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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS Wednesday, December 14, 2016
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Cyclists see tourist attraction in freeway bike path
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS COVER STORY
BY JIM WALSH AFN Staff Writer
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hwatukee and other cyclists look at Pecos Road as more than a highway that’s about to turn into the controversial South Mountain Freeway. They consider it as a premiere training facility, where they can ride up and down hills while reaching speeds of up to 40 mph for stretches between traffic lights. Although Pecos Road is far from perfect for cycling, it is a training course that cyclists don’t want to lose. They also see a need for protection from
motorists, especially since two cyclists have been killed in collisions with motorists in 12 years—Dwight Highly Falkner, 60, in 2014 and Don Anselmo, 68, in 2004. Now, they think the freeway could create the opportunity of a lifetime. The cyclists want to expand a multi-use path planned along the freeway’s southern
rim into a high-speed cycling course that would be a first for Arizona and possibly the nation. Joe Struttmann of Tempe, an avid cyclist and the main player in the Pecos Action Team, has been working for years with See
BIKE PATH on page 12
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS Snow job BUDGET RUMBLINGS
Kyrene schools may face cuts to fill $5M hole
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SPORTS
ON THE REBOUND
True Life wrestles with distrust toward Ahwatukee Farms plan BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
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SEEKING CONTENTMENT? Ahwatukee author pens fulfillment guide
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epresentatives of the True Life Companies drew some lines in the sand as they appealed to a small group of Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club homeowners to “work with us” and make their agrihood plan a reality for the community’s defunct golf course. But, by the end of their two-hour presentation last week, most of the approximately 80 people who attended appeared unconvinced, largely because of one major missing ingredient: trust. Aidan Barry, True Life senior vice president/development, acknowledged the homeowners’ wariness of the company’s request. They are being asked to sign a consent form agreeing to a change in the covenants, conditions and restrictions See
LAKES on page 14
(Cheryl Haselhorst/AFN Staff Photographer)
Makayla and Alexa Ahn, 10-year-old twin sisters, tried to build a small snowman at Foothills Baptist Church last Saturday. The church had 15 tons of snow dumped on its campus as its Christmas gift to the community this year. For more photos, see p. 24.