Roads, Open and Closed

The long-anticipated opening of the San Tan Freeway is just around the corner, and everyone is invited to the party, according to the Republic:

GILBERT - The town has announced that the Santan Freeway, the largest public works project ever in the town, will open to traffic June 12.

An opening party, which is expected to draw between 10,000 and 15,000 people, is scheduled for June 7.

The much-anticipated, $160 million freeway, which will complete the southern leg of Loop 202, has been under construction since late 2004.

This will make quite a difference, both in terms of traffic flow and new retail lining the freeway and the offramps. It should be quite a party. An Open Road.

As for the closed road, The Mister was somewhat bemused by the activity along Elliot between Recker and Power over the weekend. The Town of Gilbert had informed him of a "soft closing" of that portion of the road, as they would be burying water lines as part of the construction of the water reservoir across the street from Highland Groves. When we drove by, the road was impassable to any traffic but construction equipment. "Soft?" I do not think that word means what they think it means.