Guest opinion: San Pedro highway would be a disgrace
by Multiple Authors on Jul. 31, 2007, under OpinionA loop road west, south of Tucson would save riparian habitat
Cattle, horse and ostrich ranches border the San Pedro River along Cascabel/Redington Road east of Tucson.
We are very concerned about the proposed Interstate 10 bypass through the San Pedro River Valley.
According to the 2005 Existing Traffic Volumes report from the Arizona Department of Transportation, there is very little through traffic on I-10.
The report shows 25,000 average vehicle per day west of Buckeye and 15,000 vehicles east of Benson. Most of the traffic is intercity in both Phoenix (297,000 average vehicles per day) and Tucson (137,000 vehicles per day) and between Phoenix and Tucson.
There is no evidence that providing a bypass will significantly decrease the traffic in either Phoenix or Tucson since the vast majority of it is local.
Having said that, to help alleviate the traffic congestion in both Tucson and Phoenix on I-10, we recommend doing three things:
● I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson should be widened to six-plus lanes.
● A loop road should be built around the south and west of Tucson. This route would have the least environmental impact (although the route would need to be sensitive to Saguaro National Park and the Ironwood Forest National Monument), would not increase congestion in other areas and would not degrade the business traffic through some of the smaller communities that need it, such as Willcox and Benson.
This loop road also would provide alternatives to the increasing traffic and congestion between Tucson and Mexico and the Green Valley area on I-19.
● Highway 85 between Gila Bend and Buckeye should be upgraded to an interstate connector. I-10 through traffic could then avoid Phoenix by using I-8 and state Route 85 between Buckeye and Casa Grande.
The worst thing we could do, however, is build a major highway through the San Pedro River Valley.
The River Valley is one of the few desert riparian areas in the world and one of Arizona’s gems.
The upper-river section, near Sierra Vista, already has been made a National Conservation Area and as such draws a great number of tourists to the region.
The biodiversity of the lower-river section, where the proposed highway would be, equals that of the upper-river section.
The San Pedro River ecosystem supports nearly two-thirds of the avian diversity in the United States. About 100 species of birds breed in the river valley and an additional 250 species use the corridor for migration and winter range – the only bird migration corridor in Arizona.
It harbors several endemic and federally listed endangered fish. It also provides habitat for 80 species of mammals including the elusive jaguar.
Building a highway through this area would disrupt the fragile water flow, irreparably damage the river habitat and impede the annual migration of more than 4 million birds as well as the daily migration of many animals coming down from the surrounding mountains to drink from the river.
Arizona would be disgraced if a highway were built through this world-renowned riparian area.
Instead, we have a perfect opportunity to further distinguish Arizona by working indepen- dently or with the federal government to conserve and preserve the lower-river section in addition to the upper-river section, adding to the many attractions in the state.
Let’s show the world that Arizona is concerned about maintaining a healthy and diverse environment for future generations.
For more on the unique San Pedro River area, see this story online at www.tucsoncitizen.com
Dave Wilhelm is a software architect and Nancy Stewart is a nurse practitioner who have lived on a ranch for a year in the San Pedro Valley, which they consider one of the last great places on Earth.
Building a highway through the San Pedro's ecosystem would disrupt the fragile water flow, irreparably damage the river habitat and impede the annual migration of more than 4 million birds as well as the daily migration of many animals coming down from the surrounding mountains to drink from the river.
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For more on the Diversity of the San Pedro River, go to the Nature Conservancy’s Web page on the area.
By Dave Wilhelm, Nancy Stewart
