Free Republic

Interstate 10 is now three lanes both ways between Tucson and Casa Grande, but your commute probably won’t 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 region’s growth, according to an ADOT spokesperson. John Moffatt, director of economic development for Pima County, said those backups won’t just be bad for commuters. He said they will hurt trade with Mexico. “Trucks are like water. They find the path of least resistance...

The Arizona Department of Transportation has released its first-stage environmental review of a proposed new interstate from the border to north of Phoenix. The agency wants the public to weigh in on the controversial proposal, and is holding public meetings in Tucson and Marana this week. Three years ago, the state transportation department began evaluating the possibility of a new interstate highway, called I-11, which would connect traffic from the Mexican border to the Nevada border. In 2015 a federal act identified the route as a high-priority corridor eligible for federal funding. State transportation spokesperson Laura Douglas says her agency...

There were not many open seats at a pair of meetings last week over proposed routes that would send Interstate 11 through the Tucson area. Many of those in attendance were there to speak against two of the alternatives, which run west of Saguaro National Park West in the Avra Valley.“I understand the need to provide ways for people to move around," said Kimberly Baeza, "But it doesn't have to come at the expense of our open landscapes and beautiful Sonoran Desert.”The meeting is part of the second step in selecting the route I-11 could take through Arizona. The freeway...