No East-West highway north of I-10? (Phoenix, Glendale: sales, movers, neighborhoods)

[numeflua]

As a new resident of Scottsdale (downtown area), one frustrating thing about driving through the Phoenix area is the lack of an East-West highway north of 10 and south of 101. For going North-South, we have 17 and 51, but nothing like that perpendicular. Instead, the only option is to drive through the perpendicular cross streets like Camelback.

Are there any plans for such an East-West highway?

[Ritchie_az]

Nope. No plans through 2035, anyway.

[CodyW]

At some point in the future - the west side will be getting what they've been calling the "Northern Parkway." Which, I believe, will run from the 303 to the 101 on the west side. It's a start, I guess.

EDIT: It'll go further than the 101 - Eventually. Still not going to do much to help you folk out in Scottsdale, though.

[Ritchie_az]

Yeah, I forgot about that one, probably because I was thinking "east side".

[Cyborg13]

Bah that's not going to help. We need a limited-access highway like Hwy 101. With all those stoplights, it will only turn into another cluster like Grand.

I had been wondering about the possibilities of an E/W highway up there, but I think it's too overdeveloped now to be practical.

[TRTFSHR]

There was supposed to be a Paradise Parkway that for the most part was on Camelback Road. This was cancelled by I believe Symington. No plans for one in the near future.

[exit2lef]

Well, there's 202, which is north of I-10, although maybe not as much as the OP wants.

Right about the Paradise Parkway. It would have run from SR51 on the east to the 101 on the west, forming a sort of Midtown connector highway. It was highly controversial. Some land was acquired in Central Phoenix, but there were many battles about neighborhoods to be destroyed. Also, there was never a plan to extend the freeway east from SR51 toward Scottsdale. That would have been even more controversial because then the road would have cut through the affluent and historic Arcadia neighborhood. When ADOT began running out of money in the '90s, the Paradise was an easy road to eliminate because it was the most controversial. At this point, I don't think we'll ever see an east-west freeway through Central Phoenix. Building I-10 and SR51 was controversial enough, and now there's a greater sense of historic preservation and urban identity in Central Phoenix than when the Paradise was planned.

Read all about it here: Arizona @ RockyMountainRoads - Arizona 50/Paradise Parkway (dead) (http://www.rockymountainroads.com/az-050.html - broken link)

[_Charles_]

Originally Posted by numeflua

As a new resident of Scottsdale (downtown area), one frustrating thing about driving through the Phoenix area is the lack of an East-West highway north of 10 and south of 101. For going North-South, we have 17 and 51, but nothing like that perpendicular. Instead, the only option is to drive through the perpendicular cross streets like Camelback.

Are there any plans for such an East-West highway?

Not for a while - and hopefully never. No offense but central Phoenix neighborhoods do not deserve to be torn up and disrupted by more freeways -in order to provide convenience for newcomers moving to the Valley perimeters.

[azdr0710]

more on the Paradise Parkway....

yes, this would've been what the OP was looking for....an E-W crosstown freeway, but, as silverbear said, it would've gone no more E than 51 (16th St area), so would've led to huge traffic on Camelback and Lincoln/Glendale headed further E.....

it was part of the original metro freeway plan in 1986 when voters passed the sales tax increase to build what is now just about finished all over the valley....

colossally expensive, it was a pet project of then-mayor Terry Goddard...due to expense and neighborhood disruption, it was finally scrapped.....I don't think Symington had much to do with it being canceled, but I may be wrong

[observer53]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

more on the Paradise Parkway....

yes, this would've been what the OP was looking for....an E-W crosstown freeway, but, as silverbear said, it would've gone no more E than 51 (16th St area), so would've led to huge traffic on Camelback and Lincoln/Glendale headed further E.....

it was part of the original metro freeway plan in 1986 when voters passed the sales tax increase to build what is now just about finished all over the valley....

colossally expensive, it was a pet project of then-mayor Terry Goddard...due to expense and neighborhood disruption, it was finally scrapped.....I don't think Symington had much to do with it being canceled, but I may be wrong

I think the Maricopa Association of Governments were the main movers and shakers behind that 1986 plan and how it was implemented afterward, including the cancellation of the Paradise Pkwy portion. It's true that what shelved it was the astronomical condemnation costs for the land that the road would be built on (It wasn't just a takeover of Camelback Road), and the disruption of the affected neighborhoods.