What will happen first, AZ 85 freeway or I-11 "Phoenix Bypass" segment?

Started by swbrotha100, August 22, 2016, 02:36:34 PM

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coatimundi

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 03, 2016, 09:49:24 AM
And if you're heading to the Iron Forest National Monument from Marana on Silverbell Road you get some interesting warning signs about watching out for cartel members.  Apparently they run drugs up from Sonora and pop out somewhere near the Silverbell Mine.  Border Patrol usually has a vehicle or two out there searching and generally will give you the stink eye if you're heading out to Ironwood for whatever reason.  And they want to build an Interstate here?....there isn't anything out there but the Silverbell and Sasco ghost towns.  There isn't even a WATER supply out there to capture from.  If you look at most of the development in the Sonoran desert it's mostly near a river or major stream where it can be impounded.

Those signs are all over the place in Southeastern Arizona though. Years ago, they had a story of some smugglers coming up to people camping south of Casa Grande, but it was never verified and the paper seemed to look at it like they had made it up.
There was a smuggling route along IR 15 until BP started putting more pressure on that corridor. For years, they had a mobile tower along that road. That pushed them in both directions, but the east got more attention because it was closer to population centers. They had the shootout with Pinal County sheriffs several years ago along that corridor, but closer to I-8.
The Santa Cruz River flows there. It was seasonally dry until the mid-2000's when they upped the effluent discharge at the treatment plants upriver, and now Sasco Road west of Red Rock is not typically passable due to its low-water crossing (I mean, it might be passable for some, but I never wanted to try it seeing that it's mostly treated sewage). Aside from that, there is water there though around Silverbell Peak. There's just not very much of it.


compdude787

I personally don't see why I-11 should be put on a different alignment than AZ 85 between Buckeye and Gila Bend. One freeway is enough out there. And also, I, like others here, don't see why it needs to be extended to the Mexican border. Seems like the planners are hanging out with FritzOwl a bit too much...

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: compdude787 on September 09, 2016, 01:42:28 AM
I personally don't see why I-11 should be put on a different alignment than AZ 85 between Buckeye and Gila Bend. One freeway is enough out there. And also, I, like others here, don't see why it needs to be extended to the Mexican border. Seems like the planners are hanging out with FritzOwl a bit too much...

I'm sure he has I-11 as I-7 or I-9....since it's all part of the plan.


DJStephens

Quote from: Sonic99 on September 02, 2016, 01:45:43 AM
I still remain convinced that the need for a completely new Interstate alignment so close to I-10 from Casa Grande all the way south is completely ridiculous. The bypass around the back side of Tucson, perhaps. But at the top, it looks like I-11 parallels I-10 with only a couple miles difference.

My idea would be I-11 down AZ 85 to Gila Bend, and a duplex along I-8 and I-10 to the Tucson area, then the bypass around the back side of Tucson down to I-19 and either duplex or replace I-19 to the Mexican border.

Kind of on-topic but off-topic, does anyone know what Arizona's hatred for duplexes is? Do any even exist? The only one I can think of is AZ 77 and US 60 from Globe to Show Low. For the sake of this argument, I am not counting short duplexes that only go for a couple miles through towns. I can't really think of any others, as it seems like they would rather have a highway "end" when it meets another rather than duplexing to a destination. It seems like other states have plenty of overlap of highways (and definitely Interstates) where they cross paths or run in a similar area.

Good point.  interstate 19 should have been "duplexed" along interstate 10 to phoenix, then used for the black canyon freeway route up to flagstaff.  would have left the "17" number for the las vegas / phoenix route.   

AZDude

Quote from: Sonic99 on September 02, 2016, 01:45:43 AM

Kind of on-topic but off-topic, does anyone know what Arizona's hatred for duplexes is? Do any even exist? The only one I can think of is AZ 77 and US 60 from Globe to Show Low. For the sake of this argument, I am not counting short duplexes that only go for a couple miles through towns. I can't really think of any others, as it seems like they would rather have a highway "end" when it meets another rather than duplexing to a destination. It seems like other states have plenty of overlap of highways (and definitely Interstates) where they cross paths or run in a similar area.

I-40 and U.S. 93 join for 23 miles.

sdmichael




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