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Wednesday, February 12, 2020
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QuikTrip study foresees big spike in 40th Street traffic BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
Q
uikTrip has told Phoenix officials that the proposed gas station at the intersection of 40th Street and Cottonwood Lane in Ahwatukee would add nearly 3,700 vehicle trips a day to the area. But the October 2019 report by CivTech, the engineering firm hired by QuikTrip to conduct the mandated traffic study, said only 886 of those trips would actually be “new” to the gas station. The other 2,800 trips would comprise “pass by” traffic, the firm said. Those numbers apparently don’t add up
for the Phoenix Street Transportation Dept., which told CivTech on Nov. 25 it needs to do a lot more work – especially since the gas station would be less than 350 feet away from the freeway and across 40th from a popular park-and-ride lot. For now, QuikTrip can’t build its controversial gas station – which has most of the nearby 185-home Foothills Paseo II HOA up in arms. “If QuikTrip intends to proceed toward approval, the firm would need to resubmit a plan that addresses the concerns cited in the Nov. 25 letter,” Street Transportation spokeswoman Angie Holdsworth told AFN. “To date, neither QuikTrip nor CivTech have responded.” The traffic study and the city’s evaluation
Bowie helps lead plan to curb teen suicides
Big wheel
of it points to an issue that affects far more people than Paseo Foothills II residents, who also have raised concerns about other safety issues affecting their community. The gas station would be located at the mouth of Cottonwood Lane – Foothills Paseo II’s only way in and out of their community. “The proposed development is anticipated to generate 886 new weekday daily trips,” CivTech said, estimating 107 trips would be during the peak morning rush hour and another 89 in the peak evening rush hour. It could have been worse, CivTech’s report said, since the original site plan called for 12
see QUIKTRIP page 13
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
T
he health care insurance system failed 14-yearold Jacob Edward Machovsky miserably in 2015. An insurance company decided his in-patient treatment for a mental illness was not a “medical necessity,’’ ending the second of two hospitalizations within two months. That decision led to tragedy when Jacob, who had turned 15, took his life at his family’s Tempe home in January 2016. His parents, Denise and Ben Denslow – who have since moved to Gilbert – launched the JEM Foundation in Jacob’s memory, setting in motion their mission to save the lives of other teenagers suffering from mental illness. Now, the Denslows are hoping the same legislative coalition that a year ago won passage of a landmark
see SUICIDE page 9
Like hundreds of other kids, 1-year-old Micah Turner had a blast last Saturday inspecting trucks as part of the 20th annual Transportation Day at God’s Garden Preschool in Ahwatukee. To see how others enjoyed themselves, see page 22. (Pablo Robles/AFN Staff Photographer)