The Arizona Department of Transportation is forwarding to federal highway officials a proposal to push the route of I-11 further west of Goodyear but is recommending continued study of competing route options west of Tucson.

The agency completed the Final Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement in August for the section of the proposed interstate highway from Nogales to Wickenburg.

Approval of the route rests with the Federal Highway Administration, with a decision expected before the end of the year.

If the FHWA approves the ADOT document — and route recommendation — the next step will be a Tier 2 Environmental Impact Statement, which will pick the specific path of the new highway, as well as interchanges, and develop plans for mitigating impacts of the interstate project.

However, there is no funding at this time for that study.

The latest route alternative is a 2,000-foot-wide corridor, which would be narrowed to a specific 400-foot-wide highway footprint during the next study phase.

The route in the final Tier1 document closely matches the recommended route released in the Draft Tier 1 EIS two years ago. The major changes, based on more than 12,000 comments received during the project review, were around Tucson and Buckeye.

The interstate would start at the Interstate-19 and State Route 189 interchange in Nogales and co-locate with the I-19 north to Sahuarita, requiring expansion of the existing interstate to handle additional traffic.

From Sahuarita, ADOT opted to continue studying two routes for I-11, the only area in the proposed project without a final specific recommendation.

One option would follow the existing I-10 corridor through Tucson but would require expansion of that highway through the city. It also would require a connector highway north of Marana at Park Link Drive to link to the I-11 route further west.

A second Tucson alternative would jump west of Sahuarita and carve out a new highway, passing by the Tohono O’odham Nation San Xavier District and Saguaro National Park before splitting the Avra Valley and heading by the Pinal Airpark.

From there, the route goes northwest between Arizona City and the Tohono O’odham Nation Sif Oidak District until it connects with Interstate 8, which it follows for several miles before heading north at Montgomery Road. The route goes through Hidden Valley, adjacent to the Sonoran Desert National Monument, then through the Rainbow Valley until it connects with State Route 85, which it follows to Interstate 10.

That’s a change from the route recommended in the Draft EIS, which would have turned north at Rainbow Valley and run adjacent to the Canta Mia development and into the Liberty area of south Goodyear. From there, it would have turned  west along Hazen Road until eventually crossing the I-10.

ADOT said that change was made to lessen the impact on wildlife, particularly along the Gila River.

The new proposal turns north off I-10 at the 363rd Avenue interchange and follows basically the same route as proposed in the Draft EIS before connecting to the Highway 93 at Vista Royale northwest of Wickenburg.

During the 30-day comment period on the Final EIS, ADOT received more than 2,600 comments. “Many of the comments received were from Southern Arizona community members and agencies who are opposed to the west corridor option for I-11 in the Pima County region,” said Laura Douglas, communications project manager for ADOT.

A major concern was on the impact to Sahurita.

“The west option would destroy long-established neighborhoods in Sahurita that offer a quiet, natural desert experience on larger-acre lots – unique and highly desirable, valuable Sahuarita destinations,” Jan McClellan, president the Rancho Buena Vista Homeowners Association, told the Sahuarita Town Council during its review of the project in August, according to the Green Valley News Sun. The Town Council voted to oppose the west option.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to also oppose that route. The board initially opposed that route in a 2007 resolution and restated their opposition in 2017.