ronhoon's Blog

The headlines blare than gas prices are down a dime in the last two weeks.  Big deal!  The price of oil has dropped from $147 a barrel to $123 a barrel.  That's close to a 15% decline.  Doing the quick math, that means the price of gas should have gone from $4.05 a gallon in Arizona to $3.45. 

Ah, but it takes a while for the price drops to be passed through, some might say.  If that's true, why were we seeing nearly instantaneous increases at the pump here in AZ when the oil price would go up that same day? 

Maybe you saw on our show where I quoted prices from other places around the country.  Rick's hometown of Euclid, Ohio is as low as $3.79.  Alexis and my hometowns (Sacramento and Wenatchee) are higher...at 4 bucks and up.  But there are several places now where has gas has already fallen to $3.60 or less.  By mid-morning on Monday, gas in Oklahoma City was down to $3.35 a gallon!    At that rate, they'll be $2.99 a gallon before we even get back down to $3.50.

Being next to California, which pays about the highest in the country, hurts us a lot, since we get so much of our gas from them.  But we're not that far from Texas, and I just saw $3.49 a gallon there...let alone those Oklahoma prices.  

So while it's a little good news in Arizona...it could sure be better.

I remember voting back in 1985 on something called Proposition 300. The hope was that a couple hundred new freeway miles would be built, and that the gridlock that existed then could be eased. Believe it or not, back in the early 1980's, there was only one completed freeway in the Valley, the I-17. The I-10 actually dead ended out around 99th Avenue, and you had to get on Van Buren Street to drive toward downtown and then hook onto the 17! The Superstition Freeway had been built just a few miles into the East Valley, and dead ended into a wall of dirt at Gilbert Road.

Most of the time, when I travel to other cities, I'm struck by how little they've tried to keep up with their growth...and bad freeway situations have only become worse. Here, at least, we've tried to keep building new roads. I know the politically correct move would be to have poured all that money into mass transit, so we can "get people out of their cars." But realistically, cars are how we get around. It really doesn't matter how many busses you add, people are still going to drive their cars.

So, its interesting to note that the last leg of all those Prop 300 freeways is open to open. It's the Red Mountain Freeway (the 202) out in Northeast Mesa. The last remaining section stretches from Power Road east to about Ellsworth then south to University. Not only will it be great for people in Northeast Mesa, it'll be a big help for people living south of the Superstition, out east, who are fed up with the drive down the 60 to the 10 or down the 60 to the 101. Driving the full loop north on the 202 could turn out to be a time saver for them.

ADOT is soon to set the date for its opening. The community party is set now on July 15th. (I love how we party on a brand new freeway in this town!) The actual date to use it will follow shortly after that. And considering this freeway was first projected to open closer to the end of 2008, that's a success.

I do think that we've shifted too much money into busses and the light rail in the new tax package. I think it's close to 60%. Which is out of whack for the percentage of people that will use mass transit, versus their own cars. And that means not nearly as many miles of freeway will be built in the future. Someday down the line that will cause us some big problems.

Every time I sat in those near parking lot conditions on the 101 Freeway in Scottsdale, I'd look over at the on-ramp on some road like Indian Bend, watch another 14 cars try to squeeze on at once, and think to myself:  why?  Why would ADOT build a freeway that it had to know would be busy immediately (anybody remember what it was like to try to drive to the north part of Scottsdale on two-lane Pima Road?)...and not put it those ramp meters?  It's been that way for years...and only now is it changing, as they are finally up and running.

For every commuter that had to spend each day crawling along that freeway in the morning, and again in the afternoon, there should now be a letter of apology landing in your mailbox from ADOT saying, "Sorry we took so many years to take care of this.  Of course, you'll never get back the hundreds, maybe thousands of hours that you wasted out on that road, with a problem that could have been solved years ago.  Guess we thought we could save a little money up front, but it probably cost us more in the long run to wait.  Oh well.  Hope you still like us."

I called ADOT months ago to ask what the hold up was on these ramp meters.  It was in the works, I was told, but even since then, it's been a long wait.

I drive the 202 Freeway mostly, so this problem didn't affect me much.  Although everyone in the Valley knew this freeway could be a big mess every afternoon.  What I don't get is why a lot more people who live in Scottsdale (or live in Tempe, Chandler, etc. and drive it every day) didn't pick up the phone and call...

1) ADOT,

 2) their city leaders,

 3) their state lawmakers,

 or 4) their Congressmen...

...and demand some action.  That kind of thing does get action, you know.  Take a look at the ruckus raised by people living in the north Valley.  The I-17 at two lanes up to Anthem?  That was going to be a 20 year long project...but not anymore.  So, congrats to them for insisting their roads be improved.  And to anyone else wondering when they're going to see an improvement in a road or freeway near them, I have only one word of advice:  Pick up the phone and call somebody!

Did you see that slowdown on the I-10 Freeway Tuesday morning?  If you were inbound on the freeway from the Ahwatukee Foothills or Maricopa or Casa Grande, you might've been slowed down yourself.  What was the tie up right around the Ray Road exit?  17 illegal aliens being arrested.

As we reported on the Noon News, the I-10 has become a major corridor for human smuggling.  These illegal aliens were dressed in warm weather clothes, suggesting they were most likely not going to stop in Phoenix, but head north to anyone of hundreds of locations in the colder climates of our country.

Of course, it's not really news to those of us living in the Valley that the I-10 has become a conduit for human smuggling.  Most of us remember the rolling gun battle on the 10 s a while back, between two cars, rival human smugglers shooting it out.  And it's a credit to DPS that they catch as many as they do...as in Tuesday's arrests.

The disgrace is with the federal government and its continued foot dragging to solve a problem that it allowed to grow for years.  It is such a joke that they promote the so-called virtual fence as a solution.  If virtual fences worked, we'd see 'em around prisons, wouldn't we?  Instead they spend millions on a foolish idea, when that money should simply go toward building a real fence!

And so this problem on the 10 will be with us for years to come.  It's ridiculous that those of us who call the Valley home, and drive on that freeway, have to put up with its newest status as one of the major human smuggling corridors in the country.  But we have Washington's complete lack of concern for Arizona, and what we're dealing with here, to thank.

A new study says the person who uses that cell phone in the car in front of you, is doing more than just slowing you down.  They're slowing everyone down!

Using the scenario of one person in ten, on average, talking on their cell phone while driving, the study says we're all slowed down by several hours a year in our commuting, by the cumulative effect of people on their phones.

The study showed that people drove two miles an hour slower while they were on their phone.  This part actually surprised me.  I would have figured it was more than that!

How many times have you had someone in front of you (usually in the left lane) either weaving, or driving much slower than all the other traffic around you...then after you've passed them...you glance and see, sure enough their on the phone seemingly oblivious to everything around them???

I actually think the number could be greater than two miles an hour.  This survey was done with 36 undergraduate students, in a driving simulator.  Drivers who are much older than 20-somethings might have slower reflexes...driving in real traffic might make people more cautious...and what about the other distractions that happen at the same time in real life driving situations?  Kids in the car?  Trying to find a new radio station?  Etc...

But the overall theme makes sense...the person on the cell phone isn't just slowing you down, when you slow, so does the person behind you, and the person behind them.

The question is...if we should do anything about it.  Some people handle their cell phones just fine...and actually pay attention to how they might be affecting other drivers.  Maybe police should start pulling people over for creating a traffic hazard when they're well under the speed limit and are obviously slower than everyone else around them!

Spoke to Tim Tait at ADOT and got a lot of new info on the remaining section of the 202, and other Valley freeways as well.  Here goes:

ADOT is currently working with the Gila River Community to as he says, determine the cultural boundary, of South Mountain.  His estimate that all remaining issues with the Gila River Community could be resolved in a couple of months.

But then the legal review process begins at a federal highway field office in California.  That will take a few months.  Then, there is a public hearing process.  That is a minimum of 45 days.  Sounds like it could be longer, though.

If all goes according to schedule, construction funding then begins in the year 2011.  The current estimate is that some 255 homes will be lost to the freeway.

For those of you who think you might drive it, you'll be interested to know where there will be exits on this last leg of the 202.  Starting from the I-10, heading westbound along the Pecos Road alignment, and then around the south side of South Mountain, there will be exits at 40th Street, 24th Street, Desert Foothills Parkway, 17th Avenue and 51st Avenue.  Since we are years to construction, I imagine some of this could be subject to change.

Of course, more than just Valley residents will drive this freeway.  It should present an alternative for drivers heading north from Tucson and toward LA...and vice versa, an alternate route for drivers coming in from LA who are not stopping in Phoenix, but continuing on toward Tucson.  If those drivers do use this leg of the 202, it could reduce some of the worst back-ups inbound on the 10 in the morning...and outbound on the 10 in the afternoon.

You've seen the backups on the I-10 coming in from the West Valley in the morning.  And we show you the ADOT cams of the I-10 coming in from the Ahwatukee area, too.  There's no sugar coating it...it is bad...and as the Valley keeps growing, is likely to get worse.  This plan shows that there is a workable reliever route that could work.  But, it will still be many years before completion.  It sounds like it would be impossible, though, with all the government requirements, to speed up the process any faster.

Imagine patiently waiting to see whether or not your house was going to be demolished, while government officials drag out their decision.  It'd be pretty tough not to feel like your entire life was in limbo.  So that's why the latest news from ADOT has to be frustrating for so many people.  They're waiting another YEAR before notifying people in the Ahwatukee Foothills if they get to stay, or have to go.

That's because an environmental impact study has to be done.  Which is fine, but how would you like to be living in the possible path of the freeway and really have no idea what the future held for your home?  God forbid you needed to try to sell your house right now.

The final leg of the 202 may be the most needed freeway in years in the Valley.  It will run somewhere along Pecos Road...all the way from I-10, swinging around the western edge of South Mountain and hooking on to the 10 up around 55th Avenue.  This will get a lot of the "passing through" traffic off the 10...and (not solve, but at least) help with the problems in two areas:  The I-10 between Chandler Boulevard and the Broadway Curve....and the I-10 between 55th Avenue and the Deck Park Tunnel.

So...now we have three groups of people who need a decision from ADOT:  Those who drive either of those stretches of freeway daily...and these long-suffering homeowners in the foothills.

This shouldn't be business as usual at the highway department.  Any steps they can take to speed up their final decision should be implemented right now.  Skip lunch!  Stay late!  Work weekends!  Patience in the Valley is wearing thin...

We reported just the other day that Arizona now has among the lowest gas prices in the nation.  I drive past a $2.65 in Mesa, and while that still seems sky high, I guess it's better than the almost $3.50 a gallon they're paying around Chicago and San Francisco.

But gas prices this high have the free market system kicking into gear in ways I'd never thought possible.  Have you heard about this?  Construction is about to start on an ethanol plant in Florida that burns on...not corn...but oranges and grapefruit.  Specifically on the peels and the membranes that come picked oranges.  And apparently, grapefruits will work, too!

This uses a process pioneered almost a decade ago with leftover peels, but one that didn't make economic sense until gas hit $3 a gallon.  They're saying this plant could produce 4 million gallons of ethanol per year.  Ethanol, as you know, is then blended with refined gasoline, sometimes in as much as an 85/15 percent blend.  Thus you get the gas known as E85, which is supposed to start showing up at a lot more gas stations in Arizona soon. 

While I wonder about a "slightly citrus-y" smell to all our cars after each fill up (!)...I do think that anything that cuts our dependence on oil from the most volatile part of the world, is a good thing. 

What do you think?  Will it work?  WIll you buy it?  Or will we just see the oil companies drop the price back down to $1.99 to put all these alternative fuel operations out of business? 

With a planned shutdown of a small part of the 101 Freeway the weekend of July 14th, and the coming closures on future weekends of the 51 Freeway, the long awaited expansion of a number of Valley freeways gets underway.

This is the beginning of a project that will add carpool lanes from Shea Boulevard all the way up to the intersection with the 101.  The cost:  $40 Million.  On future weekends, there will be many closures on the 51 itself, the Piestewa Freeway, too...creating headaches for drivers now, but a good solution longer term. 

There are also lane expansions coming to the 101 in Scottsdale...the I-10 in the West Valley...and mercifully, the I-17 north of the 101 up to Carefree Highway.  With the growth in the north Valley, all the way up to Anthem, this is a project that is long overdue.  I'll update you when those projects get started.

And, while I'm at it, why are there STILL no metered stoplights at many of the on-ramps along the 101 in Scottsdale.  If you drive that in the afternoons, and crawl along with traffic, do you wonder why they haven't put those lights on the on-ramps?  So do I.  That would solve many of the congestion problems there...but I've never been able to get an answer as to what the hold up is along that freeway.

I know a lot of people just love those cameras out on the 101 Freeway in Scottsdale. Regular readers know that I've been against 'em since the start. Hiring more highway patrol officers is the answer, I believe. But I've also said that once any level of government from city to state, figures out how much money could be involved with these cameras, there's nothing to stop them from going up every half-mile on every freeway in Arizona. You could lose your life savings taking one trip to California!

Since not enough people view this type of camera surveillance as the slow creeping of government involvement in our lives, the trend will continue. I've said this before. And now here's the proof:

CAMERAS THAT CAN TELL WHETHER YOU CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP AT A STOP SIGN OR NOT. IF YOU DID A ROLLING STOP (I.E.: DOWN TO ONE MILE AN HOUR), THEY'LL CONVENIENTLY SEND YOU A $100 TICKET IN THE MAIL.

I'm not kidding about this. Here's the story from California.

As I suggested on the air this morning, perhaps the next step could be cameras installed in your car to record anything you do wrong. Uh oh, knowing how many people watch our show, I probably shouldn't have planted that seed!

There are hundreds of cameras in place at Valley intersections.  Many cities now set up speed cam vans.  And of course, 11 over the limit on one trip down the 101 in Scottsdale can get you three tickets past three cameras one way.  So why wouldn't the State of Arizona get on the bandwagon?  I mean if a little bit of surveillance of you is a good thing, wouldn't a lot of surveillance be even better?

Apparently not.  They've now inserted some language into the state budget at the State Capitol that would prevent the governor, on her own, to dramatically expand the powers of the state by authorizing cameras on freeways and highways all over Arizona.  Instead, according to this change, any more cameras on a state highway would have to be approved by the legislature. 

We need police officers and highway patrol officers out on our roads, interacting with the public, and in this post 9-11 age, making sure everything's good when they make a stop of a car or truck here in this important border state. 

It has amazed me to watch how Arizona, supposedly the land of Barry Goldwater and limited government involvement in your life, seemed to be willing to sit back and let this massive expansion of state power just happen.  Now, it looks like it won't.  At least for the time being.  But, I still won't be surprised if the day comes, as I predicted once on the air, when there will be a camera every couple of miles all the way along the I-10 from here to Blythe...or the other way to Tucson. 

A study the other day out of London concluded that there is now one camera watching for every 14 people living there.  Give it time...we'll get there too.

   The Phoenix City Council is apparently moving forward on a plan that would create a "spur line" that comes off the light rail route and "whisks" you over to the airport to catch your flight.

   The cost:  $1.1 Billion!  And you know what happens to construction estimates.  They always go up from what we are first told.

   Let me make sure I've got this figured out.  You'll get in your car and drive to 19th Avenue and Bethany Home.  There you'll get out of your car, lug your bags across the parking lot, climb onto a light rail train that will then make several stops along its route before it finally gets you across town to the train station at 44th Street and Washington.  Somewhere along the light rail ride, you realize, you could've driven to the airport, parked and be checked in by now.

   Anyhow, you eventually pull your bags off the light rail, and check them in at this new 44th Street Train Station, then transfer to the Sky Harbor train and wait for your ride to the airport itself...getting off at Terminal Four...unless you need to catch a bus to Terminal 3?   Who's going to go through all that? 

   I know there are people who believe that creating this light rail system will make us feel more like a big time city.  But it's asking a lot of people to comply with the wishes of these big dreamers...by having to go through this whole scenario every time they want to get to the airport.

Why isn't more being done to help people who have to drive up and down the Hunt Highway every day?  If you live in Phoenix...or the North Valley or the West Valley...maybe you've never had to drive this road?  But for anyone in the far East Valley, they must feel as though their government has forgotten them.  While Queen Creek and Johnson Ranch and Florence have grown tremendously, the state and the two counties (Maricopa and Pinal) responsible for roads there haven't come close to keeping up.

Now comes word that accidents on Hunt Highway have increased over 600%.  So far, the response is to increase law enforcement on it, and other nearby roads.  That's a good first step.  But the real reason the roads are so dangerous there is that you have thousands more people using them than they were designed for...with no immediate plans to fix them.  A government that can't "fix the potholes", or in this case can't provide a basic level of road services that people in a growing area need, will soon lose the support of the people who are paying its bills.

By sign off this morning, our poll on the most dangerous around the Valley had the I-17 north of the Valley winning...but with Hunt Highway...the Beeline Highway and others getting plenty of votes.  What are your experiences on the Hunt, Beeline, 303, 17 or the 10?  They all need to get fixed...but the way people in Queen Creek and beyond are being ignored is ridiculous.

The results of Thursday's poll on Fox 10 Arizona Morning are not a good sign for proponents of the Valley's light rail system. 

Here's what we asked...and I'll show you what the results were shortly after we went off the air:

         How often do you think you'll ride the Valley's light rail system?          

Every day for my commute:       00.53%

If I'm going downtown or to the airport:       9.3%

Maybe once:     27.8%

Never:       62.3%

You are seeing that right.  00.53% say they'll use it everyday.  62% say never!  As I've been looking into light rail systems, I see people who know how they work state that they do not eliminate congestion.  That, they say, is a big misconception.  They do say it saves quite a few hours per month of commuting time...for people who live along the route.  The problem is this.  How many people do you know who live along the light rail route?  Probably not too many.

Some cities seem to be perfect for this kind of a system.  I'm thinking of Seattle, where they're building one...and Salt Lake City, where they already have their Trax system in place.  Both those cities are linear in their growth pattern.  The vast majority of people live either north of the downtown, or south of the downtown.  There is one main north-south commuting core.

But that's not what it's like here in the Valley.  We're the opposite of that.  We're spread out from Surprise to Avondale and Peoria to Scottsdale and Anthem to Tempe and Chandler to Queen Creek and Mesa to Gilbert.  For a system like this to reach out to more than just those who live along the route, it would need to be as spread out as our freeway system.  And that would take most of our lifetimes to build.

So, I hope these numbers in a poll that as we all know is not scientific, are at least a little better than 00.53% of the Valley.  Otherwise, we may look back and say, "Ya know that $1.3 Billion we spent on light rail could have helped a lot more people by improving our existing freeway system."