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VICTORY! South Mountain Freeway Lawsuit dismissed!

Started by Pink Jazz, August 19, 2016, 08:20:59 PM

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Pink Jazz

http://www.azdot.gov/media/News/news-release/2016/08/19/adot-federal-highway-administration-prevail-in-south-mountain-freeway-lawsuit

While this is a major victory for ADOT as well as Arizona, it isn't quite the time to celebrate just yet, since PARC plans on taking the case to the 9th Circuit, which is a bit concerning since they are very liberal.  Hopefully the 9th Circuit is wise enough to accept that PARC's and GRIC's cases against the freeway are meritless.


NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

howlincoyote2k1

Not bad. Well done.

Not looking forward to the massive headache that is to come on I-10 west of Phoenix when they build that interchange though. Good thing I live out of state  :-D

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: NE2 on August 19, 2016, 11:50:49 PM
Now boil them in oil!

It's funny how much the tone has changed on freeway development in Arizona.  So much for the good old days of the I-10 downtown Phoenix freeway wars....you best not have issue with any new freeway plans these days.  :rolleyes:

Sonic99

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 20, 2016, 11:24:48 PM
Quote from: NE2 on August 19, 2016, 11:50:49 PM
Now boil them in oil!

It's funny how much the tone has changed on freeway development in Arizona.  So much for the good old days of the I-10 downtown Phoenix freeway wars....you best not have issue with any new freeway plans these days.  :rolleyes:

I think this particular battle has more bitterness towards the opposition because the plans have been on the books for over 30 years and multiple attempts to build it have been scuttled because of this handful of NIMBY's who try to find every excuse possible for why to not build the freeway. I think it's actually similar to how the 710/Long Beach Freeway is viewed by such a large majority, and the main opposition is just the local people right there who just stick their fingers in their ears and scream "NO! Just NO" on every proposal. Except our freeway is actually being built.

Honestly, I think everyone looks back on those horrific plans in the 60's and 70's for I-10 in Downtown Phoenix and are grateful that the opposition then won out. The plans were just terrible. With the South Mountain freeway, a lot of thought process has gone into the routing and design to do as much as possible to appease those opposed. In the 60's, ADOT/Phoenix was just like "Yeah, we're gonna built a 10-story high freeway with huge spiral ramps covering hundreds of acres and to hell if you don't like it." The opposition back then caused ADOT to go back to square one, and we got the Deck Park Tunnel which is a MUCH better design than whatever the hell that was that was proposed in the 60's.

In this case, ADOT has bent over backwards to try to take care of as much of the issues as possible. They tried for years working with the Gila River tribe to avoid all the problems completely, but for whatever reason, the tribe won't budge (and they're within their right to do so.) So ADOT has worked through a corridor they've had set up for 30 years. Remember, 90% of that path was kept clear for all these years in anticipation of the freeway. Only that one neighborhood between 26th St and 27th Pl and the Mountain Park Community Church (and a much smaller section out near 27th Ave) somehow got put in (and whoever let that happen should be heavily criticized). But the opposition's only real objection is just simply "We don't think you need this freeway at all."
If you used to draw freeways on your homework and got reprimanded by your Senior English teacher for doing so, you might be a road geek!

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

pumpkineater2

Quote from: Sonic99 on August 21, 2016, 12:18:50 AM
But the opposition's only real objection is just simply "We don't think you need this freeway at all."

This makes me recall that a while back I found some of PARC's proposed alternatives to the South Mountain Freeway:

http://protectazchildren.org/possible-alternatives-to-smf/

One of them literally says "8-10 lane Loop 202 following Baseline Road from 51st Ave to I-10", which tells me that these people are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites; they don't care if other communities are destroyed by a freeway, as long as theirs isn't. I mean honestly, building along baseline road would displace so many more people and would be so much more expensive, yet they accuse ADOT of poor planning, sheesh.

Anyway, I hope nothing comes of their plans with the 9th Circuit. I can't wait to see some construction!
Come ride with me to the distant shore...

Max Rockatansky

#7
Quote from: NE2 on August 21, 2016, 01:02:02 AM
Those NIMBYs should be forced to wear pink.

A couple years ago they would have had to if they ended up in Tent City but apparently that got declared "cruel and unusual."  Does anyone know if MCSO still does the green eggs and ham?

Quote from: Sonic99 on August 21, 2016, 12:18:50 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 20, 2016, 11:24:48 PM
Quote from: NE2 on August 19, 2016, 11:50:49 PM
Now boil them in oil!

It's funny how much the tone has changed on freeway development in Arizona.  So much for the good old days of the I-10 downtown Phoenix freeway wars....you best not have issue with any new freeway plans these days.  :rolleyes:

I think this particular battle has more bitterness towards the opposition because the plans have been on the books for over 30 years and multiple attempts to build it have been scuttled because of this handful of NIMBY's who try to find every excuse possible for why to not build the freeway. I think it's actually similar to how the 710/Long Beach Freeway is viewed by such a large majority, and the main opposition is just the local people right there who just stick their fingers in their ears and scream "NO! Just NO" on every proposal. Except our freeway is actually being built.

Honestly, I think everyone looks back on those horrific plans in the 60's and 70's for I-10 in Downtown Phoenix and are grateful that the opposition then won out. The plans were just terrible. With the South Mountain freeway, a lot of thought process has gone into the routing and design to do as much as possible to appease those opposed. In the 60's, ADOT/Phoenix was just like "Yeah, we're gonna built a 10-story high freeway with huge spiral ramps covering hundreds of acres and to hell if you don't like it." The opposition back then caused ADOT to go back to square one, and we got the Deck Park Tunnel which is a MUCH better design than whatever the hell that was that was proposed in the 60's.

In this case, ADOT has bent over backwards to try to take care of as much of the issues as possible. They tried for years working with the Gila River tribe to avoid all the problems completely, but for whatever reason, the tribe won't budge (and they're within their right to do so.) So ADOT has worked through a corridor they've had set up for 30 years. Remember, 90% of that path was kept clear for all these years in anticipation of the freeway. Only that one neighborhood between 26th St and 27th Pl and the Mountain Park Community Church (and a much smaller section out near 27th Ave) somehow got put in (and whoever let that happen should be heavily criticized). But the opposition's only real objection is just simply "We don't think you need this freeway at all."

The Gila Tribe has been pretty much known to fight everyone over everything in regards to land usage on the reservation.  In regards to roadways it pretty much all stems back to those demands about an I-10 Frontage Road that they wanted.  Hell they even fought the National Park Service about opening Snake Town for public visitation.  Then was that whole wriggamoral a couple years ago about tearing down Fire Bird Raceway for a shopping center.  As for that church and homes....people with a crap load of money apparently but not a lot of common sense:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.291134,-112.0298514,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdLxhqmkMuzogypAY_MYJRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Really?....that place is a friggin compound.  :-D

swbrotha100

It definitely looks like PARC is more interested in just keeping Loop 202 out of Ahwatukee than anything else. I did copy some of the alternatives PARC had on their site. They are below:


(1) 8-10 lane Loop 202 on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), with permission.
(2) Light rail along Pecos Road but going through a small portion of the GRIC (with permission) rather than cutting through South Mountain.
(3) 8-10 lane Loop 202 following Baseline Road from 51st Ave to I-10.
(4) 8-10 lane Loop 202 from I-10 near Avondale going along the west side of the Estrella Mountains and then cutting between the Estrella and Maricopa Mountains, following the southern boundary of the GRIC to the I-10 north of Casa Grande.
(5) 8-10 lane freeway along State Route 85 from I-10 at Buckeye to I-8 at Gila Bend as a "real"  truck by-pass.
(6) 8-10 lane freeway along State Route 85 from I-10 at Buckeye, cutting between the Estrella and Maricopa Mountains and across to I-10 north of Casa Grande as a "real"  truck by-pass.
(7) 8-10 lane freeway along one of the routes described in 2, 3, or 4, and renumber it as the I-10 so all "through"  traffic would take this route as a default.
(8) Renumber the I-10 through Phoenix as I-810 or the like, making it obvious that it is for Phoenix traffic only.

kdk

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on August 21, 2016, 07:50:04 AM


The Gila Tribe has been pretty much known to fight everyone over everything in regards to land usage on the reservation.  In regards to roadways it pretty much all stems back to those demands about an I-10 Frontage Road that they wanted.  Hell they even fought the National Park Service about opening Snake Town for public visitation.  Then was that whole wriggamoral a couple years ago about tearing down Fire Bird Raceway for a shopping center.  As for that church and homes....people with a crap load of money apparently but not a lot of common sense:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.291134,-112.0298514,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdLxhqmkMuzogypAY_MYJRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Really?....that place is a friggin compound.  :-D

The Gila Tribe though also gets influenced by a lot of outside interest more than you think.  I know they have been against those frontage roads in I-10, but when the 202 came up for a vote I saw a lot of "vote buying" going on on both sides.  here's one article, but there are many more- basically these people were getting paid to vote-
http://roselawgroupreporter.com/2013/02/gila-river-tribe-considers-vote-on-different-loop-202-alignment/

That's the issue when you have a relatively small amount of people who can vote on something like this.

The Ghostbuster

With the lawsuit dismissed, how long before construction might start?

Sonic99

I'm under the impression it will start within the next month. Pretty much all of the properties in the path have been cleared except for the church, right?
If you used to draw freeways on your homework and got reprimanded by your Senior English teacher for doing so, you might be a road geek!

swbrotha100

Quote from: Sonic99 on August 22, 2016, 06:55:05 PM
I'm under the impression it will start within the next month. Pretty much all of the properties in the path have been cleared except for the church, right?

The Pecos section is ready. Only the church needs to be demolished. The 59th Ave section still needs time to acquire and/or clear properties.

707

WAHOO!!! I'm going to celebrate by listening to David Allen Coe and Jerry Jeff Walker. The kind of music NIMBYs would hate.

qguy

Quote from: 707 on August 24, 2016, 02:50:01 PM
WAHOO!!! I'm going to celebrate by listening to David Allen Coe and Jerry Jeff Walker. The kind of music NIMBYs would hate.

Why stop there? If you want to go full-on anti-NIMBY, crank up some Ted Nugent. Ol' Uncle Ted will give them all coronaries.

swbrotha100

ADOT posted a video of the Pecos Road section of the South Mountain Freeway (before major construction):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fEzn7HMG0Q

ACSCmapcollector

The Rand McNally 2017 Road Atlas has this section of the South Mountain Freeway as already "under construction".  No surprise there. 

chamber79

And now the Gila River tribe wants to appeal the enviro docs. Essentially their argument is to protect sacred lands that this freeway will, in their words, destroy.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2016/08/30/gila-river-tribe-to-appeal-court-decision-on-loop.html

Will this ever end?


(My first post on here!)


Sonic99

The tribe could have saved those "sacred lands" several years ago by working with ADOT on routing the freeway in a different manner. The tribe just basically said "we don't want you to build a freeway at all" which has never even been an option on the table.
If you used to draw freeways on your homework and got reprimanded by your Senior English teacher for doing so, you might be a road geek!

kdk

Any more lawsuits from the tribe are all political at this point. 

There were a lot of tribal members who were against the freeway and voted the "no build" option even though it had no influence on what ADOT did or decided.  The tribal government needs to at least show that they did everything they could to stop it.

In reality, I think the tribe is actually in favor of the freeway, it will help them with economic development on some of its land, similar to what the reservation did along the 101 in Scottsdale.  Even when the new Vee Quiva casino a couple of years ago it was built it was designed to maximize its visibility from the new freeway.

AZDude

Do you guys think this freeway will be open to traffic in stages?  Or will it not open until the entire section is built?

Zonie

This was from the Phoenix Business Journal yesterday -- construction starts Monday:

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2016/09/15/adot-starts-south-mountain-freeway-construction.html

If you look at the map, there are four distinct segments; without a timeline on ADOT's site, I would suspect it would open in phases (the Pecos section being the first).

Duke87

Worth noting that the construction starting tomorrow is merely a widening of an existing segment of 202 that doesn't actually extend the freeway at all. This work being completed doesn't make anything a done deal.

ADOT anticipates starting work on actually extending it early next year, but folks are still throwing lawsuits around, so...
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

D-Dey65

Quote from: qguy on August 25, 2016, 11:52:25 AM
Quote from: 707 on August 24, 2016, 02:50:01 PM
WAHOO!!! I'm going to celebrate by listening to David Allen Coe and Jerry Jeff Walker. The kind of music NIMBYs would hate.

Why stop there? If you want to go full-on anti-NIMBY, crank up some Ted Nugent. Ol' Uncle Ted will give them all coronaries.
I've got a couple of nice tunes:
http://www.kurumi.com/music/nimby.html

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5095794&postcount=133



Sonic99

From the Phoenix Business Journal article, I saw this and am confused.

QuoteWhen construction of the mainline freeway begins early next year, all Pecos Road traffic will be temporarily shifted to the eastbound lanes for approximately two years, and two lanes of traffic in each direction will be maintained at most times during construction, with the exception of periodic traffic restrictions at intersections with cross streets.

As I look at Pecos Rd, it's currently two lanes each direction with a small dirt median in the middle. I have no clue how they plan on having four lanes of travel on what is currently a two-lane configuration.

I also find it interesting that the entire freeway appears to elevate over all of the cross streets. No cross streets pass over the freeway at any location. Even the frontage road crossovers along the 59th Ave alignment pass underneath the 202. Is there any particular reason for that? Is it cheaper to elevate the freeway as opposed to elevate the cross streets?
If you used to draw freeways on your homework and got reprimanded by your Senior English teacher for doing so, you might be a road geek!



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