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CHRISTMAS HOUSE TIME
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TREE GUYS
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ACT’S GIFT TO YOU
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
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Freeway to open, bringing a new world to thousands BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
A
fter decades of planning and preparation, years of litigation and 36 months of digging, blasting and back-breaking work, the Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway is about to open. Gov. Doug Ducey was scheduled today, Dec. 18, to announce the opening date for the 22mile, eight-lane link between connecting the Chandler and West 59th Avenue interchange on Interstate 10 – and a thoroughfare for an estimate 117,000 to 140,000 vehicles a day, half of them trucks. Scheduled to join Ducey for the announcement at the new freeway bridges over the Salt River are a host of dignitaries and officials, ranging from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community to Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill and Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski, as well as members of the late congressman’s family.
Lakes lawyer rips Gee’s request for contempt stay
“Decades in the making, this opening marks a historic achievement for Arizona,” Ducey said in a release. “This new highway – the largest highway project in state history – represents Arizona’s continued commitment to 21st century infrastructure that will enable our state’s growth for generations to come.” While the freeway’s exact opening date has been kept a closely guarded secret, several sources have indicated it would be Dec. 20. State Engineer Dallas Hammit told the State Transportation Board at a meeting Nov. 15, “We are moving forward with a dedication date on I believe it’s Dec. 18 with the governor and others will be overseeing or participating in and then we look to open shortly after that – within probably four to five days.” The board members were told they’d be put on a bus Thursday, Dec. 19, for a personal ride along the length of the freeway. ADOT spokesman Tom Herrmann told AFN the opening date would be within a week, though “the exact time and date of the opening will be decided once tghe freeway has passed final inspection.”
Fire and ice
Hammit also stressed, “There’s still a lot of work to be done.” “All those lawsuits trying to stop the project are done, but there are some concerns on right-of-way, on noise walls that we’re working with through our normal process,” he said. Noise walls and the glare of freeway lights flooding dozens of homes and backyards on the Ahwatukee stretch of the freeway have been an ongoing concern for months – and it’s unclear if, or when, the highway agency will be correcting the problems. Also marked for completion next year are two last-minute additions to the project totaling an extra $20 million – interchanges at 32nd Street in Ahwatukee and near Ivanhoe Street near the Vee Quiva Casino on the Gila River Indian Community. Also slated for completion next year is the 15-to-20-foot-wide multi-use path along six miles of southern side of the Ahwatukee segment of freeway that ADOT agreed to build after cyclists and joggers had complained about
see FREEWAY page 8
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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ROUNDBALL TAKES CENTER STAGE
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n a blistering legal filing, the attorney for two homeowners fighting for the restoration of Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course has asked a judge to move forward with their contempt action against owner Wilson Gee and pay no attention to a pending appeal request to the state Supreme Court. Accusing Gee’s company of “brazenly” and “audaciously” asserting that “the golf course does not exist,” attorney Tim Barnes told Superior Court Judge Steven K. Holding that Gee has ignored orders to restore the course that date back nearly two years. Barnes also asserts Gee now owns the course through a new company that is not a party to the case on appeal. Hence, he said,
see LAKES page 10
Bonfires, roasted marshmellows and and 20 tons of snow delighted Mike Rotolo and his son Parker along with hundreds of others kids and adults at Fopothills Baptist Church last weekend. For a look at more snowy scenes, see page. 18. (Chris
Mortenson/AFN Staff Photographer)