SAN PEDRO WILD TO PROTEST FRIDAY TRANSPORTATION MEETING
by san pedro wild
Thursday, Mar. 20, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Demonstrators Will Show Opposition to I-10 Bypass as Study Conclusions
Presented
On Friday, March 21 at 8:30 a.m., members of San Pedro Wild will protest
in front of the Tucson City Council Chambers, where the State
Transportation Board is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. The board will hear
the conclusions of a preliminary study about the proposed I-10 bypass
through southern Arizona, and may make a decision about whether to
proceed with the project.
With a festive, colorful demonstration, San Pedro Wild will remind the
board of the widespread grassroots opposition to the proposed bypass and
urge it to drop the plan as unnecessary, wasteful and destructive.
The Arizona Department of Transportation has proposed the construction
of a bypass that would connect I-10 near Willcox, east of Tucson, and
run to near Buckeye, north of Phoenix. The bypass would allow freight
trucks to avoid the traffic of the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas.
“The last thing we need is another highway,” said Geoff Boyce of San
Pedro Wild. “With oil running out, we need to be talking about producing
our food and other needs locally, not trucking it in from thousands of
miles away.”
San Pedro Wild is opposed to the construction of any I-10 bypass. Such a
highway would inevitably destroy sensitive wildlife habitat, degrade the
character of rural communities and pave the way for sprawl in relatively
undisturbed areas—all for the benefit of an unsustainable globalized
economy that does not serve the people of Arizona.
The meeting and protest will take place at the Tucson City Council
Chambers, 255 W. Alameda in downtown Tucson.
San Pedro Wild is a grassroots group of southern Arizona residents
committed to protecting the biological and cultural diversity of the San
Pedro Valley and surrounding areas.
