Heritage District ‘path’ planned
Town settles officer’s suit
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This Week
REAL ESTATE Gilbert housing market seeing shifts, Realtor says.
BUSINESS................. 16 Trendy tea leaves shop open in Gilbert.
SPORTS.......................22 Higley High players jazzed about new coach.
COMMUNITY........................................15 BUSINESS............................................. 16 SPORTS.................................................. 22 PUZZLE..................................................23 CLASSIFIED.......................................... 25
Sunday, July 18, 2021
ADOT braces EV motorists for a rocky drive BY PAUL MARYNIAK GSN Executive Editor
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tarting this week, billboards, social media and television and print media will carry messages urging thousands of motorists in the East Valley, to prepare for three to four years of disruptions in their driving routines. It’s not exactly Armageddon that the Arizona Department of Transportation will be heralding. But it won’t be a walk in the park, especially for car and truck traffic on I-10. And even if you don’t use I-10, you can expect significant increases in traffic along
all the freeways in the East Valley and even major arterials as motorists try to evade the inevitable tie-ups that will be caused by the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it,” said ADOT spokeswoman Kim Noetzel. “It’s going to be impactful.” Seven years in the planning, the work is ready to begin as crews start scraping the asphalt along 11 miles of Interstate 10 between the junction of the San Tan and South Mountain freeways and I-17 near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The project also will involve work on about a mile of east- and westbound US 60 between I-10 and Hardy Drive and a mile of
north- and southbound State Route 143 between I-10 and the southern end of the SR 143 bridge over the Salt River. Motorists will start feeling the impact this coming weekend as work picks up steam on a project aimed at preventing virtually round-the-clock rush hour gridlock on I-10 in the heart of Maricopa County. “When the first phase of construction begins this summer,” ADOT spokeswoman Alexandra Albert said in a virtual briefing earlier this month for Tempe residents, “drivers should prepare for weekend closures on I-10 and US 60.”
see ADOT page 8
CUSD opens new high school in Gilbert BY KEVIN REAGAN GSN Staff Writer
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ednesday not only marks the beginning of the new school year for Chandler Unified students but also ushers in the opening of the district’s newest high school – ACP-High in Gilbert. Built at a cost of $87 million, it’s the new campus for formerly title Arizona College Prep, whose students are moving from an old, small campus on Erie Street in Chandler to the new facility on Gilbert and Ocotillo roads. Voters in 2019 approved a $291-mil-
lion bond issue to build the high school on a 73-acre parcel near the Chandler-Gilbert border. At the time, CUSD was booming and enrollment continued growing. At the end of the 2019-20 school year, none of the district’s high schools had fewer than 2,000 students. Hamilton High in particular has had to contend with a burgeoning population of over 4,000 students. Former Superintendent Camille Casteel at one point said she had never Principal Rob Bickes is looking forward to welcoming stu- expected to build another high school, dents this Wednesday at ACP-High in Gilbert, the newest high school in Chandler Unified Scool District. (Pablo Robles) see SCHOOL page 4
Inspiring Excellence in Every Learner
Enroll Now for the 2021/22 School Year - First Day of School August 4th We invite you to schedule a tour at any of our schools to learn more! Enroll Today!
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