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Infringing Freeways

As the Valley continues its sprawl, some neighborhoods sit directly in the paths of tomorrow's freeways, but it's often the homeowners on the fringe of freeways who bear the brunt of depreciation and end up putting up with the noisy traffic. Some want their money back, while others enjoy the easy access to the Valley's throughways. Still others continue building in the path of future freeways.

John Dickerson

If there were a Guinness World's Record for home closest to a freeway, then Leonard and Sally Carter would likely take the blue ribbon.

The red brick barrier wall separating their backyard and the 202 stands a few feet from the edge of their pool and about 20 feet from their living room window. Carter says it would be one thing if he'd known the wall would block his view, but it's quite another that his real estate agent told him the highway would be depressed below the ground, leaving a clear view of the mountains.

Carter and his wife retired to Arizona from Missouri 10 years ago. They purchased their Mesa home specifically for its view. Now, rather than seeing Red Mountain through the living room window, they see red brick, their entire back yard completely walled in by it.

As the Valley's population soars, new freeways are plowing through neighborhoods and forcing two-lane roads to be widened, sometimes into front yards. State and municipal governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase homes in the path of growth. The surviving homes left on the fringe of the freeways often suffer the brunt of depreciation and inconvenience. These homes were just beyond the edge of the purchase zone, yet close enough to suffer a hit in equity.

Like most Valley homeowners, Carter and his neighbors have enjoyed climbing property values in recent years, even with their six-lane highway backyard; however, when compared to similar houses a few blocks away, the freeway has cost this street hundreds of thousands in equity.

Just down the street from Carter, an owner has reduced the asking price of a 2,000-square-foot ranch-style home to $299,000. MLS comparisons show similar homes selling for $345,000 to $400,000 away from the freeways.

Some new owners buying into the neighborhood don't mind the lower values. Ed Triebel's front door opens out to the 24-foot-high sound barrier. Only the street and a thin, empty lot separate him from a 202 off-ramp. Triebel says he rarely hears highway noise when inside his home.

Having saved about $20,000 by purchasing so close to the 202, Triebel seems happy with his decision. "The only time I hear it is when I'm out front. I think they did a really good job on the engineering," Triebel says.

Like most families on the street, Triebel says he wouldn't trade the neighborhood and its friendly inhabitants for the hassle of a move.

As civil engineers and governments trace the lines for tomorrow's new throughways, homebuyers may do well to consider future development. On this particular street along the 202, many homeowners were told the highway would be depressed, offering an unchanged view of the mountains and a natural sound barrier in the ground.

By the time construction crews drove away, the sound barricade stood 24 feet high in places, blocking the mountain views.

Miles away, at Pecos Road and 27th Avenue, home construction crews are still pouring foundations and shellacking stucco on brand new high-end homes in the proposed path of tomorrow's 202. Some may be demolished before the paint dries, and many homeowners are banking on the government paying top-dollar to raze their homes, a developmental shortcoming that could ultimately cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Those same owners may end up being surprised if their home ends up just outside the take-zone, with backyards like the Carter's.

Should the 202 be built, as proposed, through this upscale development, officials estimate buying out the million-dollar homes could cost the state about $1 billion. That money will come from funds set aside to widen the I-10, I-17 and improve other Arizona highways.

Paving Homes

While demolishing homes to build a freeway may seem like a new phenomenon, it has been a consequence of Valley growth for decades. Nearly 20 years ago, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) was bulldozing homes along the path of the now Piestewa Peak Parkway (51) from Glendale Avenue north to the canal.

"Shea Boulevard and north were affected in all the construction. Homes were purchased all the way up to the canal," says ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel. ADOT razed the homes in the direct path, leaving hundreds of homes just outside the take-zone.

Nintzel says the planned growth of the 202 is a different story. "The plans for the 202 were in place with maps dating back into the 1970s," Nintzel says. "A lot of time has gone by since the freeway was originally proposed. The landscape has changed, so that's why we launched the new alignment study."

Despite the well-known trajectory, many have built and continue to build homes in the paths of freeways. Builders find shelter in a state law that prohibits ADOT from stopping development on land the state hasn't purchased. Meanwhile, the state refuses to purchase the land.

Like many builders, John Cochran of Forte Homes and Calabrea Development says the government can't expect builders to stop developing land simply because a project may come that way in the future. Cochran says he gave ADOT the opportunity to purchase land. Homebuyers in his development say they are well aware that the 202 may come through their backyards.

It may be these homeowners who end up the victims of the land wars. The 202's planned routes have been public information long before recent construction. "In the past, the freeway was not in place, and people would buy not knowing exactly where a freeway was going to be located," Nintzel says. Now, "most people are aware of it and know what to expect."

No one in the Carters' neighborhood was surprised by the construction of the 202 behind their homes. Their only surprises were the highway's direct proximity, height and barricade walls.

"Like anything else, it's a tradeoff," says Scott McFarlane, a software engineer who purchased a home backing up to the 202 about a year ago. "The airplanes flying overhead tend to be louder than the highway noise," he says

McFarlane and his wife prefer the quick highway access. "We moved here from the East Coast, so we've seen the problems people run into when they don't want to be by the highway. As the congestion builds, it takes you 40 minutes just to get to the highway."

Like his neighbors, McFarlane knew the 202 was coming when he and his wife purchased their home. "Some people say they should put the highway fully underground, but with all the runoff coming off the mountains, the highway would just flood," he says.

Growth sometimes infringes on less-knowing residents. Larry Campbell built his Chandler-area home on a full acre in 1987. "When we built, Riggs Road was a two-lane road," Campbell says.

Today the fresh blacktop on the new six-lane Riggs Road is 32 feet closer to Campbell's front door. "They were taking basically half of my frontage," he says. "Originally my house sat back 60 feet."

The city of Chandler paid Campbell for an estimated value of the land, but Campbell doesn't feel he was adequately compensated.

"Obviously they have the right to make a roadway, but their original offer was pretty low, considering they didn't offer any extra for severance damages," Campbell says. "They thought this wouldn't affect the value of my home."