The Arizona Department of Transportation is now denying that a plan to close the stretch of US 191 between Morenci and Alpine has ever “been under consideration.” The statement is in response to letters from rural leaders, who expressed opposition to to what appeared to be a proposal to close the stretch of road in a recent ADOT study.
US 191 begins at the Mexico border in Douglas. The route between Springerville and Morenci was designated a National Scenic Byway.
Apache County Supervisor Doyel Shamley stated, “While it’s admirable that ADOT issued a press release on January, 2018 stating their objectives, there is much work to do with the duly elected officials and residents impacted by their February 2017 Final Report: “Low Volume State Routes Study.” Items such as responding to the requests to present to the Apache County Board of Supervisors, clarify what is meant by “Segments recommended for removal from State Highway System” and “Close the US 191 segment through the mine either temporarily or permanently,” from the previously referenced study. All of these discussions can begin by responding to the requests to present to the County Board of Supervisors, allowing the affected local governments and constituency to provide substantive input.”
Apache County Sheriff Joseph Dedman and Greenlee County Sheriff Tim Sumner wrote the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) outlining their multiple concerns with the cost cutting proposal included in the study.
“As the Sheriff of Greenlee County, I have several concerns that I would like to address and for you to take in consideration reference the proposed closure of US 191 from Morenci to Alpine of 85 miles. The majority of the highway closure directly affects the safety and livelihood of my constituents, the citizens that I’ve been elected to protect and serve. It also affects the many visitors and hunters that would still access the area and that I have a duty through Search and Rescue operations to provide life-saving missions. This would prohibit my Office and my Search and Rescue from access to perform our duties,” wrote Sheriff Sumner.
“There are numerous homeowners and renters living on upper Eagle Creek, Juan Miller Road, Tule Springs Road., Pine Flat Road, Josh Ranch, and very limited dirt road access from other counties to be able to access their homes and ranches along the Blue, Red Hill Road, and FS 24 Road. There are also properties all along these routes that people would not be able to access their private property including Granville properties. A business with the lodge, restaurant, and fuel that would not have any access at Hannagan Meadows would be affected as well,” continued Sumner. “Firefighting operations would be extremely hindered and there would be no access to the Strayhorse firefighting station.”
“Town of Duncan council, Town of Clifton council, Greenlee County Board of Supervisors, and many other organizations with concerns of tourism, economy, growth, pleasure, etc. …. agree to 100% opposition to the proposed highway closure,” noted Sumner. “Another major safety concern is that Clifton and Morenci would be completely locked in when a road closure from accidents or flooding would occur at the San Francisco River bridge at US 191 in Clifton.”
The Sheriff reminded ADOT that the apparent proposal is also contrary to one of its own recommendations that a community or subdivision have more than one point of ingress and egress. He advised that ADOT would be limiting two communities to only having one point of egress and ingress if US 191 was closed in part, and called the situation “very dangerous.”
Sheriff Sumner also a questioned a comment an ADOT official made at the November 9, 2017 Town of Clifton meeting in which a “sensitive species” was discussed. He wrote, “the fact that the Federal Government continues to force the Mexican Gray Wolf into this area regardless of the “voice of the people,” I certainly hope this is not a backdoor approach to close this wilderness have to people and make it the haven some Federal agendas are trying to force.”
Sheriff Sumner concluded “Lastly, as the Sheriff of Greenlee County, in order to provide Law Enforcement service and Search and Rescue operations, we will remove any barricades or stop any work from denying access to our citizens into our Office from performing our duties.”
Sheriff Dedman offered the same warning to ADOT. He wrote, “The Sheriff of Apache County, in order to provide Law Enforcement service, Search and Rescue operations, timely assistance to Greenlee County and to provide for the safety, public health, and welfare of all citizens and visitors, we will remove any barricades or stop any work that would negatively affect Apache County Sheriff’s Office deputies from performing these duties or, deny access to our citizens, property owners or deny access to public lands by the general public.”
“While ADOT isn’t proposing any concrete action, we want to have a transparent and detailed discussion with all stakeholders to determine the best long-term plan for US 191 though this area,” said Bill Harmon, district engineer for ADOT’s Southeast District in ADOT’s press release.
According to ADOT, “The 80-mile stretch of US 191 between Morenci and Alpine is one of the least-traveled in the state highway system, used on average by 81 vehicles per day. The winding, high-altitude path through national forest that makes this stretch so beautiful for motorists also makes it expensive to maintain: The average annual cost was $658,000 between 2011 and 2016, in large part due to plowing snow and addressing damage from harsh winter weather.”
“With transportation funding limited and nearly 7,000 miles of state highways to maintain, ADOT has an obligation to collaborate with area stakeholders in developing long-term plans for low-volume routes,” Harmon said. “We understand that US 191 is important to connectivity within and between Greenlee and Apache counties, and that must be the starting point for these discussions.”
One of the long-term options that could be developed, according to ADOT, is to turn the stretch of road over to local jurisdictions willing to take it into their systems. Given that the state routinely sweeps road monies away from local jurisdictions it is unlikely any of them could afford to do that.