The Arizona Department of Transportation is holding public meetings this week to provide information and answer questions about the proposed Interstate 11 route.
The public meetings are part of a three-year environmental study that began in March.
Representatives from the study team will be on hand to answer questions and receive comments from the public. Maps of the study area will be available for the public to view and comment on.
All meetings begin at 4 p.m. with a presentation at 4:15 p.m. After that, the meetings will run like an open-house.
The meetings in Nogales, Tucson and Marana are part of the public scoping process for a corridor stretching from Nogales to Wickenburg.
The recommended I-11 corridor would likely follow US 93 from the Hoover Dam bypass bridge south to Wickenburg. The 280-mile corridor that is the focus of the current environmental study begins in Wickenburg and runs west of the Phoenix metropolitan area and then south to the Tucson area and then Nogales.
The main vision of the proposed I-11 is to enhance international trade routes by easily connecting Mexico with U.S. cities.
The public comment period runs for 45 days. The public is encouraged to provide comments about the potential locations, environmental considerations and the impact on wildlife habitats or cultural resources.
If you can't attend the meetings but would like to leave a comment, you can complete an online survey. All feedback, questions and comments will be considered part of the study, and will be entered into the project record. The public comment period runs until July 8.
In December 2015, Congress formally designated Interstate 11 from north to south in Arizona through the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. While the designation doesn't include funding, it does make the corridor eligible for federal funding in the future.
The next public meetings will be held:
Wednesday, June 22
Arizona Riverpark Inn
777 W. Cushing St.
Tucson
Thursday, June 23
Marana Middle School - Gymnasium
11285 W. Grier Rd.
Marana
Wednesday, June 29
Wickenburg Community Center
160 N. Valentine St.
Wickenburg
--
Comments can also be sent to:
Email: I-11ADOTStudy@hdrinc.com
Toll-free bilingual telephone hotline: 1-844-544-8049
Mail:
Interstate 11 Tier 1 EIS Study Team
c/o ADOT Communications
1655 W. Jackson St., Mail Drop 126F
Phoenix, AZ 85007
For more information about the I-11 study, click here.
