Our Opinion: Major hurdles stand in way of I-10 bypass
by Tucson Citizen on Mar. 06, 2007, under Opinion
With the Tucson stretch of Interstate 10 about undergoing a wallet-busting, traffic disrupting, three years-plus widening, it is a good time to look at ways of diverting freeway through traffic away from Tucson.
But there are major environmental barriers to a proposed multibillion dollar, 200-mile bypass east and north of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
The Arizona Department of Transportation will award a contract next month for a consultant to explore the proposed four-lane highway. It would run from I-10 west of Phoenix to I-10 near Benson or Willcox.
S.L. Schorr, a Tucson lawyer and member of the state Transportation Board, estimated that more than 30 percent of trucks using I-10 through Tucson and Phoenix could be diverted to the bypass. That would relieve or eliminate the need for future major widenings of I-10 in the state’s two largest cities.
That’s attractive. But the proposed route is fraught with problems. Foremost among them is the massive cost, for which no source has been identified.
Because of a lack of highways, the north and east sides of the Catalinas have been isolated from the explosive growth that has enveloped much of the rest of Arizona.
A freeway through the area would change that, bringing not only the air and water pollution caused by trucks and cars, but also opening the corridor up to rapid development.
That could be especially deleterious in the pristine San Pedro Valley on the west side of the Rincon Mountains. The area is home to at least three endangered species, and southern Arizona has taken extraordinary steps to preserve the river that runs most of the year.
A long-discussed bypass south of Tucson, connecting Interstates 10 and 19, would be less destructive and divert a lot of truck traffic from town. That proposed bypass would run along the northern fringe of Sahuarita, allowing trucks traveling to or from Mexico and heading east to avoid Tucson.
The bypass proposed for north and east of Tucson faces major hurdles. These problems must not be minimized as the state struggles to handle traffic increases.
