Yesterday was a good day for residents of the Sonoran Preserve area: the Sonoran Boulevard community discussion went well and I’m hopeful that all the parties walked away feeling that the issues are resolved. The official summation of the meeting from Mr. David Tierney will be presented to the Phoenix City Council at the July 6 meeting. Here are some quick thoughts from the 3+ hour session:

This was a stakeholders meeting, so various groups were represented. This included representatives from the Sonoran Citizens Improvement Association and other homeowners groups, the city streets department, and other city/state agencies, village planning committee, and commercial/residential developers. Groups sat facing each other in a semicircle. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Tierney, a construction lawyer.

The primary outcome is that current construction on the long-planned Sonoran Boulevard project will as continue as planned, with the northern alignment completed first. Additional recommendations were also discussed. A set of final recommendations will be voted on by the Phoenix City Council since each has a cost. Here are the most relevant recommendations:

• Changing what is currently called Sonoran Boulevard (east of the fork in the road, please refer to the Streets map) back to “Dove Valley Road,” and Sonoran Desert Drive to “Sonoran Boulevard.” Sonoran Boulevard west of the fork until Cave Creek road will retain its name. (I’ll continue to use the current names on my blog until this change is approved.)
• Studying and defining the right-of-way for Sonoran Desert Drive  - the “southern road” – from 18th Ave east to the fork in the road in preparation for future development. The land for this road is currently owned by the state of Arizona, but siting can be done before the city acquires the land.
• Possible reduced speed limits in the residential portion of Sonoran Boulevard based on traffic patterns. Possibly an electronic radar sign that warns drivers if they’re speeding.
• Possibly rubberizing residential asphalt to reduce road noise. It was stated that the noise reduction would be negligible compared to new asphalt, and would be very expensive. This is unlikely to be approved.

These are good solutions, I believe most people in the room agreed on them. The only concerns I still have:

Our community needs some sort of connection to the freeway. Neither last night’s panel nor the city can force developers to build them. This blog has always been about smart growth, including accounting for increased traffic. Due to budget constraints, the city is largely relying on developers to build two connectors (across Skunk Creek) to I-17 from North Valley Parkway. It is vital that we encourage commercial growth in our area to get these exit points in place, otherwise the intersection at 27th Dr/Carefree Highway will choke.

Ultimately we need development in our area to provide services to residents. A representative from the Arizona Association of General Contractors was concerned that any further delays would have a chilling effect on local development, which is the last thing the community needs. In addition to freeway access, we still lack simple things like a grocery store or a gas station, yet there are hundreds of acres of undeveloped commercial property alongside the I-17. We now need to send a united message to developers that the North Gateway Village core is open for business – and the Sonoran Boulevard matter is closed.

Thanks to Councilman Bryan Jeffries for getting this meeting put together, and to David Tierney for donating his time promoting and facilitating this discussion.

From the AZ Republic:

“The [Phoenix City] council approved making a request for $7 million in Growing Smarter State Trust Land Acquisition funds that it will match and use to purchase almost 600 acres of land near Sonoran Boulevard and 24th Street alignments. The money will be matched with Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative funding. The land in question has not been put on the market by the Arizona State Land Department, but it is likely to go up for auction soon. Phoenix has purchased about 7,000 acres for the preserve, with a goal of about 20,000 acres. The upcoming purchase includes portions of Cave Creek and Apache washes.”

As many of you know, part of the construction on the western Sonoran Boulevard is “paused” while a discussion with various parties takes place. Today I spoke with Dave Tierney, the attorney facilitating conversations with various stakeholders in the community. I was grateful to spend some time talking about the same things I’ve shared here on this neighborhood blog.

Sonoran Boulevard needs to be built. Regardless of whether it’s built on the northern or southern side, this is the improvement we need for the benefit of our neighborhoods. Improved access to Scottsdale and North Phoenix means shorter drives and better quality-of-life for all of us. With a completed park road comes access to the Sonoran Preserve: mixed use paths, hiking trails, recreation areas, library and visitor center. The pace of retail and commercial development will accelerate after the road and Preserve are in place. The services and infrastructure we want are tied to the completion of Sonoran Boulevard.

Certain economic realities also need to be faced. We may not get a “perfect” project, with all roads and (expensive) bridges put in at once, but we are very close to a wet crossing culvert at the I-17 that connects the so-called “road to nowhere” to the interstate. This, along with traffic calming along the residential portion of Sonoran Boulevard, is a reasonable middle ground that I hope neighbors can agree on. Stopping the project to reroute would be a tremendous waste of taxpayer funds, prolong our lack of services, and negatively affect property values.

Sonoran Boulevard will bring needed improvements to our area, and those improvements will bring much-needed increase to our property values. I hope, as a result of this mediation, that construction continues as scheduled.

I’ve lived in North Phoenix since 2003. In 2005 when I was living in Tatum Ranch, a neighbor told me about what was then called Sonoran Parkway. It was to run along Dynamite Road and go off into the desert – where I would occasionally mountain bike – and connect, somehow, to the I-17. When I heard about it, I was livid. Dynamite Road was about 1/2 mile from my house and was a quiet two lane road. This plan made that road the only east/westbound access, meaning ALL the cars would be on Dynamite.

There was a great deal of emotion directed at the Phoenix City Council, which quickly empaneled a group of citizens called the East Sonoran Parkway Alignment Committee, or ESPA. According to the Committee Recommendations the ESPA was comprised of:

“12 citizens appointed by Phoenix City Councilwoman Peggy Neely, with City staff and consultants providing assistance and resources for the study.”

As a result of these extensive meetings, which were open to the public, the Committee recommended that what was originally a single entry/exit point at Dynamite Road/Cave Creek would now become multiple entry/exit points to the Preserve. This was specifically designed to alleviate congestion. At the time, I considered the matter closed and was very grateful for the work the City of Phoenix did with the planning. You can see this same design concern when you look at the plans for the western Preserve and how the main road splits into two.

So it is definitely  easy to forget that there actually was plenty of community review of the Sonoran Boulevard project – not everyone was there at the ESPA meetings.  But it more or less functioned as the final review; the city had sought public input as part of Open Meeting Law and now had completed the review. At the time, Sonoran Foothills and other residential neighborhoods were not yet built so their road structure would not be changed. Additionally, those communities’ roads were planned to account for newest traffic projections.

And so there were very few people living near Sonoran Boulevard when these ESPA meetings were held. As people began buying houses in the area, like any other real-estate transaction people buying their houses in 2006 they were expected to do their due diligence as part of an agreement with the seller. City plans were available for review at any time over the Internet. When I bought my home in early 2009, I noticed a dead-end road (now known as Sonoran Desert Drive) called Sonoran Parkway. Knowing what I did about the project, I looked into the plans and saw that the road would run to the north and south of where I live – Sonoran Foothills.

I was pretty thrilled about it, actually. I’d grown accustomed to having Desert Ridge right there, and still had friends over to the east. I saw two roads planned, but assumed eventually both would be built. You forget how close Desert Ridge since, appropriately enough, getting from the current start/finish points takes a while. The direct Sonoran Boulevard route will be about 5-6 minutes from Paloma Parkway to Cave Creek Road/Jomax. Perhaps another 5 minutes until you’re at the Yard House. If you’re like me and you work in the Scottsdale Airpark, another 10 minutes and you’re at your office. A trip which takes me 35 minutes on a good day is now 10-15 minutes shorter.

When I bought the house in 2009, I bought a beautiful home in an isolated neighborhood. With Sonoran Boulevard it will become a beautiful home within a bike ride to Desert Ridge and a short car ride to my job. I feel the isolation detracts from the home’s worth, not the road plans.

My personal thesis is that once SB was finished there will be an 10-15% increase in my home’s value in the following 12 months. And when all the school, park, shopping stuff is built out I’d expect that percentage to be significantly higher. I want that, and that’s why I’m sitting on the North Gateway Village Committee now. I care about my and my neighbors’ property values. We are potentially sitting on better investments today than they were a year ago. And in this market, I personally welcome anything that could potentially grow my home’s value.

Please tell your neighbors: on April 20 there is another public hearing scheduled where citizens can hear more about the Sonoran Boulevard planning and progress.

Everyone with questions or curiosity about this road should make plans to be there. Phoenix Fire Station #56 (North Valley/Canotia – by Home Depot) at 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Also, here is some additional background that wasn’t available at the last public meeting: a timeline that outlines 24 years of previous planning meetings held by the City with regard to Sonoran Boulevard.

Loop 303 link to I-17 opens in May in Peoria, north Phoenix

Article from the Arizona Republic. Unfortunately we’re still waiting for a plan to connect the interchange to North Valley Parkway.

Haydon Building Corp has updated the project information page for Sonoran Boulevard. There’s an expanded explanation of the road plan and design, and some great pictures of the construction progress.

Also, using AGTEK 3D imaging technology you can take a virtual “flythrough” of the area and plan. Pretty cool stuff!

Don’t forget the Tour de Cure tomorrow, Saturday March 12. Cyclists start early in the early morning from Reach 11 (Cave Creek/Deer Valley). The route will take them on North Valley Parkway, Deer Valley, Cave Creek Road, and Carefree Highway. Be safe everyone!

One of the goals of this site is to put ALL the Sonoran Boulevard and Sonoran Preserve development in context. It’s not just “a road,” it bisects a Preserve larger than South Mountain. OUR Preserve, since we’ve paid for most of it already.

Below are some verbatim comments from the previous blog. I think they sum up how passionate people are about this – which is good, it’s making people aware – even though the Sonoran Blvd. decision was made long ago. In my opinion, this is all ultimately about representing our communities’ best interests. There are traffic counters on North Valley Parkway because we spoke up at InRoads. I will do what I personally can (which you all can do to) and try to keep City officials accountable. And I personally believe that, when complete, this will be a amazing place to live. Read the rest of this entry »