New Freeway Section Of Loop 303 To Open On 7/15

[swbrotha100]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Compared to what the freeway situation looks like in Tucson, what ADOT has done around Phoenix is impressive.

The best Tucson can hope for is upgrades to the existing freeways there (I-10, I-19).

I like how ADOT has long term plans for widening and reconfiguring the interchanges from Prince Road towards Phoenix. The railroad crossings right next to virtually all the major freeway exits on I-10 can be a big pain, especially if a long train is going through.

[azdr0710]

yes, Tucson is still very much now thinking the way Phoenix was thinking in the 1950s and 60s: that freeways will negatively change the character and atmosphere of the city....I-10 has been widened thru much of the city from downtown toward the NW and that helps a lot....I-19 anxiously awaits similar treatment....there is no evidence that any new limited-access freeways will be built in Tucson...instead, there are several projects going on right now throughout the city and adjacent county to widen the busiest surface streets....voters have approved those projects, but have said "no" to new freeways......

but metro Tucson has only a million people and metro Phoenix has 4.5 times that amount....metro Phoenix reached a million people back in 1969, years before traffic evidently became enough of a crisis that voters approved the highway plan that includes 303 (had to bring this back on topic somehow!!).....

only when things become an evident crisis will the general public recognize the need for a change

[Scottay]

I'm really surprised about how fast that freeway is being built. I'd bet that the I-10/loop 303 interchange will be done by spring 14'.

[Scottay]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

yes, Tucson is still very much now thinking the way Phoenix was thinking in the 1950s and 60s: that freeways will negatively change the character and atmosphere of the city

How could it not change the atmosphere and character of the city? I'm sure Tucson city council does not want their city to turn into the concrete, urban sprawl mecca that Phoenix has become. Unlike Phoenix, Tucson has a true desert southwest feel to it and, IMO, it should stay that way.

[Rogarven]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Compared to what the freeway situation looks like in Tucson, what ADOT has done around Phoenix is impressive.

AMEN!!!! They need an East- West freeway! Should have been done years ago. Thankfully, PHX has made up for lost time. Bravo!!

[azdr0710]

Originally Posted by Rogarven

AMEN!!!! They need an East- West freeway! Should have been done years ago. Thankfully, PHX has made up for lost time. Bravo!!

that has been proposed for many decades....but, for good or bad, it will never happen.....take your choice: too expensive (right-of-way acquisition and construction costs), too destructive (neighborhoods), traffic not bad enough, and/or loss of small-town character

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

Right. Granted they had a pretty clean slate to work with, but in some parts of the country projects like this would have become generational.

Most states don't have "summer" weather year round to work in.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by swbrotha100

After Grand Avenue, all ADOT really needs to do is work on an overpass/underpass at El Mirage Road.

I wonder where they'll place the obligatory red light/speed camera? I too can't wait for 303 to fully open, they are moving a light speed with it.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by jimj

Most states don't have "summer" weather year round to work in.

Absolutely, I was thinking more along the lines of NE states I've lived in turning projects into lifetime employment, into voting blocks, into re-elections and so on, while the traffic issues remain unresolved OR by the time the project is finished it's already obsolete.