South Mountain Freeway wasn't studied? Riiiight

The future South Mountain Freeway is far from perfect.

No one wants to see it slice through iconic South Mountain. And even if it was ruled out as a viable option long ago, it still seems odd to not connect it with Loop 101 on the west side of the Valley.

But it's hard to buy the argument that officials did not "consider adequately the significant harm the freeway would inflict on the environment and historical and cultural resources," as the Gila River Indian Community is alleging. The tribe is joining a lawsuit from another group of opponents in hopes of stopping the freeway.

It's been a dashed line on maps for decades. The formal planning process conducted by state and federal transportation officials took years, during which they received more than 8,000 comments about the freeway's potential impact.

Everything was weighed and tallied in a lengthy Final Environmental Impact Statement.

State and local officials also have long tried to work with Gila River officials in hopes of moving the freeway south onto tribal land, negating the need to bulldoze through the mountain. There were several efforts to secure land and put the issue to a vote of the people.

All fell through.

I get it. South Mountain Freeway at this point is a joke, a farce, a dream. The weathered sign on Pecos Road denoting the future freeway seems like a monument to bad planning and inaction.

And maybe, at this point, we should just drop the whole idea and let traffic continue to build on Interstate 10. Or maybe transportation officials should start talking more about building that insane super-freeway extension on I-10 around the Broadway Curve that would create separate lanes for local and regional traffic.

Honestly, I've looked at conceptual maps of that monstrosity and shudder at what it would look like, much less how confused drivers would navigate it.

But it looks like the South Mountain extension will be tied up in court for months, or more likely years. And at some point, you have to wonder if fighting for it is worth the continued hassle.

See the route: