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ADOT to host public meeting on I-10/SR-90 interchange project
By Thelma Grimes
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) will be hosting an open house Thursday regarding the proposed Interstate 10 and State Route 90 interchange project.
Design work on the project started in 2005, and construction is set to begin this fall. It will take approximately 18 months to complete.
The final design meeting will be held this Thursday at the Cochise College Benson Center, starting at 5:30 p.m. An ADOT newsletter said the purpose of the meeting is to update interested residents and area businesses on design and construction aspects.
One of those planning to attend the meeting is Rev. Larry Pondoff, of the Calvary Baptist Church on Dark Star Road, a frontage road north of Interstate 10. The church owns an eight-acre property on the frontage road.
Part of the ADOT construction plan includes relocating the frontage road further north of I-10, citing safety concerns.
"Several factors contributed to this relocation; safety, cost and future," the ADOT notice states. "The project's priority is to make I-10 safe to travel. This requires removing or minimizing travel hazards. The location of a two-way frontage road next to I-10 at this location is a safety hazard at night. Since the frontage road and I-10 are not lighted and will not be in the future, car lights at night on the frontage road appear to I-10 traffic as a car traveling in the wrong direction. This is a hazard that needs to be removed along with the curves on I-10."
While Pondoff is not disputing the state's need to make the roadway safer, negotiating a deal for ADOT to take some of the church's property has become a nightmare for the congregation, which has about 125 people at church services each week.
Pondoff said the church was supposed to be paid a $250,000 payment for property in September. This money would allow them to move further down Dark Star Road so the frontage road could be relocated 1,200 feet to the north as planned by ADOT.
However, Pondoff said they didn't receive a check from the state until last week, and due to the lack of funding and communication from the state, couldn't move forward with plans to move onto the new 12-acre property.
Pondoff said they hired an architect to get the new property ready. However, the architect couldn't do his job because ADOT plans were continually changing, and at one point the state had planned on taking up to 75 feet of the church's new property.
Pondoff said they had planned to move the buildings to the back of the new property, but those plans were halted when ADOT changed their plans. After negotiating, the state transportation agency now plans to take about 30 feet of the new property.
For the eight-acre parcel and the 30-foot piece of land on the new property, the Calvary Baptist Church will receive $874,900.
Pondoff said the situation continues to get worse, however, as the state is now telling him and the congregation they have a month to abandon the old property and move to the new one.
The problem with that, however, is that Pondoff could not move the church until ADOT sorted out the finances and plans.
Pondoff said there is no way they can move the buildings and relocate the electric and other utilities by March 28, which is the deadline set by ADOT. Just getting the proper permits to move to the new property and follow all state and Cochise County codes will take more than four weeks, Pondoff pointed out.
"They have taken two years to sort out their plans, and now they want to give us a month to move," Pondoff said. "I don't know what's going to happen. We want fairness. We want a win-win situation. We were willing to work with them."
Pondoff said he will be attending Thursday's meeting, but doesn't expect ADOT to really explain anything to the residents and business owners about the $44 million project.
Pondoff said he is expecting some designs to be posted with an informal meeting, and not one where residents can get their questions answered.
In September, Nancy Wilcox, of ADOT's right-of-way division, had initiated condemnation proceedings against the Baptist Church, noting that they had to take action after the church rejected the state's offer to purchase the land.
The property was condemned on Dec. 15, but the church did not receive the first payment for the property until last week.
Pondoff said they had to hire an attorney, and the Attorney General's office had to get involved in order to negotiate a price for the property.
Besides the costs of an attorney, the church has also had to pay mortgages for two properties while they waited for the state to pay them for the old property, and had to hold on to the new property and wait for the state to finish project plans.
The Calvary Baptist Church has been at their current location for the past nine years.
For more information on the ADOT interchange plans, or the upcoming meeting, contact Nanette Pageau or Carol Oaks at 520-885-9009.
Design work on the project started in 2005, and construction is set to begin this fall. It will take approximately 18 months to complete.
The final design meeting will be held this Thursday at the Cochise College Benson Center, starting at 5:30 p.m. An ADOT newsletter said the purpose of the meeting is to update interested residents and area businesses on design and construction aspects.
One of those planning to attend the meeting is Rev. Larry Pondoff, of the Calvary Baptist Church on Dark Star Road, a frontage road north of Interstate 10. The church owns an eight-acre property on the frontage road.
Part of the ADOT construction plan includes relocating the frontage road further north of I-10, citing safety concerns.
"Several factors contributed to this relocation; safety, cost and future," the ADOT notice states. "The project's priority is to make I-10 safe to travel. This requires removing or minimizing travel hazards. The location of a two-way frontage road next to I-10 at this location is a safety hazard at night. Since the frontage road and I-10 are not lighted and will not be in the future, car lights at night on the frontage road appear to I-10 traffic as a car traveling in the wrong direction. This is a hazard that needs to be removed along with the curves on I-10."
While Pondoff is not disputing the state's need to make the roadway safer, negotiating a deal for ADOT to take some of the church's property has become a nightmare for the congregation, which has about 125 people at church services each week.
Pondoff said the church was supposed to be paid a $250,000 payment for property in September. This money would allow them to move further down Dark Star Road so the frontage road could be relocated 1,200 feet to the north as planned by ADOT.
However, Pondoff said they didn't receive a check from the state until last week, and due to the lack of funding and communication from the state, couldn't move forward with plans to move onto the new 12-acre property.
Pondoff said they hired an architect to get the new property ready. However, the architect couldn't do his job because ADOT plans were continually changing, and at one point the state had planned on taking up to 75 feet of the church's new property.
Pondoff said they had planned to move the buildings to the back of the new property, but those plans were halted when ADOT changed their plans. After negotiating, the state transportation agency now plans to take about 30 feet of the new property.
For the eight-acre parcel and the 30-foot piece of land on the new property, the Calvary Baptist Church will receive $874,900.
Pondoff said the situation continues to get worse, however, as the state is now telling him and the congregation they have a month to abandon the old property and move to the new one.
The problem with that, however, is that Pondoff could not move the church until ADOT sorted out the finances and plans.
Pondoff said there is no way they can move the buildings and relocate the electric and other utilities by March 28, which is the deadline set by ADOT. Just getting the proper permits to move to the new property and follow all state and Cochise County codes will take more than four weeks, Pondoff pointed out.
"They have taken two years to sort out their plans, and now they want to give us a month to move," Pondoff said. "I don't know what's going to happen. We want fairness. We want a win-win situation. We were willing to work with them."
Pondoff said he will be attending Thursday's meeting, but doesn't expect ADOT to really explain anything to the residents and business owners about the $44 million project.
Pondoff said he is expecting some designs to be posted with an informal meeting, and not one where residents can get their questions answered.
In September, Nancy Wilcox, of ADOT's right-of-way division, had initiated condemnation proceedings against the Baptist Church, noting that they had to take action after the church rejected the state's offer to purchase the land.
The property was condemned on Dec. 15, but the church did not receive the first payment for the property until last week.
Pondoff said they had to hire an attorney, and the Attorney General's office had to get involved in order to negotiate a price for the property.
Besides the costs of an attorney, the church has also had to pay mortgages for two properties while they waited for the state to pay them for the old property, and had to hold on to the new property and wait for the state to finish project plans.
The Calvary Baptist Church has been at their current location for the past nine years.
For more information on the ADOT interchange plans, or the upcoming meeting, contact Nanette Pageau or Carol Oaks at 520-885-9009.
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