CANAMEX and Loop 202

I found something I had initially overlooked during my extensive research on CANAMEX, that relates specifically to the Loop 202.  In "Highway to Hell?" I wrote that the South Mountain Free way Extension, aka Loop 202 was not part of the official CANAMEX route, but would facilitate some of this traffic either way.  Other opponents of the Loop 202, such as folks who are part of Protect Arizona's Resources and Children (PARC) have pointed out that the extension's purpose is as a truck bypass.

As you can see in this map, Loop 202 was suggested as an option for CANAMEX and is clearly within the general path of CANAMEX.  I found this interesting, and so I'm sharing it with you.  This is one map overlaying another.  The thicker blue lines are part of a map of possibly routes for CANAMEX proposed by Kimley Horn & Associates, Inc. in a document called "Final Report" prepared for ADOT in 2000.  Over it, I placed the map of possible routes for the Pecos Road alignment.  As you can see they're pretty similar because ADOT had been planning for Loop 2002 for a while.

 

The following is from http://kjzz.org/content/944/gila-river-indian-community-rejects-loop-202-expansion-route:

In the final report, this is the blurb on the Loop 202:

I wrote the following in "Highway to Hell?":

ADOT claims, “the CANAMEX corridor in Maricopa County takes trucks from I-10 south of the Valley across I-8 to State Route 85, avoiding the metro-Phoenix area.” This information, however, doesn’t match other details on CANAMEX’s route through Arizona.
Although over time, the routes included in maps of the CANAMEX Corridor have changed slightly, ADOT’s information has to do with the route they recommended in a Resolution in 2001 (Source). Back then, there had been no good news for at least seven years that funding would be available for the Loop 202 extension (Source). At this point their information seems especially, and perhaps intentionally, out-of-date.

 In some ways it doesn't matter whether it's part of the official CANAMEX Corridor route or not.  What does matter is if it's being pushed because it will serve the purpose of the trade corridor, in addition to whether it does act as a truck bypass bringing with it the additional pollution and risks.  This is something to keep an eye on.


See updates on the Loop 202 here.