LAVEEN, Ariz. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District will hold a public hearing for a Department of the Army permit application that was submitted by the Arizona Department of Transportation for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project currently under construction in Phoenix, Arizona.
The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at the Boys and Girls Club of the East Valley, Gila River Branch-Komatke, 5047 West Pecos Road, Laveen, Arizona from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The hearing was requested during the public review period of a Public Notice announcing the Corps’ consideration of ADOT’s permit application under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The Corps Regulatory Program evaluates permit applications for most construction activities that occur in the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, oceans, and wetlands. The purpose of the public hearing is to gather additional public views and comments on the proposed activity. The information gathered will become part of the record and will be considered in the decision.
The South Mountain Freeway would connect Interstate 10 (Maricopa Freeway) to Interstate 10 (Papago Freeway) and complete the Loop 202 system. ADOT is proposing to permanently impact a total of 7.778 acres of Waters of the United States to construct the 22-mile, eight-lane freeway. The proposed impacts would be associated with the construction of bridges and culverts across 51 drainages, including the Salt River.
Issuance of a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefit, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments.
Factors that will be considered include conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food production and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
Additional information regarding the hearing can be found in the public notice here.