MESA'S FAST-TRACKED LAND-USE PLANNING CREATES A $90 BILLION-DOLLAR SELF-INDUCED BOTTLE-NECK

When back-handed plans between ADOT, Mesa and Legacy Sports USA (which operates Bell Bank Park) suddenly materialized a few months ago, it turns out that the state-and-municipal partnership with a private  group is creating one more scheme to ask for public tax-dollars to finance the infrastructure that will deliver forecasted 3,000,000-5,000,000 visitors to the area.

That old short-sighted Suburban Sprawl Mantra "Build it and They will come" has untold consequences on the environmental impact - the fat-jammed project has not undergone public scrutiny nor an objective analysis of the long-term costs.

MAG officials asked community leaders for their transit wish list for the coming decades.

The estimated cost for all of those more than 1,400 projects is $90 billion.

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Bottlenecks big priority for agency

             

• By Ken Sain, Tribune Staff Writer
• Apr 15, 2022 

•  0 Comments

"Addressing bottlenecks on the Santan and Loop 101 freeways and adding two rapid bus routes are among the transportation priorities for the county agency that plays a key role in helping people get around Maricopa County.

Audra Koester Thomas, the transportation planning program manager for the Maricopa Association of Governments, said every project on its list is important, but that expanding the number of lanes on the Santan Loop 202 Freeway between the Loop 101 and I-10 as the most important.

Two rapid-bus routes are planned. One would go up Arizona Avenue through the heart of downtown Chandler to Mesa and a light rail transit center and the other between Scottsdale Fashion Square and Chandler Fashion Center.

“The purpose of the route is more about connecting Chandler, Scottsdale and Tempe residents with downtown Tempe/ASU and downtown Scottsdale, along with a connection to either mall at the north/south end and the Chandler Fashion Center,” said Jason Crampton. “Additionally, the route will provide a faster connection to light rail and other regional bus lines in the area.” 

That route would travel mostly on Rural and Scottsdale roads.

Another high priority is addressing the rush-hour bottleneck on the Loop 101 between U.S. 60 and the Red Mountain Freeway.

A key to addressing all those priorities is voters passing an extension to Prop. 400, a half-cent sales tax dedicated to addressing the region’s transportation needs. It will likely be included on this year’s ballot in November, although at this newspaper’s deadline, both chambers in the Legislature were considering a bill to put the tax on renewal on this year’s ballot. The current tax expires in 2025.

Thomas said a lot of infrastructure has been built in East Valley since the 1980s and it has helped fuel the growth of Chandler to being Arizona’s fourth largest city.

“That half-cent sales tax is what delivered this network that you see here,” Thomas said, saying there are other projects in the works that will impact Chandler commuters.

“Finishing up the HOV lane, here out east of Chandler, around the Santan, so completing that freeway network,” she said. “Build out of the SR 24 (Gateway Freeway)  and the southeast network.”

The Arizona Department of Transportation two weeks ago opened another four-lane stretch of SR 24 to help access Bell Bank Park in Mesa as well as some residential areas. 

The mile-long section is an interim four-lane roadway between Ellsworth and Williams Field roads and was completed several months ahead of schedule as part of a partnership between ADOT, Mesa and Legacy Sports USA, which operates Bell Bank Park. The new sports and entertainment complex is southeast of the new intersection connecting SR 24 and Williams Field Road.

The new section is part of ADOT’s  $77 million project to build SR 24 as a divided four-lane roadway between Ellsworth Road in Mesa and Ironwood Drive in Pinal County. 

The entire five-mile-long project is scheduled for completion later this year. . ."