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Area group opposes ADOT's I-10 bypass options
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Ainslee S. Wittig/Range News By Carol Broeder & Thelma Grimes/Arizona Range NewsAs the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) moves forward with the feasibility study on the proposed Interstate 10 bypass, a local group is rallying residents and elected officials to speak out against it.
Maria Troutner, a member of the Cascabel Working Group, said the group is dedicated to opposing the bypass. Troutner made a presentation at a recent meeting of the Northern Cochise Democrats in Willcox. The I-10 Bypass was proposed in December of 2006 by Si Schorr, who represents Pima County on the State Transportation Board. As a result, the Arizona Department of Transportation is doing a feasibility study for an I-10 bypass that would provide: €an alternative route to I-10 to relieve traffic congestion in the Tucson and Phoenix metropolitan areas. €a shorter, faster east west route through Arizona that would attract through-trucks and other traffic from I-10. €a new route that offers an alternative path for I-10 traffic during construction, maintenance and incidents. €a new east-west transportation corridor in Arizona to serve the expected rapid population growth and land development. Troutner said that what was supposed to have been a six-month study has "taken so much time it's going to be a nine-month study." Most of the proposed routes are through the lower San Pedro River Valley, which the Cascabel Working Group refers to as an "endangered area." The group is composed of residents and landowners of the Middle San Pedro Valley (roughly, from Tres Alamos Wash bridge to the city limits of San Manuel). "We have organized to oppose routing an interstate highway through the San Pedro Valley," Troutner said. The group's goals are to: €Communicate opposition of Valley residents and landowners to an Interstate through the San Pedro Valley. €Provide information about the Valley and the ADOT I-10 Tucson/Phoenix Bypass study to those who wish to become involved in the process. €To present data and discussion about environmental, archaeological, economic, and other features of the Valley that make building an Interstate through this valley unfeasible or undesirable. In her presentation, Troutner said the issues that need to be considered are: €Ecology and Environment - including birds and mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and desert plants. €History and Archaeology €Open Space and Agricultural Land €Geology and Topography €Economics €Energy Efficiency €Urban Sprawl €Desecration of a beautiful place €Will it accomplish the state purpose? "Our valley serves as a stop over for the sky islands of the Catalina and Rincon Mountains," said Troutner, adding that the proposed highway would run through a "major migratory path" for birds. There are some 400 species of birds in the area, including ravens, Cooper's hawks, and roadrunners, she said. Troutner, a fourth generation resident of the Valley, said there were 16 rattlesnakes spotted on her property this year, and 19 last year. Desert plants in the area include the night-blooming cereus, which Troutner points out is a "rare native plant." Troutner has five of them on her property, and others grow in some five cemeteries that date back to the 1900s. Besides the historic sites left from those early homesteaders, there are the "fragile and irreplaceable Native American sites in the Valley that date back" more than 12,000 years ago. They are believed to be from the Clovis culture, Troutner said. Some seven villages have been found in the area, including bedrock mortars or "gossip rocks." Cascabel Road itself was once part of the historic Leach Wagon Road, she said. Troutner and the group are also concerned that the interstate highway would negatively affect the environment. Concerns include air, water, and noise pollution, ground water depletion, and light pollution that could be detrimental to observatories in Southern Arizona. "Just imagine a superhighway and 10,000 vehicles a day in this valley," Troutner said. Other considerations include loss of open space and agricultural land due to urban sprawl. Issues with the geology and topography of the area include mountainous terrain, unstable soil in many places, and numerous washes subject to flooding. The Hot Springs Canyon wash, the sight of a tragedy in August 2006 when two men were swept away, "is still very unstable and frequently runs for days." Troutner also talked about energy efficiency and urban sprawl. "Any energy efficiency gains will be lost to the energy cost of construction. A bypass through the San Pedro River Valley would save only about 25 miles over the current highway route," said Troutner, adding that a bypass "may very well encourage more energy inefficient traffic and discourage alternative transportation methods such as rail." "Urban sprawl creates longer commutes which will worsen Tucson and Phoenix local traffic problems," she said. The economics of the I-10 bypass don't make sense, said Troutner, adding that the cost of the project will be about $8 billion. Costs include land acquisition to build a new highway, the high cost of construction, and costly infrastructure requirements. "It is more expensive to build on mountainous terrain rather then flat terrain," said Troutner, adding that engineering requires soil stabilization and earth moving. "Counties would have to provide local roads, water supplies, sewage systems, etc. for the population growth and sprawl that follows any new highway," she said. "Let's use the money for other things," Troutner said. "Will a superhighway accomplish ADOT's stated purpose of reducing I-10 traffic in Phoenix and Tucson?" Troutner asked rhetorically. A 2005 ADOT study of the I-10 showed that "essentially all the traffic in Tucson and Phoenix is local traffic," she said. "Only a tiny amount is through traffic from New Mexico and California." Troutner said the greatest amount of traffic in Phoenix is at University Boulevard. In Tucson's it is at St. Mary's, with 166,000 vehicles per day. "I-19 traffic is as big a problem as is I-10 traffic, and it is growing much faster," Troutner said. Twelve groups opposing the bypass include U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Sierra Club, Center for Desert Archaeology, Sky Island Alliance, American Bird Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, The Audobon Society, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Game and Fish, Center for Biological Diversity, and the residents of Cascabel. The Cascabel Working Group will meet in a work session with the Benson City Council on Monday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., at City Hall, 120 W. 6th Street, in Benson. ADOT will also present its findings about the project. Bill Harmon, ADOT district engineer, said bypass talks are nothing new, but noted after Schorr submitted his proposal, that this one would be studied. The I-10 Phoenix/Tucson Bypass Study is an ongoing project that will provide ADOT with information regarding the need and feasibility of the proposed transportation corridor. ADOT, besides looking at costs, the environmental impact and other issues, is also collecting public comment. Willcox City Manager Mike Leighton told the Range News, "If there is inevitability in the construction of the bypass we do not want it to be placed east of Willcox. Preferably, for our future and welfare, placing the bypass at Fort Grant Road would be best for us. Other than that the bypass should be placed just to the west of us." Elected officials have also been brought into the debate, with Richard Searle of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, District 3, writing a letter opposing the plan. "As the county supervisor representing the Pomerene, Cascabel, and Willcox areas, I cannot support the proposed Tucson bypass route through the San Pedro Valley," he said. "Not only would this have a negative affect on one of the most pristine areas of the state, but I believe this would not be a cost effective proposal. There are existing state highways that could be improved. That could give the needed relief without taking on the cost prohibitive and environmentally challenging project of a new highway along the northern portion of the San Pedro River." Gabrielle Giffords, with the U.S. House of Representatives, said she would continue to follow the process as ADOT conducts its study, but is concerned about the environmental concerns raised by the Cascabel residents and others. "The San Pedro Riparian Area is a unique remnant of what once stretched across the Southwestern United States," she said in a letter to ADOT. "It must be preserved for future generations. As one of the few remaining perennially flowing rivers in our region, the maintenance of the viability of the San Pedro River is one of my top priorities." According to ADOT's schedule for the project, a preliminary draft of the study is due from URS this month, with a second round of public comments in October. The final report from the URS is due in November, with ADOT's recommendation to the board due in December, Troutner said. A decision by ADOT Board is expected at the end of the year. Troutner concluded her presentation last Saturday with a quote from author Barbara Kingsolver, who lived in Tucson more than 25 years before moving to southwestern Virginia. "This place is one of the blessings I count when I brace myself to consider a dearly beloved and threatened world, and stake my heart onto pieces of what's left of it."
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