Santan Freeway on track

The AZ Republic has an article today about the pace of work on the San Tan Freeway:

Dirt has been flying for well over a year through Gilbert's once-open grounds as contractors sculpt a six-lane freeway.

Now the concrete's being poured as crews push forward with major paving operations, signaling another milestone in building the $163 million, 12-mile remainder of Santan Freeway, which extends to Elliot Road in southeast Mesa.

The Valley's months-long dry spell has helped keep work on schedule, too.

"Construction continues to be pretty smooth, and we're moving ahead," said Ian Satter, an Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman.

A majority of the new Loop 202's mainline paving is complete, and plans call to begin laying down rubberized asphalt in March, Satter said.

ADOT still is holding to a late spring to early summer opening.

The rest of the article talks about the anticipation of various town officials and what specifically remains to be completed.

I asked The Mister how the opening of the Santan affects Morrison Ranch. There are two effects that immediately came to mind. The first is that it increases demand for the industrial park property along Power Road. We have already begun some informal talks with various users for that ground; but we are getting calls inquiring about that property much more frequently than we did even 2 years ago. The second effect is that the freeway will make the south side of Morrison Ranch the front door rather than the north side, which is closer to the Superstition Freeway. This will offer a larger variety of users for the commercial corner at Higley and Warner. It means we will have more choices, and in our minds, choices are always good.

One benefit that came to my mind when pondering the Santan freeway is that when my daughters come home from Tucson, their commute time will be shorter. Choices are good, but visiting offspring is the very best.