AVRA VALLEY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Along Avra Valley Road well west of I-10, it’s quiet and peaceful, if a bit hot. But there is the prospect of a large interstate highway going through that part of Pima County. Pima County wants to be sure the Federal Government doesn’t only consider the Avra Valley area and continues to consider another alignment too.
Much of Avra Valley is natural and undeveloped.
But to state and Federal highway planners that makes it a natural as one route option for Interstate 11, an entirely new Interstate designed to cut across the US and create a smooth, fast way to connect US, Mexican and Canadian trade.
The east route option would parallel where I-10 runs already.
The west option would cut through Avra Valley and the western edge of Saguaro National Park.
Advocates for that route see it opening new commercial opportunities along a speedy new way to move cars and cargo.
Carolyn Campbell with the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection sees a freeway through Avra Valley as a disruption to natural plants and a barrier to wildlife.
‘That connectivity is broken by a big fat freeway. It can't be repaired. It can't be replaced. It can't be mitigated.”
Deciding which route is supposed to depend on careful consideration of environmental impact and the effect on cultural resources like historical tribal lands.
But because Avra Valley is so sparsely populated and so wide open, Pima County says there is less data collected about that land, so maybe less information that would discourage running a freeway through it.
The county has sent Federal highway officials a letter urging them to not to view the shortage of data as a green light to run the road through Avra Valley and to continue to consider both possible routes as they gather more information.
Carolyn Campbell’s group has joined with other environmental organizations to challenge the need to even build I-11. She says their lawsuit convinced a judge to order Arizona and Federal Departments of Transportation to consult more thoroughly with Pima County, the local tribes and the US Park Service.
