PHOENIX β Gov. Doug Ducey won't commit to seek $20 million for a bridge over a creek where three children died last month even as he formally dedicated a $1.7 billion freeway designed largely to help Phoenix area commuters.
The governor said Wednesday the state is in a financial position to be able to make "additional infrastructure investments.'' And he cited $130 million set aside this past legislative session to widen Interstate 17 north of Phoenix.
The new South Mountain Freeway, part of Loop 202, is designed to connect parts of Phoenix that are inaccessible from the west to the rest of the area. Of the cost, 40 percent came from federal sources, with the balance from a sales tax Maricopa County voters imposed on themselves and about $350 million from state gasoline taxes and vehicle license fees.
And what of the $20 million being sought by Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, for the bridge over Tonto Creek?
"We're going to look at every other request and properly prioritize,'' Ducey said.
Cook introduced legislation earlier this week to set aside $20 million for the Department of Transportation to build a bridge in the Tonto Basin at the Bar X crossing in Gila County. Willa Rawlings, 6, her brother Colby, 5, and their cousin Austin, 5, were killed after the vehicle they were riding in crossed a barrier and was swept away in the flooded Tonto Creek during a rainstorm in late November.
Cook said Gila County already has done the environmental studies, purchased the right of way and designed the structure. He said if HB 2056 is fast-tracked the span could be in place before the next rainy season.
And Cook said there's no reason that rural areas of the state should be any lower priority than urban roads.
At the ceremony Wednesday on the yet-to-be-opened freeway, the governor said the project will take traffic off Interstate 10 and away from downtown Phoenix. He said that congestion is a direct result of the state's booming economy.
Others at the event had their own take on the merits of the project, including Michael Bidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals. He said the freeway will cut the time it takes people from certain parts of the Phoenix area to drive to his team's stadium in Glendale.
