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In our view: I-10 bypass through river valley is bad idea
Months have passed since this bad idea first came to light, and the Arizona Department of Transportation continues to study possible bypasses for Interstate 10.
ADOT materials indicate they are researching no less than 15 possible bypasses to the city of Tucson. All of this got moving when Tucson attorney Si Schorr suggested building an I-10 bypass through the San Pedro Valley. In the annals of rotten ideas, that one is pretty close to the top.
The problem here is two-fold and painfully obvious. In the last couple of weeks, we have had a veritable smorgasbord of semi accidents on the stretch of road between Willcox and Tucson. There IS a lot of traffic. And with planned growth in both Benson and Willcox, that will only increase.
Secondly, the Tucson city fathers in their infinite wisdom never planned for adequate roadways in their city. Tucson voters repeatedly voted down road improvement projects and classified the word "freeway" as an obscenity. The high volume of through traffic on Interstate 10 has become an issue. As a result, their failure to plan and to take charge of their own growth has suddenly become our problem.
You would hope that ADOT would have to look no further than Tucson to see what is left of a dead river - the Santa Cruz - and immediately reject any plan that would endanger the San Pedro, one of the few continually flowing rivers left in the state. But you never know with bureaucrats.
Some of the alternatives have the bypass starting in Willcox, just south of Willcox, in the middle between Benson and Willcox or in Benson, following the approximate route of Cascabel Road. The problem with all of those alternatives is that no road currently exists in those areas, which means no road right of way.
Any of those alternatives would take a freeway through the San Pedro and Gila River valleys at a tremendous ecological cost. There would also be an enormous monetary cost to obtain rights of way along any of those routes. And we suspect there would be significant legal costs as environmental groups fight the plan.
We think Supervisor Richard Searle has the best idea. Use existing roads and improve them. For example, U.S. 70 heads north between Bowie and Willcox and connects to U.S. 60 around Phoenix. It avoids the river valleys and is shorter than many of the other alternatives. And because it is already a U.S. route, rights of way exist.
That would leave Interstate 10 through Cochise County to funnel visitors to the many sites available from the Chiricahuas to Kartcher Caverns. It would reduce traffic on I-10 through Cochise County and Tucson.
Whatever the eventual plan, we urge residents to stay informed on this issue. If our voices are not heard early, they may not be heard at all. ADOT will present its findings to the Benson City Council Sept. 10. That would be a good time to make a lot of noise.
If the issue is through traffic, then we are talking about people heading to Phoenix and forced to go through Tucson to get there.
ADOT materials indicate they are researching no less than 15 possible bypasses to the city of Tucson. All of this got moving when Tucson attorney Si Schorr suggested building an I-10 bypass through the San Pedro Valley. In the annals of rotten ideas, that one is pretty close to the top.
The problem here is two-fold and painfully obvious. In the last couple of weeks, we have had a veritable smorgasbord of semi accidents on the stretch of road between Willcox and Tucson. There IS a lot of traffic. And with planned growth in both Benson and Willcox, that will only increase.
Secondly, the Tucson city fathers in their infinite wisdom never planned for adequate roadways in their city. Tucson voters repeatedly voted down road improvement projects and classified the word "freeway" as an obscenity. The high volume of through traffic on Interstate 10 has become an issue. As a result, their failure to plan and to take charge of their own growth has suddenly become our problem.
You would hope that ADOT would have to look no further than Tucson to see what is left of a dead river - the Santa Cruz - and immediately reject any plan that would endanger the San Pedro, one of the few continually flowing rivers left in the state. But you never know with bureaucrats.
Some of the alternatives have the bypass starting in Willcox, just south of Willcox, in the middle between Benson and Willcox or in Benson, following the approximate route of Cascabel Road. The problem with all of those alternatives is that no road currently exists in those areas, which means no road right of way.
Any of those alternatives would take a freeway through the San Pedro and Gila River valleys at a tremendous ecological cost. There would also be an enormous monetary cost to obtain rights of way along any of those routes. And we suspect there would be significant legal costs as environmental groups fight the plan.
We think Supervisor Richard Searle has the best idea. Use existing roads and improve them. For example, U.S. 70 heads north between Bowie and Willcox and connects to U.S. 60 around Phoenix. It avoids the river valleys and is shorter than many of the other alternatives. And because it is already a U.S. route, rights of way exist.
That would leave Interstate 10 through Cochise County to funnel visitors to the many sites available from the Chiricahuas to Kartcher Caverns. It would reduce traffic on I-10 through Cochise County and Tucson.
Whatever the eventual plan, we urge residents to stay informed on this issue. If our voices are not heard early, they may not be heard at all. ADOT will present its findings to the Benson City Council Sept. 10. That would be a good time to make a lot of noise.
If the issue is through traffic, then we are talking about people heading to Phoenix and forced to go through Tucson to get there.
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