I-17 traffic congestion center of concerns

Special to The Foothills Focus
By Alan Richardson

Some of the attendees of the I-17 Stakeholders Meeting were l-r, Lt. Robert Ticer, Rep. Sam Crump, Rep. Andy Tobin, Cmdr. Dennis Young, Kevin Biesty, Rep. Doug Clark, Sen. Tom O'Halleran, and Rep. Tom Chapin.

ANTHEM – Representatives Doug Clark and Sam Crump hosted the first of what will be quarterly meetings to discuss transportation issues along the I-17 corridor. About twenty community leaders from as far away as Flagstaff and Prescott joined the conference on Monday, Jan. 7, despite a harsh winter storm that kept many northern residents away.

The meeting was held in the law offices of Boates & Crump in Anthem.

Introducing the purpose of the meeting, Crump said, “I-17 is a lifeline for us.”

Besides the Republican hosts, other state legislators attending were Senators Jack Harper (Surprise-R) and Tom O'Halleran (Sedona–R) along with Representatives Andy Tobin (Pauldin-R) and Tom Chabin (Flagstaff–D). House Majority Leader Tom Boone (Peoria-R) sent a representative to the meeting. Prescott Valley Council members Mary Baker and Fran Schumacher were among other elected officials present.

Both the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety had several high ranking officials in attendance, with DPS and ADOT both giving detailed presentations to the stakeholder group. Cmdr. Dennis Young, in charge of the Central/West Bureau for DAP explained the procedures for handling traffic issues and Tim Tait, ADOT Community Relations Director, gave a status report on I-17 improvements and potential alternative routes.

Tait noted that projects funded by Prop 400's half-cent sales tax had been started along the freeway north of Loop 101, including construction of new interchanges at Jomax, Dixileta, and Carefree Highway. Lone Mountain and Dove Valley Road interchanges will come later. Improvements are also underway at the Cordes Junction interchange.

Widening of the freeway from the Loop to Jomax will start in February. This project will add a general purpose lane and HOV lane in each direction, plus construct merges lane at the interchanges.

The next phase will start in April or May, to provide the same construction from Jomax to Carefree Highway . In late 2008 or early 2009, a general purpose lane will be added in both directions from Carefree Hwy to Anthem Way .

Tait noted the need for the improvements to provide capacity and improve safety.

DPS reported that the 117 officers assigned to the area must cover 412 miles of freeways and state highways. The department investigated 33,004 accidents in 2006, with nearly 4,000 of those on I-17. In addition, DPS provided motorist assistance to over 135,000 Maricopa County drivers.

Cmdr. Young reported the improvement in incident management by DPS, as officers have on-going training in managing collisions and incidents. Addressing the complaints about long traffic delays, Young reported that the department reviews every road closure for improvements. Staffing in the area is part of the problem, with DPS resorting to “stacking” calls during peak travel times.

Tait reported that construction of I-17 was started in the 1940s, becoming part of the Interstate system in order to “move people and commerce.”

Future alternatives to I-17 could cost upwards of $16 billion, according to ADOT, and would be 30 to 50 years out. Kevin Biesty, Government Relations Director, noted, “People want relief now.”

The meeting was a mix of government and private interests, with Marty Schultz, Vice President of Government Affairs for APS parent company, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, and Ellen Poole of USAA, which has over 3,000 employees in its Happy Valley and I-17 offices, representing business interests. Schultz, who founded Time Coalition, a transportation study group, predicted, “Demographics say we can't wait (for alternative routes).” Schultz reported that his group expected to present plans to the Legislature as early as this spring to be put on the 2008 ballot to address transportation issues.

Addressing possibilities of toll roads and private/public partnerships in highway construction, Biesty said, “No one is knocking our doors down to build roads,” He reported that even if achievable, toll roads would take care of no more than 20 percent of the state's transportation needs. He said the ADOT did not think people would support tolls on existing roads, while explaining that adding a user fee to the HOV lanes has many challenges, including access, federal rules, and lack of connection between stretches of HOV lanes.