PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation has recently spent $1.5 million for land in Phoenix to build a new freeway that cuts through Tolleson and Avondale.
On Wednesday, the Phoenix City Council voted to sell 86 acres of vacant land to ADOT for construction of the proposed State Route 30 project.
The new freeway's intended to relieve congestion on Interstate 10 by providing an alternative pathway across the West Valley between Loop 202 and Loop 303.
ADOT has been planning the project for years in anticipation of the rapid population growth projected for the Valley over the next several years.
"Residential and commercial growth on the fringes of the urbanized area, as well as infill development, is contributing to increased urban density of the entire region," ADOT records state.
Though ADOT has the funding to acquire the right-of-way land rights, the agency says it currently has no funding source for actually building SR-30.
ADOT records show SR-30 is one of the projects that was supposed to be bankrolled by the half-cent tax approved by voters under Proposition 400.
The 20-year tax is set to expire in 2024, and voters weren't given the chance to extend it after Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have placed Prop. 400 on the ballot next spring.
Ducey said now was "not the time to ask Arizonans to tax themselves” due to inflation rates.
Because of this, the Phoenix City Council asked for a provision to be added to its land deal to allow the city to buy the land back from ADOT if SR-30 doesn't come to fruition.
Mayor Kate Gallego said there's still much "uncertainty" surrounding the future of Prop. 400, but the city will move ahead and try to support local transportation projects.
The $1.5 million that Phoenix is getting for the 86 acres will be spent on parks and recreation initiatives.
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