routes connecting Nogales to Tucson to Casa Grande to Phoenix to Las Vegas. Would that do?
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The study was for a high-speed passenger rail line, much of which would run in the median of I-10. The cost was projected at $6 billion. People in the know have informed me that the final price tag, with expected cost overruns, would run somewhere between $10 and $15 billion.
One state senator, who is no longer in politics, attempted to get Chinese interests to come in and build it on a turnkey basis, but Gov. Ducey said he didn't want the Chinese in here.
A cheaper alternative would be to fix up the Union Pacific line between Phoenix and Tucson for passenger rail, and that would cost between $1.1 and $1.3 billion. Miami's Brightline, now Virgin Trains USA, looked at that alternative but opted instead to build the Las Vegas-to-Victorville project.
Amtrak has asked the mayors of Yuma, Phoenix and Tucson to write to Amtrak requesting three round trips a day between Phoenix and Tucson using the UP line, and one round trip per day between Los Angeles and Tucson via Phoenix. These letters will trigger a four- to five-year feasibility study on Amtrak's part before Amtrak asks the states of California and Arizona to fund it. While California has a mechanism for funding passenger rail, Arizona does not.
Further, bringing the Yuma-Phoenix section of the UP line back into service -- it was taken out of service in 1996 due to a terrorist incident -- would cost $500 million. Nobody has that kind of money.
Barring some new vast federal program for passenger rail, nothing will be done.
As cities go vertical, interstates cannot.
Plan your future accordingly. Look at foreign nations traffic problems.
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