Since the 1960s, there has been talk of the need to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 10, which is used to commute between the East Valley and downtown Phoenix. The solution: a 10-lane freeway that cuts through South Mountain Park and connects back to the I-10 at 57th Avenue in west Phoenix.
Because the originally proposed route would require the demolition of hundreds of homes in predominately white, upper-class neighborhoods, the state did what all bureaucratic, development-crazed settlers have done in the Southwest: They threw a bunch of money at Native American communities in exchange for their land.
The plans for a freeway moved half a mile South, avoiding all the Ahwatukee neighborhoods that would have otherwise been destroyed.
This way, all of the pollution, environmental degradation, loss of property value and inconvenience of living near a major freeway would fall on communities with the highest economic, health and education disparities in the state.
But they would benefit, proponents say, from development along the freeway, where they can sell their kitsch — like little dream-catchers and turquoise jewelry to white tourists.
Thankfully, the Gila River Indian Community voted to not allow the freeway on tribal land. But this means the original plans are back in the works to build through the Ahwatukee Foothills and South Mountain Park, the largest municipal park in the country.
You would think that a plan proposed in the 1960s would be improved by the state to become a modern, sensible way of dealing with traffic congestion caused by a growing population - especially when studies show that more freeways don’t necessarily mean less traffic, or that centralized development in a downtown area that is easily walkable creates the best conditions for a thriving city economy.
You would think over 40 years of foresight would prevent such a mess as the proposed Loop 202 extension is proving to be.
This is yet another example of how state and city governments ignore the reality of what the future will hold. Despite how much time, effort and money is going into this freeway, it is a short-term solution to long-term problems.
What is truly at stake in the proposed freeway extension is the possibility of a city with the capacity and infrastructure to adapt to a future where fossil fuels and highway-dependent communities have grown more costly and carry much worse environmental and economical side effects.
Plans are still in the works to put the Gila River vote to a referendum, claiming it was not in accord with their constitution. But whether it is at the expense of the Gila River Community or Ahwatukee residents, the viability of the Phoenix-Metro area stands to lose the most.
Ten-lane freeways that destroy the ecological and cultural significance of mountain preservations are not characteristic of a city of the future. They are testimonies to our state government’s incompetence at urban planning.
Reach the columnist at damills3@asu.edu
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