The Gila River Indian Tribe will vote on the 202 Highway expansion

The Gila River Indian Tribe will vote on the 202 Highway expansion Residents of the Gila River Indian Community will vote on February 7 whether to allow the South Mountain Highway to pass through tribal lands...

Gila River Indian Tribe to vote on Highway 202 expansion Residents of the Gila River Indian Community will vote on February 7 whether to allow the South Mountain Highway to be extended through tribal lands. Currently, the $1.9 billion Beltway 202 expansion plan connects west Phoenix to Chandler, a 22-mile, eight-lane two-way stretch that ends at Pecos Road. The highway expansion would impose more than 100 homes and traffic on Ahwatukee along the route and would flatten some ridges in the South Mountains that belong to the Gila River Tribe. The tribe intends to keep Nanshan intact, and the main complaint is not to damage the original mountain and buildings. But the state government had to negotiate and purchase several parcels of privately owned land for development.