PHOENIX – A 6-mile shared-use path, the final major pieces of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, is now open.
The shared-use path, which runs from 40th Street on the east to 17th Avenue on the west, is designed to provide a place for people to exercise outdoors along the former Pecos Road alignment.
The path follows the area’s rolling terrain and is separated from the freeway by both distance and a fence. Users can access the path at any of these interchanges – 40th, 32nd and 24th streets, Desert Foothills Parkway and 17th Avenue.
The path is limited to only non-motorized uses, including walking, dog walking, running, bicycling and skateboarding. Motorized scooters and similar vehicles are prohibited for safety reasons. There is a yellow stripe down the center of the path for user safety.
The city of Phoenix will maintain the shared-use path now that it’s open.
The interchange at 32nd Street was added at the request of neighbors after plans for the freeway were complete. Construction on both the path and the interchange began after the freeway opened to traffic in December 2019.
The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway provides an alternate route for drivers traveling from one side of the Phoenix area to the other who want to avoid potential congestion in downtown Phoenix.