City studies future roadways, linkage to I-11

Traffic flow tends to be employment related. That is the driving force behind transportation recommendations that have come to Maricopa.

Every transportation discussion leads to the proposed Interstate 11. That is envisioned as running from Las Vegas to Wickenburg, replacing U.S. 93 and Interstate 515, to become the Hassayampa Freeway, loop west of the Phoenix metropolitan area, run south of Maricopa and east to a proposed Pinal North-South Freeway.

As engineers plan more local parkways to move residents efficiently and safely, they have to work the future I-11 into the mix – even though it still is only in the proposed stage.

“We believe in the I-11,” Mayor Christian Price said.

Bob Hazlett, senior engineer for the Maricopa Association of Governments, presented information on parkway framework studies to the Maricopa City Council Tuesday. His focus was the Interstate 8/Interstate 10/Hidden Valley framework.

He said studies done between 2007 and 2009 pointed to the future traffic flows. The Highway 238 corridor is seen as growing in the future as “a lot of traffic likes to go to the West Valley.”

While saying he supports the I-11 concept, Council member Henry Wade said he was confused by the reference to west side traffic.

“It kind of surprised us, too,” Hazlett said. “The wave of the future there is housing developments and job centers. It is all very employment-related.”

He called it a paradigm shift in Arizona transportation.

“It does go vice versa,” he said. “We see a lot of reverse movement the other way as well.”

Arizona’s lack of north-south freeways instigated talk of I-11. Hazlett said I-11 would give travelers a gateway and close the gap to U.S. 93. The concept also includes coordinating infrastructure plans for the Mexico Federal Highway 15.

Still, it was the east-west travel options that centered the conversation in council chambers. Consultant Berwyn Wilbrink of Jacobs Engineering walked the council through the history of the East-West Corridor study during a work session preceding the regular meeting.

Main interest was in the Val Vista and Anderson Parkway Planning Corridors. The plans are meant to “serve as key components of a master transportation planning network.”

A proposed Val Vista Freeway would link Casa Grande to I-11 using Farrell Road. An proposed Anderson parkway would link the East-West Corridor to I-8. The council approved recommendations from the Transportation Advisory Committee, but not before hearing and accommodating concerns from landowners.

Seth Keeler of W Holdings in Tempe, which plans to develop land  east of State Route 347 across from the casino, had previously stated his property ownership group’s opposition to part of the plan, though they favor the east-west parkway concept. As recommended, the Val Vista freeway would cut southwest through their property and to SR 347 at Farrell Road. The recommendation considers the potential for the road to continue west to the possible I-11.

“We are still not in favor of having our property cut in half with the proposed ending,” Keeler said, later adding the configuration “creates a very difficult-to-develop triangular parcel.”

He said he was told by staff that the Ak-Chin community was driving that particular alignment to have the roadway run between the casino and the entertainment complex. But when Keeler asked more about the road continuing west, he was told there was no guarantee of that.

“We feel like essentially we’re the sacrificial lamb for an idea that may never come to pass,” he said.