Why Doesn't Arizona Have More Interstate Highways? 

I saw that. I thought they were crying about "not becoming another LA" by not building the freeways?

Youre joking right? Phoenix has plenty of freeways. They just aren't called interstates.

​@@Rhapbus1 it hasn't always been that way.

Perhaps I should've used cleaner words but it's so frustrating trying to not die on these damn sidewalks. They are loud and smelly, I just wish there was more separated rights of way/tree coverage. Those routes actually are good to mention. In phx? Nah, we have enough of them.

I-11 will start in Gila Bend, and end in Reno

@@brickitect420 Easy solution, don't walk. It's 100 in the shade, don't even try pretending that you enjoy being out there. Also we do have a lot of those canal routes, you know, the ones that completely stop traffic so Billy and Joe can bike across the road.

What makes control city signage good or bad lol

I-15 barely makes the cut. It only has three exits in the state, which makes it very easy to forget

I think you make an excellent point, Capibara. I have long felt that a lot of towns would have been better served if *zero* interstates entered the town. I'd have set up a beltway around the town, and the interstates would end there. This would have saved many neighborhoods and would have encouraged more use of mass transit within the city limits.

@@BS-vx8dg what about Cincinnati? The beltway could be the main interstate

Tucson is a shithole. There is nothing historical about it.

As a former Tucson resident, I totally agree - there is a 100% chance if any spurs were built, they'd be designed to destroy a lot of really interesting neighborhoods on purpose, and that's a big part of what makes it such a charming city. That said, the size of the city makes the lack of spurs manageable. I lived near 5th and swan, and basically everything in the Tucson metro was within a 20 minute drive on surface streets. I rarely used the freeways at all, actually, unless I was making the odd trip to Phoenix or Tombstone.

@@paulyearley1084 I'd suggest a freeway from 10 to the airport. That's it

Come on baby, don’t say maybe

I've been to Winslow where they play Take It Easy ad nauseum for us tourists.

There's always the one that says she's a friend of mine...

@@timmmahhhh Maybe you remember back in the 70's when they played Marty Robbins singing El Paso 24/7 at the El Paso airport. Imagine working there! 😒

This song crossed my mind too. And it was a song before I was born too. But my Mom was a big Eagles fan. I want to go to Winslow one day just for that reason. I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me!

I think Beaver acknowledges this; he is just pointing out that AZ lost out on federal dollars.

They are very fast, I top out at 110 daily because of how empty they are.

Yeah, I was going to mention the loop. It is a highway system, just without the interstate designation.

Yeah every time I visit phoenix from LA, I hope on a loop route of I-10

An Interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix is in the works, and Nevada already signed their segment! It's Interstate 11, if you want to read up on it

I drove US 93 (the road from Phoenix to Vegas) in the late nineties when they were first doing major upgrades to make it 4 lanes in many areas. It was a bit terrifying because of the amount of traffic and mountains making it tough to get past trucks. I'm not necessary a believer that more freeways are better, but in this case, I-11 should have been done 30 years ago. There's still fatal accidents on US 93 to this day that probably wouldn't happen on a real freeway.

It has light rail, as I've ridden it from downtown Tempe to downtown Phoenix. But it's one of those where anyone without a ticket can get on

​@@YTcensorssoooooooo much better then Southern California.

You mean like metros?

@@HistoricallyMarked Last time I rode the train from Tempe to the Convention Center, I had my ticket scanned _twice_ by fare enforcement. I believe it's a $50 fine for a first offense. YMMV, but you definitely want to buy a ticket.

And no good state or local highways either. It’s all toll roads and 2-3 lanes. That always drives me wild from Houston where 288 and 290 are also massive

Yes this, when he mentioned all the interstates in Texas I'm thinking the Austin people must be saying we don't have enough!

Austin should be ashamed of themselves! All that freaking traffic forced to go thru the city 😆

@Moon Shine oh I'm fully aware. They tried to keep the growth from happening by not building out the infrastructure only for the growth to happen anyway and overwhelm the infrastructure of a city that's maybe a third of its size.

They really wasted potential with that one. They could’ve used I-14 for that and if they really needed to service Killeen, they could’ve just called it I-135. I-12 won’t work since it’s too close to the one in Louisiana.

It was also entirely constructed by the City of Phoenix from McDowell Road to Glendale Avenue. This was turned over to ADOT in 1994 after the election.

I agree. Phoenix metro has arguable one of the best freeway/interstate networks for a city of comparable size. Instead of interstate spur loops, reliance is placed on the state highways in Phoenix: 51, 143, 101, 202, and 303. I’ve traveled to many metropolitan areas, and I think the freeway grid is excellent in Phoenix. I would love to see more transportation expansion with the light rail system.

I-11 will run down US93 from Las Vegas, through Kingman (and concurrent with I-40) to about Wickenburg ... then mostly southward past I-10 (as the far western Phoenix bypass) to run concurrent with I-8 towards Casa Grande. I think the current plan is for I-11 to split with I-8 before I-8 ends at I-10 ... and I-11 to run separate from I-10 down to Pima County. the path for I-11 through Pima County is still unsettled ... either I-11 will stay separate from I-10 and run as a western Tucson bypass for Nogales (with a connector in Marana) ... or run concurrent with I-10 through Tucson to I-19. south of Pima County, I-11 will run with I-19 to the Nogales crossing into Mexico.

@@dhinton1 I is disaster that is trying to build through Saguaro National Park, Arizona is a sh!t show

Needs to go through Reservations.

True! Although there is another sign designating Kilometers in New Mexico westbound on I-10 just south of Las Cruces. Coordinates on google earth (32•02'59"N 106°35'58"W)

@@IWrocker How about that, there is a sign in km out there, haha

There is a lot of traffic between Sonora MX and Tucson -wealthy Mexicans shopping in Tucson. MX uses the Metric system, so I-19 was set in KMs to accomodate them.

Most likely Phoenix is using concrete rather than asphalt due to the insanely high summer temperatures which would cause normal asphalt to melt. I had the same complaints with the highways in Dallas.

@@YTcensors I remember when I was a kid and lived there the 303 had stop signs and traffic lights still... and the 202 wasnt even finished yet.

@@YTcensors another standing joke is the 303/10 interchange ramp is so f***ing sharp and nobody there knows how to turn so they smash into the guardrail

@@ashwinnarasimhan2729 they use mostly asphalt in Phoenix.

@@YTcensors lol grand (or i guess it just turns into US-60 in the east valley) just has it's lanes slowly start disappearing when you get closer and closer to the edge of the valley and then after the 202 its like F this and drops down to one lane each side

It does have spur/loop routes. The 101, 202, 303, and Highway 60 are all freeways that take you around the valley in addition to the I 10 and the I 17.

Same with LV to LA

What vulgar nickname are you talking about?

"Vulgar nickname" LOL! Wow, aren't you politically correct! Please never study a topo map of Arizona, you would go into cardiac arrest! LOL

@@muskrat3291 And those names are being changed because unlike you, society is progressing.

ok@@moonshine8255

Spur routes are roads that "spur" off of a main interstate. They are signed with 3 digits, with the last 2 digits being the numbers of the parent freeway. For example, in Los Angeles, we have the I-5 main interstate. There is then the I-405, which is an alternate bypass route

Tucson have a largar walkable area around downtown, in their barrios, 4th avenue area and then U of A.

The rest is typical American suburbs, but at least historical neighborhoods kept untouched

What confuses me is the mile markers on I-17. By the numbers, it should be running much farther south than it does. Nearly 200 miles further. Anyone know why?

@@kerrycrismon2854 it got its mile posts from SR69.

the future Interstate 11 will essentially replace Arizona 85 as the far western Phoenix bypass.

I took that route just today to avoid going into Phoenix on my way home to Tucson. I personally think it would make sense to turn it into a full freeway at some point. It's already a wide four lane highway for almost all of it (and I do remember it being a narrow 2 lane highway when I was still in high school in the late 80s)

Are you sure? With Puerto Rico, here's the gist of things: - They are Interstates for the purposes of funding, but Puerto Rico does not get the full share of federal fund matching (90-10 during the earlier Interstate highway act bills, 80-20 in later bills), and instead gets a much lower share (50-50, or select projects with a special matching rule where expired federal funds can be used to complete the non-federal portion of the funding). Even to this day, Puerto Rico's socioeconomic standing is still quite different to the US states, when the Interstates started in the 1950s, the Island was still quite poor--it was unrealistic to demand us to build full Interstate highway routes from a financial perspective. I also suspect Puerto Rico was added in the second interstate highway funding bill, as our first long-distance toll road, PR-52, started construction in 1969. - As far as Interstate highway standards go, the main deviation are the toll roads--that's easily explained by the lower federal funding match. If you travel here and pay tolls on a long distance route (PR-22, PR-52, PR-53, PR-66) you're definitely on an unsigned interstate. Their geometry is indeed built to Interstate highway standards, perhaps not the newest ones, but definitely compliant at the respective construction times. PR-66, being the most recent construction (2009-2016) is definitely compliant with the 5th edition of the Interstate Highway Standards (6th edition entered into force in 2016). I'll also mention PR-18 and PR-26 act as untolled urban segments of PR-52 and PR-66, respectively. - The other case that's likely the most salient deviation corresponds to intercity arterial routes (PR-2 in western Puerto Rico, PR-3 in northeastern Puerto Rico). These ones of course aren't built as freeways / motorways, featuring signalized intersections and lots of segments with direct property access to the roadway. Paradoxically enough, PR-2 along southwestern Puerto Rico (between the cities of Mayagüez and Ponce) is likely the route which most closely follows the Interstate highway standards, including the grade separation (about 95% complete, only missing 4 intersections), interchange spacing, lane/shoulder dimensions, and lack of tolls. - Also consider Puerto Rico has a compact and mountainous geography. This means we often build roadways right against the maximum slope allowances (6% for normal mountainous alignments and up to 7% for short stretches of mountainous route), and even in rural areas, interchange spacing tends to be closer, often looking more like suburban spacings (1.6 to 3.2 km / 1-2 miles, rather than the required 5 km / 3 miles). This is a result of denser settlement patterns and local roadways being winding and indirect because of topography. - Last but not least, Puerto Rico does have other freeways / motorways not part of the Interstate highway system. These include PR-5, PR-12, PR-20, PR-30, PR-60, some portions of PR-1, PR-17, PR-165 and PR-177. These get close but not exactly follow the Interstate highway standards (mainly geometry, but also tolls for PR-5, PR-17 and PR-20).

@Lucario Boricua PR-1, PR-2, and PR-3 appear to have gotten the full 90-10, according to Wikipedia. They are the only interstates in the island. None of the Commonwealth built freeways like PR-22 or PR-52 have federal funding.

​​@@SacredCowStockyards You're incorrect. The designations PRI-1, PRI-2 and PRI-3 are the unsigned interstates, these do not match the signed designations under Puerto Rico's highway network. If they were signed, you'd see the red/blue interstate shields reading PRI-1, PRI-2 and PRI-3, and you don't. When federal funding for Interstate highways is assigned, on paper it's for the PRI routes, but in practice (and what is presented to the public and in official documents of the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority) it's for roads like PR-22 and PR-52. The designations match as follows: PRI-1 corresponds to PR-18 (entire length, 6 km) and PR-52 (entire length, 104 km). PRI-2 corresponds to PR-22 (entire length, 84 km) and PR-2's western Puerto Rico segment (km 84 to km 224). PRI-3 corresponds to PR-26 (entire length, 16km), PR-66 (entire length, 20 km), and segments of PR-3 and PR-53, reaching all the way to Humacao (PR-53's southeastern segment isn't designated as an interstate, but is built to the geometric standards, still very incomplete however). You're talking with someone who studied a master's degree in transportation engineering, is up-to-date with all the major transportation planning documents of Puerto Rico; and who has collaborated with the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, and the Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Division of the Federal Highway Administration. I'm 9001% sure of what I'm talking about. EDIT: The one part I can't verify, however, is whether the early construction got the 90-10 federal funding match, I do know current funding generally uses 50-50 matching, or using expired funds to match new funds, as per a 2015 Memorandum of Understanding signed between FHWA, PRHTA and the Governor of Puerto Rico.

Yup definitely. The 710 and 110 were converted

This is the area of the “new” loop 202 extension in south Phoenix where it connects to I-10 on west side of downtown

Oh ok, I haven't been on that stretch of the 202 yet.

Maybe

@@Jolei33 That’s in CA

@@Cyrus992 oh

Hard to bulid roads through the mountain ranges NW of Wickenburg...Hwy 93 was still dirt until the late 50s. Plus there will be a lot of earth moving/blasting to put in more lanes, plus enviro laws.

Really? Wow!

Phoenix Metro has passed five million last year.

If the government was anti auto, is Tucson’s transit system any good?

@@highway2heaven91 negative, simple shared access streetcar line thru downtown, that’s it.

​@@highway2heaven91 No, the transit system is terrible. Busses meander in random paths throughout the city, not in a grid pattern. They are often 15-20 minutes late. Making you miss your connection. Cars are mandatory to get anywhere unless you live and work around U of A or downtown. But that's a very small portion of the city. Tucson is just a smattering of disconnected suburban neighborhoods being built farther and farther out. "We have no plan and we're sticking to it!"

No wonder the growth is so sluggish

I agree, US-89 could easily be converted into I-17 and connect via somewhere in south central Utah with I-15.

I've thought of this before, extending I-17 north. It would work pretty OK up until about Page and the AZ-UT border, but once it gets into Utah, the route would be really mountainous and probably prohibitively expensive. Also, I'm not sure if the Navajo nation would be willing to have another interstate go through their territory.

@@thomasrinschler6783 Which is the reason for the lack of freeways and more hwys in AZ...they would have to go through Indian Land-which is hard to build anything on due to ownership questions. This is how Loop 202 in SW Phoenix was routed through the end of the South Mountains and just N of the border with the Gila River Indian Community.

Grand Canyon is in the way.

What Jeff said.

@@jeffs4483 BS. There is a US highway 89 that goes north out of Flagstaff that eventually hits I-70 near Sevier by the 70-15 Junction

@@njdevilku1340 so then take the highway 89. What’s the problem?

Why does it need to?

215?

Like the metro Manila skyway

@@johnperic6860 lol

I-11 is shrouded in controversy cause of Saguaro National Park and the reservation already told Arizona to pound sand

Maclovio Barraza Parkway!

That will be I-11 once it gets extended north of Las Vegas.

Northern AZ has winter storms-quite a few this year. They do seasonal damage plus all of the truck use. Its seems to be a yearly thing-winter potholes get fixed in the summer.

I 19 still fucking sucks

Low density is also an issue though. The map of Phoenix looks like a toddler drew it and it’s way too spaced out. That causes more traffic

@@chefssaltybawlz Big agree, grew up in the shadow of the vehicle bathtub of the univ of phx stadium in the west valley. I live elsewhere now, but having only a bike rly sucked in the summers. Have so much available space?? there's plenty of room to reconfigure imho . but the grid is kinda useful in that context ill be honest :p Pretty easy to navigate the grid, just . make it nicer to be outside in the heat physical-env-wise.... pls.

@@chefssaltybawlz Commuter and suburban rail would still work.

Does Tucson have good transit at least?

Those aren't Interstates as they weren't paid for by Federal funds.

Because they would have took out many homes and businesses...many of high value.