PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Southwest Valley is getting a brand new freeway: state Route 30 between the Loop 202 and 303 freeways will offer drivers an alternate route to the Interstate 10.
It’s just one of the new roadway projects coming our way thanks to Maricopa County voters who approved Proposition 479, a sales tax for transportation funding.
More than 4.5 million people call the county home, and as the population grows, so does the need for Arizona’s transportation infrastructure to keep up.
“It’s good for business. It’s good for workers. It’s good for everyone who lives, works, and recreates in Maricopa County,” said Gov. Katie Hobbs.
On Friday, Hobbs and other leaders celebrated Prop 479.
Voters approved it by nearly 60%, continuing a half-cent sales tax that has been funding transportation projects in the county since 1985.
“Every entity, every city benefited. It wasn’t just Phoenix-centric, East Valley, or West Valley. We made sure the value and benefit to every one of us,” said Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke. He is also part of the Maricopa Association of Governments.
Prop 479 will pay for hundreds of new highway and HOV lane miles, 1,000 new or improved arterial lane miles, and nearly 30 miles of bus lines.
Transportation experts say all of that should help keep the Valley’s average commute to 30 minutes all the way to the year 2050.
“And we’re getting all of this without raising taxes,” said Gov. Hobbs.
But it was a bumpy road to get here.
In 2022, former Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill that would have put the extension of this sales tax on the ballot sooner.
Supporters say if it didn’t pass this November, the consequences would have been dire.
“It’s never going to be enough to make it perfect, but without it, this would have been a complete and total unmitigated disaster,” said Greg Vogel, the CEO of Land Advisors Organization .
“We would have been in a world of hurt and hurt means congestion, a whole variety of things that impact the economy,” said Martin Shultz, a Proposition 479 supporter.
Hobbs said these roadway projects could boost the local economy by as much as $15 billion and bring new business to the Valley.
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