Introductions Are In Order: Laveen, Meet Your Newest Pro-202 Special Interest Group

In case you hadn't yet noticed, there's a facebook button on the right side of this blog for the "Friends of the South Mountain Freeway". This is a page that I created in 2010 on behalf of several folks who support the Loop 202, myself included. We have never been paid, we have no budget, and we have therefore been intermittently active or not very active, depending on whether anyone gets inspired to say something important about the 202. Thankfully, that's been somewhat frequent lately -- especially for fellow page administrator and prominent Laveen residents Erika Keenan and Claudine Reifschneider. Erika and Claudine have put in countless hours for Laveen, particularly on behalf of Loop 202 advocacy in recent months (and getting about a hundred Laveen residents to show up to the city's budget hearing to ask for much needed resources). They have not, however, made any robocalls of which I'm aware -- remember, we have no budget for this campaign.

Who's Calling Me?

If you have received a call asking how you feel about the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, it was likely from the "Let's Build the 202" people. I understand that they have also sent out pro-202 mailings -- definitely not in our budget. Pleasantly surprised by this campaign, I did a little research after learning about the group's website in our Laveen FB group. My first impression of the website was that this looks like the work of a professional PR team, so my inner skeptic guided me to keep digging. Who in the world is paying these people?!

Luckily, this is not some sort of secretive effort. At the bottom of their webpage, the pro-202 group includes a link to their main organization page, "We Build Arizona". With a little further research, I found that this is an AZ non-profit corporation, listing Ronda Barnes of Perkins Coie as statutory agent. The officers and directors are a who's who of development interests, representing the Arizona Builders Alliance, the Associated General Contractors of America (AZ Chapter), the Tucson Utility Contractors Association, and others. Additionally, we know that District 7 Councilman Michael Nowakowski and District 27 Representative Ruben Gallego have been working diligently with their staff to promote the buildout of the Loop 202 SMF -- they co-hosted a public meeting in Laveen last week to inform residents about the process, and representatives from "Let's Build the 202" were also invited.

What's in It for Them?

Resources and growth. For Nowakowski and Gallego's constituents in Laveen, as well as for Ahwatukee residents, the freeway represents a vital economic development component, as it promises to bring the area much needed medical and commercial amenities. For the builders and their respective lobbies, it means a return of new construction where we need it. According to ADOT's environmental impact study, almost half of the region's near-term growth is anticipated within the area to be served by this freeway. After having been recently overlooked in favor of the far-flung SE Valley and NW Valley areas for new freeway projects, it's about time that we recognize the needs of this rather large swath of south Phoenix -- and recognizing it, we are. So are the business interests that will be building additional homes and those other amenities previously discussed. 

So Here We Are, All on the Same Side

Obviously, the residents of the impacted area and the construction interests share an economic benefit, most obviously to Laveen, western Ahwatukee, and the Gila River Indian Community. This helps explain why in a recent survey of active Laveen FB group members (who tend to skew higher in income and education than the community as a whole), 87% support the freeway. According to the recent HighGround survey, commissioned by the lobbying group, 59% of likely voters in Laveen and Ahwatukee support the Loop 202 SMF, and 64.3% of likely voters throughout Maricopa County agree. I guess those folks located elsewhere are in it for the regional traffic flow benefits, and perhaps they'd like to more easily visit their 75,000+ (and growing) friends and family in the Laveen-Ahwatukee area, or perhaps they want to have some fun at the huge new casino at Vee Quiva. Whatever the reason, I say welcome friends, let's work together to get this done -- and let's use the builders associations' funding to make it happen!

Upgraded Vee Quiva Casino: I've Got Questions

I try not to get too caught up in the perceived battle between Laveen and the Gila River Indian Community over the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. That's because I don't see much cause for conflict between the two neighboring communities. In many ways, Laveen and Komatke Village share the same concerns and have similar goals for future growth. So why does the relationship seem so tenuous?

Let's see if I can boil down our current conflict to its essence: Each side is concerned about potential externalities from the other's actions. Take the freeway, for instance, which many on the reservation oppose because the current plan cuts across a small ridge of South Mountain and will bring extra traffic south of the mountain (along with its resultant pollution). While I don't fully agree or disagree with this complaint, I am willing to lend it a bit of credence as a valid concern -- well, at least as long as we maintain a sense of intellectual consistency. What if the tribe decides to take actions that impose increased traffic, or worse, upon Laveen?

Today, the tribe's representatives associated with the Vee Quiva Casino posted, via their facebook page (apparently from Huntington Beach, CA), about upgrades coming to the casino this summer. They asked what followers liked most about the big new casino and entertainment complex. Naturally, I and a few others said that it likely meant the freeway was becoming increasingly imperative for the area:

As you can see from the above screenshot, after contemplating this idea some more, I went back to comment again regarding the location of the casino and its anticipated traffic impacts. What's worse, I wonder about drunk driving and other similarly compulsion and/or addiction-related activities that might follow a gambling facility. Am I really the first to raise this question? Coming from a hospitality and real estate background, I should hope not. This should have all been factored into the proposal for funding of a project of this scale. And just what is that scale? Here's another screen shot:

That's a $135 million facility with a full-sized hotel and 1,000 parking spaces attached!!! My only comment on the casino's rendering is this: "That's an awful lot of cars in the parking lot. Will they all be driving on 51st Avenue to reach the casino?" Now I know I'm not the only one asking this question. To have planned for so much parking, they are clearly expecting a successful operation that will attract people from all over the Phoenix area. So I guess that means we can look forward to more traffic and related issues along 51st Avenue? That is the only way in and out from the north and west, so it's therefore my only conclusion.

While we've been told repeatedly that the city has no say in such things, I demand more. We can at least employ traffic mitigation measures along 51st Avenue. This would have the two-fold effect of protecting Phoenix residents in the area and forcing something to be done about this giant bottleneck that keeps getting worse. If we strangle the cash flow to the casino, then I bet we get our freeway in a hurry. It's time to play hardball.