State Route 30 aims to relieve traffic congestion for booming West Valley
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State Route 30 will serve as a reliever for the heavily congested West Valley portion of Interstate 10. Image courtesy of the Maricopa Association of Governments
If you commute to and from the southwest Valley, the Phoenix area's next major freeway should make your drive a bit easier, though it'll be a while before it's a reality.
The big picture: The West Valley is in the midst of a massive population boom and has some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.
- State Route 30 will be the Valley's next new freeway.
- The Tres Rios Freeway, as SR 30 will also be known, will eventually run 29 miles south of Interstate 10, from the Durango Curve on Interstate 17 south of downtown Phoenix to State Route 85 in Buckeye.
- It aims to serve as a reliever for I-10.
Why it matters: Rush-hour traffic on I-10 west of downtown Phoenix is often a bumper-to-bumper mess, which makes commuting a daunting prospect.
- That segment of I-10 is critical for both commuters and commerce between the Valley and California, said John Bullen, assistant executive director for the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG).
Zoom in: SR 30 will have three segments:
- East — Durango Curve to Loop 202
- Center — Loop 202 to Loop 303
- West — Loop 303 to State Route 85
State of play: The first segment of SR 30 to go under construction will be the center, which MAG views as the most important of the three.
- Bullen told Axios the first stretch to be built will run from Loop 202 to around 97th Avenue.
- Construction on that portion is expected to begin early in 2027, and will take two to three years.
- The full center segment could take as long as a decade to complete.
Reality check: The full SR 30 project is likely to last at least 20 years, Bullen said.
- There's no timeline for construction of the eastern and western segments and the Arizona Department of Transportation is still acquiring some of the needed rights-of-way.
Meanwhile, construction on the extension of Loop 303 south of I-10 will begin this summer and is expected to take three years, Bullen said.
- SR 30 will eventually link up with the extended Loop 303.
By the numbers: Much of the funding for SR 30 will come from Proposition 479, the transportation sales tax extension that Maricopa County voters approved last November.
- The 20-year half-cent sales tax will fund 331 miles of new freeways and highways, in addition to 1,000 miles of new or improved arterial lane miles.
- It will also help support 12miles of light rail and over 28 miles of new Bus Rapid Transit service.
- MAG expects the projects funded by Prop. 479 to reduce the average afternoon commute by one-third and reduce congestion by 51,000 hours on critical freight corridors daily.
What they're saying: "With Prop. 479 passing last year, now we're starting to talk about that State Route 30 and that being the I-10 reliever. That is critically important, not just to Buckeye and Goodyear and Avondale and Tolleson and Phoenix, but for commerce coming in and out of metro Phoenix," Buckeye Mayor Eric Orsborn told Axios recently.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the first stretch of construction will run from Loop 202 (not the Durango Curve) to around 97th Avenue, and that the project's funding will pay for over 28 miles of new Bus Rapid Transit (not standard) service and help support (not add) 12 miles of light rail.