How Population Growth Created Arizona's Most Dangerous Highway 

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What’s even worse is that since Phoenix Union Station closed almost 30 years ago, the only Amtrak station for the city is in Maricopa, so you have to drive on this horrible road to get to the much safer trains, something I have to do tonight for a trip to LA.

Phoenix is a perfect example of how NOT to build a city.

I remember when it was a 2 lane road and how fast Maricopa grew in the early 2000’s. Riggs used to be a stop sign back in the day. Oh the times has changed. It will remain desert because of the Gila River Indian Reservation boundaries. Cool video though.

My friend invited me to a comedy show at the Harrah’s Ak-Chin resort (which is very nice, I will say) on 347. We were both sketched the hell out driving there by how dark the road was, combined with how fast and aggressively people were driving. Arizona is beautiful and there’s a lot of upsides to living here, but man, we really need to make bigger strides with improving our infrastructure. We’re already doing a lot, but we need to do more.

Suburban sprawl causes so many issues like this. I grew up in Maricopa and it's always had a huge issue with traffic and congestion because all of the housing is dozens of miles away from the job centers in Phoenix and Tempe

You haven’t addressed why 347 is the way that it is between Maricopa and I-10. The Gila River Indian Reservation. If you also look at I-10, traveling through the same reservation, 10 is also 2 lanes in each direction with a suburban city, Casa Grande, as it’s first destination. The state has to work with the reservation, because it is a sovereign nation.

Great video. As a former AZ resident I must add that folks in AZ drive fast, like 15 over the speed limit is normal. Rollover accidents are common, going too fast and leaving the roadway only to over-correct and get the vehicle sideways. Interstate 10 from Phoenix to Tucson is pretty deadly as well. Especially during a wind and/or dust storm.

Phoenix needs a regional rail system

As a Maricopa resident of three years..... it's not just the Highway itself.... it's the drunk/impaired, red-light runners, wrong way drivers, and road rage that populate our roads nowadays.

Our modern growth policies are a disgrace. We need to get rid of codes and zoning policies that deter away from traditional planning. Building these arterials that function as a street and highway needs to stop. Either traffic needs to be slowing moving that allows folks to easily cross the street with roundabouts or have freeway routes either sunken or as parkways. We also need to make room for transit often elevated. These projects need to have cost per mile comparable to other parts of the world.

ADOT is looking at making the Queen Creek Rd (the start point for Arizona 347) interchange at I-10 a diverging diamond interchange (which is very popular in the Phoenix metro area). it would make sense to do this while simultaneously working on the forthcoming I-10 expansion to 3 lanes through reservation land. There also is talk of changing the interchange between Maricopa Rd (also Arizona 357) and Riggs Rd (which is the real bottleneck going in that direction). There are a couple back roads that go into Maricopa from the 10 but none of them really are sensible to use from the 10 because the 10 angles AWAY from Maricopa just south of the Riggs Rd interchange, and i already mentioned the disaster the Riggs/Maricopa Rds intersection is.

AZ-347 Needs to be upgraded to a freeway and a bypass around Maricopa should be built. Maybe allow development on the Gila River Reservation.

Oh wow, you've passed 50K! Congratulatons! Well deserved.

Having to often drive on the 347 between the Phoenix area and Maricopa, the video is pretty spot on. The only thing left out is the fact that the 347 runs through tribal land. This makes things much more complicated when addressing upgrades.

347 is known as the "highway of death" in Maricopa...it's a statistical fact.... and it's our only main highway out of here.

Idk I see a wide median in the middle of that highway. Maricopa also has an Amtrak stop. There's also these weird wooden track thingies when you reach Chandler that goes past Tempe and into Phoenix. Anyone know how we can move a mass of people from here to there quickly? I'm all out of ideas...

Didn’t mean for my comment to be this long, but here goes 😂. I really thought this was going to be about the I-10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande. That highway is truly infamous for being a dangerous, congested mess in the middle of the desert and the battle between ADOT and the GRIC about expanding it has been decades long. Maricopa and Casa Grande are not traditional suburbs since they are completely separated by the Gila River Reservation. That is why making other roadways to Phoenix is basically bureaucratically impossible and there is no reason for the 347 to be freeway standards (at least right now, there are way bigger funding wise concerns such as the I-10 needing to be widened to Phoenix). Wish you would have discussed the GRIC aspect as that’s a HUGE part of the story. Also, the diverging diamond interchange being studied at the 347 and I-10 intersection is part of the plan to widen I-10 to 3 lanes from Phoenix to Casa Grande, not the 347’s plan. The I-10s mess gets exacerbated by all the traffic flowing into the 10 into Phoenix while it’s still (essentially) only 2 lanes at that merge point. The I-10 widening is years behind and has been an issue since even before the 347 was even considered as such. Good video, but IMO would have been a lot better and more content if the focus was more on the I-10 rather than the 347. I’m not saying the 347 doesn’t have it’s issues it does, but they are definitely not as storied as the I-10 widening drama. It would be both funny and sad to see the 347 at 3 lanes before the I-10 because it seems like ADOT prioritizes every other project than the huge glaring mess that is the I-10 coming into Phoenix.

The entire problem stretch runs through a reservation. The state can't just expand the road right of way without an agreement with the Indian reservation. The problem is where the city of Maracopa is not the road.

You failed to mention that maricopa is surrounded by tribal lands, making it difficult for muni, state or feds to step in and make many changes

I have family in Maricopa and I would have never guessed I would have found a video about 347! I've heard stories about some of the traffic accidents that have happened. Lots of trucks use the route because of the Cemex Plant in the middle of that 16 mile stretch. Over the years of visiting, they did build an overpass over the train tracks on 347 in the heart of Maricopa. Usually not much construction can be done due to the surrounding reservation but cool to see that they're able to put an overpass at Riggs!

Being a former Greater Cleveland, I would love to watch a video about I -90 through Cleveland, Ohio; including I-490, the Memorial Shoreway, (OH Route 2) , and Deadman's Curve. Thank you.

You should do a video on US 380 between Denton and Mckinney, TX. It's a freaking nightmare.

Ita pretty simple really just keeping adding lanes until the problem is fixed

I live in Maricopa and agree with this video.

Part of the issue is tons of the land in this area is reservation land being their own sovereign territory. So the state has to work with them to create new or modify the existing highways through the land which tends to be opposed by tribal leaders

You failed to mention that it runs through the gila river reservation, which makes making improvements more complicated and difficult. Also the 10 from casa grande to the 202 sucks too cuz of it

I have been down the 347 many many times since i have family down in Maricopa (and was considering moving down there) but there has been a couples times i have went at the wrong time and basically was in bumper to bumper from the 10 to Maricopa. And as wide as the road is down there it is always backed up except late at night. I wish they would have built i-11 it really would have helped.

No worries, it'll all be fixed with the next lane they add!

Just looked at the map. Maricopa is not even in Maricopa county. US is weird. Also, over here there's a law that you cannot have traffic lights unless the speed limit is 70 km/h or less.

Love watching and learning from you videos.

With all these upgrades go into effect, might as well upgrade the segment from Maricopa to interstate standards and designate as I-110 r I-310

well done for hitting 50k subs!

I live in Phoenix, and Maricopa lies just south of a reservation (the tohono odham i believe). This makes it really hard to build infrastructure or even communities north of town, since it gets tribal politics involved too

No one ever expected or planned for Maricopa to become so huge. However, housing was (and still is compared to other parts of metro Phoenix) dirt cheap out there (sort like Casa Grande). I worked with a lot of people who lived at that way and commuted into Tempe. For them it was the only part of the valley they could afford a house. Sure Casa Grande, Surprise and Buckeye are cheap (and also rapidly growling) but they are either west of Phoenix or even further out. Casa Grande is actually better as it is directly off of I-10 and there are other ways into the southern part of the metro area. Also the norther portion (the empty desert) between Chandler and Maricopa is part of the Gila River and Ak-Chin Indian Communities which are sovereign nations so that adds another layer of complexity to making any improvements.

This is the same problem north of Phoenix on State Route 69. People go 70 on it then around a hill there’s a random stoplight in a tiny town. Always crashes on it too.

Good synopsis of the issues, and slow infrastructure growth to population growth. Thing that is also missed though is the skills of drivers is taking a dive in the US. The ratio of defensive drivers/skilled drivers to poor and distract drivers is going the wrong way. Deterrents to poor driving, citations, and even drivers Ed standards are on such a down slope the drivers hitting the road only exacerbate the issue.

Another great vid, Beav!

Highway 347 between Maricopa and I-10 may be the most dangerous road in the country. I was rear ended on that road twice in 3 1/2 years. I will no longer drive on it. While the speed limit is 65 mph, most traffic goes closer to 90 mph and above. And it's bumper to bumper, with almost no following distance between vehicles. That is especially true early in the morning and in the afternoon. This highway is under the jurisdiction of no less than FOUR different police departments (AZ state highway patrol, Maricopa County sheriffs department, Gila River police department, and City of Maricopa police department) Yet none of them seem to be interested in enforcing traffic laws. They only show up AFTER an accident to fill out the paperwork. There are so many accidents on this section of highway that just doing that keeps them busy. A lot of this problem could be solved by installing lots of speed cameras between Maricopa and I-10. Lower the speed limit to 60 mph, and set the cameras to trip at 66 mph.

amazing video as always from beaver geography

Great video, do this for state route 507 in Washington next please

If you take the train to Phoenix, it will drop you off in Maricopa.

BTW, it looks like you're now 50,600 subscribers! Congrats!

As slow as projects move here in Arizona I doubt it wouldn't be until 2030 before construction actually starts. And the proposed interchange at I-10 will be obsolete before it's complete (if construction happens at all). There is also a plan to widen I-10 throughout the Gila River Reservation but only the Gika River bridges are funded at it would probably be the only thing that happens in the near future. As for any high-speed rail or commuter rail from Phoenix to it's subarbs or Tucson. That's all talk too. It's wishful thinking that that will ever happen.

As someone from Phoenix, who tf would move here? We got: - no real downtown - no amtrak station (although there is one in Maricopa) - terrible public transit - overpriced housing - nothing to do "downtown" - terrible schools - roughly a 1.5 - 2 hour drive to get across town - heat (its dry heat, but its still heat) - the most bland infrastructure ever

This seems like a prime example of failure of state-level politicians and bureaucrats to anticipate public need and keep the highway up to it. Lack of an interchange at Riggs Road and a proper one at Interstate 10 is inexcusable.

It would also help if they up graded I-10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande. It has the same number of lanes as 347 does yet it's the main north-south highway in the state (Tucson to Phoenix). I-10 headed south from Phoenix is five or six lanes wide yet it all narrows down to two lanes by Queen Creek road. Traffic jam every day.

Happy 50K subs !

I used to live right near Queen Creek Road where it meets I-10. had no idea it got that bad if I kept going straight, never had a reason to go that way lol. Very interesting.

Wait I’ve driven on this before it always was weird and scary going down a 2 lane highway to get from Phoenix to San Diego.

I’ve driven on this actually! I was visiting puerto peñasco mex from phoenix!

Yay another Beaver video!!! Next goal is to get you a 100k Sub play button!

Excellent analysis. Thanks for the informative video!

Props to misterroadgeek for giving us a 3 hour lecture in the discord server about this

Can you do a video on Southern State Pkwy Long Island??? The road has gotten terrible

Arizona highways have always been the worst. US-93 connecting Las Vegas & Phoenix is a disaster as well. Imagine two major metropolitan areas being served by a single lane on each side with no divider on certain stretches of US-93.

Its the reson why I decided not to move there and instead went to Verado area. Even though, I would've gotten much more house for less than what I got here. Would've had an awesome mancave there but my current one is fine.

God every video on the sunbelt reminds me of the absolute affront to city planning our country is. Urban sprawl is bad in the Midwest, but the sunbelt takes Sprawl to a whole new level, at least our older cities are somewhat compact

Ok my dude I'm going to fix your video for you. Design, while poor, is only part of the problem. The BIGGEST problem is just the abject idiots that drive on it. It's 65 for most of the way and there is invariably one jayhole that will drive in the left lane and pace the front car in the right lane. Leaving a twenty or thirty car backup behind them. Riggs is not inherently dangerous. The ppl driving on it are. It's flat and has no obstruction to viewing oncoming traffic. Yes there are two traffic lights between the city and Riggs because Casa Blanca rd connects to it and there is a cement plant that also connects. And knowing that it had explosive growth, ADOT waited until now to pave an extra two lanes. Two decades later. There is another way out through casa grande but not convenient.

Creating such communities where automobiles are required typically result in a manifold of failures.

Sounds like this place needs some mass transportation

sounds like my experience of highway 1 driving across canada 😂

"Phoenix is growing at an extreme rate." In a time of global warming and of less energy when the US south west is going to be dryer what can possibly go wrong? Our growing cancer has to be addressed.

Funny you should mention about Queen Creek... the only real way in and out of there is Ellsworth and Rittenhouse Roads.

Makasih sharing nya kawan sukses dan sehat selalu sahabat 🙏🙏👍👍👍

You missed a crucial detail about this highway that two others have made comments about. The majority of this highway from the I 10 interchange to the Maricopa town limits is on tribal land, the Gila River Indian Community, (GRIC.) The state of Arizona does not own this land. If the state tried to do any road upgrades and improvements without permission from the GRIC the state would be infringing upon the rights of these peoples' land. The state does not have the ability to invoke eminent domain. It is not too dissimilar to compare this to one state's DOT trying to build a road within a completely different state. They have no authority.

Love the videos and how you present in such an interesting way. I’d subscribe to a Nebula/Patreon if you have one.

Thats what you get with urban sprawl

Highway 347 and Riggs intersection has permissive left turns? In the middle of the highway? In a 65 MPH zone? It's too dangerous! Protected-only turn signals are a temporary solution before construction of an interchange. Don't you agree?

Phoenix in a nutshell: "This city should not exist. It is a monument to man's arrogance." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4PYt0SDnrBE.html

Two concepts: Double roundabout interchanges Regional rail lines

Blow it up, start from scratch. 30 lane freeway with full stack interchanges with every junction. Boom problem solved 😂

In ten years, the population grew by forty two thousand? If I lived in a small town to escape the city, and the town council allowed that, heads would roll. It seems zoning and city planning doesn’t exist any more to keep this at bay. Our city hasn’t changed by that much total in sixty years. Look at the Toronto area. Sprawl everywhere, but they’re at least attempting to have transit keep traffic controlled. Unless you’re on the Gardner, it’s not that bad. I don’t fault the road, it’s more than adequate, it’s the inability for motorists to use it properly. ADOT didn’t tell them to use the road, the motorists want to.

beaver geography is was wondering if your first name is justin

Just needs one more lane!

State Road 93 from Phoenix to Vegas is also super dangerous. They need to just turn that thing into an Interstate

Statistically not AZ's most dangerous highway.

The main issue with Maricopa is the reservation that is to the north, and how said reservation will end up influencing how the highway gets upgraded. I am usually not an advocate for widenings, but I feel like that stretch of highway needs to be 3 lanes, and that they should put in something like a cloverstack where it meets the 10 that way it can resolve the traffic. Kind of like a whole s. mtn. fwy thing they did back in like 2017-2020 where they upgraded a 2 lane divided highway that randomly ended into a 3/4 lane per side proper freeway.

Buttelieg came out here and not another peep about fixing this hwy. Par for the course. 347 is now 65 all the way through. Population is now 70K. This highway is a joke as are the ongoing talk with nothing getting done to fix it.

Just make a decision within months not years

No dangerous routes just dangerous driver not paying attention

Need rail.

one... more... lane...

347 most dangerous highway? I'll nominate US 60, Grand Ave. west of 17 all the way to Wickenburg. I see more fatal crashes there than any other stretch of highway.

Take phoenix drivers add a crap road. yeah. (No offense phx ppl, bad drivers are everywhere!! I lived in a car there a bit, so like... I'm extra biased.) anyway TRY PRAYING! Jesus is amazing!

all America can think of and biild are single Family homes, stroads and Highways...