Got an opinion on the proposed South Mountain Freeway, but couldn’t make it to last month’s daylong public hearing?

Don’t worry. There are still plenty of opportunities to give us your feedback, including a series of community forums that starts tonight.

While these forums are not formal public hearings and will not include presentations, they will allow you to view the study video, talk with technical experts about the draft environmental impact statement and provide comments to a court reporter. These community forums are a chance for you to learn more about the project and provide comments for the formal record.

The forums will be held

• June 4, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sunridge Elementary School – Cafetorium, 6244 W. Roosevelt St. in Phoenix.
• June 18, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Foothills Golf Club – Saguaro Room, 2201 E. Clubhouse Drive in Phoenix.
• June 22, 9 a.m. to noon at the Komatke Boys and Girls Club, 5047 W. Pecos Road on the Gila River Indian Community.
• June 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Windmill Suites – Arizona Ballroom, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd. in Chandler.
• July 9, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Laveen Education Center – Boardroom, 5001 W. Dobbins Road in Laveen.
• July 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix/Avondale – Ballroom, 11460 W. Hilton Way in Avondale.

Other ways to comment
Comments are being accepted through July 24 and besides the forums, ADOT has other ways for you to give your input, including

• providing input by email at [email protected].
• submitting online comments at azdot.gov/SouthMountainFreeway.
• calling 602.712.7006.
• by mail to the South Mountain Study Team, 1655 W. Jackson St. MD 126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

All comments and questions will be addressed as part of the final environmental impact statement, which is set for release in 2014. This final document will have a 60-day public review period. A record of decision from the Federal Highway Administration is expected in 2014.

More on the proposed project
The six-chapter draft environmental impact statement covers potential impacts from building or not building a freeway, coordination with the Gila River Indian Community, purpose and need for a new freeway, alternatives studied and public outreach efforts since the study was launched in 2001.

May 21 formal public hearing.

The proposed South Mountain Freeway has been a critical part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Freeway Program since it was first included in funding through Proposition 300 approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985. The freeway was also part of the Regional Transportation Plan funding passed by Maricopa County voters in 2004 through Proposition 400.

Funding for the South Mountain Freeway is already available in the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan; construction of the freeway, if approved, could begin as soon as 2015. The eight-lane freeway would run from I-10 in the West Valley along 59th Avenue, cut across the southwest corner of South Mountain Park, and connect with Pecos Road on the south side of Ahwatukee to connect with I-10 and the Loop 202 Santan Freeway. The 22- to 24-mile-long freeway has a $1.9 billion budget, allocated through voter-approved transportation funds as outlined in the Regional Transportation Plan.

Several miles of new HOV lanes opened earlier this week in Chandler and the West Valley … just in time for the Monday morning commute!

ADOT opened the new stretches of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes along the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in Chandler and the Loop 101 Agua Fria Freeway in the Glendale and Peoria area.

The completion of the new eastbound Loop 202 carpool lane east of I-10 marks the end of an $84.7 million project to add 12 miles of HOV lanes in each direction between I-10 and Gilbert Road in Chandler . That project, which started in September 2010, included the addition of elevated HOV lane ramps that provide carpoolers with direct connections between Loop 202 and the Loop 101 Price Freeway as well as I-10.

Along the Loop 101, crews opened a 12-mile stretch of the new westbound and southbound HOV lane between 51st Avenue and Glendale Avenue. ADOT is adding 30 miles of new carpool lanes in each direction along Loop 101 between State Route 51 in north Phoenix and I-10 in the West Valley . Work on that $90 million project began in January of this year. Sections of the new lanes have been opened in stages as the project advances. The plan is to open another segment Monday morning. After this weekend, the entire stretch of HOV lane (heading west to south) from SR 51 to Thomas Road will be open. All the carpool lanes are scheduled to be open to traffic by next month (November).

In less than a year, spectacular ramps and bridges have risen from bare ground in the southeast Valley. By this fall, they’ll link 12 miles of new high occupancy vehicle lanes on the Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) with Interstate 10 and the Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Chandler -- see the project's progress in the slide show above.

On the other side of the Valley, crews are adding new HOV lanes - and improving three bridges - on the Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway) from I-10 near Avondale to I-17 in north Phoenix. In just six months, they have built and paved 18 miles of the 30-mile project and are eyeing completion by this fall.

Both of these projects are utilizing the “design-build” (D/B) method of delivery – and proving that D/B can yield big results in a relatively small amount of time. That’s why D/B is one of the “alternative delivery methods” that ADOT uses for freeway projects when doing so makes sense.

The D/B concept involves pairing a design team with a construction team to create one, synergistic entity that delivers a freeway project from beginning to end.

This differs from the more traditional “design-bid-build concept” where one firm designs a project that is then put out to bid and awarded to a construction company to build.

Contractors that bid on ADOT’s D/B projects must not only meet quality standards, but also demonstrate their capability to complete the project on time and on budget at a much faster and dynamic pace.

Because D/B projects are schedule-driven, they can make driving through the work zone a bit more challenging. The faster pace means doing more – and more complicated – work in a shorter amount of time. For motorists, it can mean numerous restrictions or detours while the project is underway.

The flip side? The same restrictions or detours occur, but are spread out over a longer period of time for a project that takes longer to complete and probably costs more.

The D/B method can save time and money by overlapping the design and construction phases. Other benefits include improved design efficiency through on-going constructability reviews and better management of the project schedule. Because the design firm and construction company typically form a joint venture to deliver the freeway project, ADOT also benefits from having a single point for contractual responsibility if challenges arise.

With so many benefits, why doesn’t ADOT use D/B for all of its projects? Simply put, not all freeway projects are good candidates. The best project candidates do not require significant right-of-way acquisition or extensive, complicated relocation of existing utilities. In addition, ADOT believes that D/B is most advantageous when transportation improvements are immediately needed to improve safety and reduce high traffic volume or chronic congestion.

So the next time you’re maneuvering through a sea of orange cones on the Loop 101 in Peoria or find yourself on a detour route because the Loop 202 is closed in Chandler, remember that ADOT is working to make your everyday commute safer and more efficient – and saving time and taxpayer dollars at the same time!

Crews are busy adding more than 80 lane miles of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to two Valley freeways – 30 miles in both directions on Loop 101 in the west Valley and 12 miles on east- and westbound Loop 202 in Chandler that will link directly to HOV lanes on the Loop 101 (Price Freeway) and Interstate 10.

The payoff for having these HOV lanes is significant. Not only do they help improve traffic flow and encourage carpooling, but they also expand transit opportunities (think express bus service). People who use them save time and money; and, we all enjoy the benefits of cleaner air thanks to fewer auto emissions.

But you’re probably asking yourself the same question we at ADOT are frequently asked: Why don’t we build the HOV lanes when we build the freeway?

It’s a good and fair question. To answer it, we’ll use an analogy that should hit home for just about anyone who’s ever purchased a house. We all dream about the add-ons we’d love to have from the get-go: the in-home theater, the furnished game room or the gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Most of us, though, don’t have the budget to get everything at once, so we start with what we can afford to meet our needs at the time, and save up or secure additional financing later for the improvements on our wish lists.

It’s quite similar when it comes to building our Valley freeways. Constructing them to 100-percent capacity all at once is usually not financially feasible. As a result, we build and improve freeways in phases, using the funding that is available when the project is scheduled to begin.

The funding comes from the voter-approved, 20-year extension of the half-cent sales tax (2006-2026). Revenue is programmed for freeway projects identified in the Maricopa Association of Government’s Regional Transportation Plan and is used for projects throughout the Maricopa County region to ensure that transportation needs in all parts of the Valley are met.

Back to those HOV lanes … we planned for their eventual construction very, very well. It’s no coincidence that we have ample space available down the center of the freeway mainlines. In fact, we plan and build freeways from the outside-in, so we have the land we need and the blueprint for design as soon as we get the thumbs up to begin the next phase of work. What appear to be dirt medians are precisely measured alignments for new lanes; even overpasses are built so additional lanes will fit beneath them 5, 10 even 20 years later.

Just like the homeowner who envisions next summer’s swimming pool on that barren plot of land in the backyard, we at ADOT are saving up – and planning ahead – for the safe and efficient traffic flow of tomorrow.