Planned route for Interstate 11 puts some Buckeye homes in jeopardy

BUCKEYE, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- There is another freeway that could change the landscape across Arizona.

Under current plans, Interstate 11 would connect Reno, Nevada to the Mexican border, and provide the valley with a faster route to Las Vegas. One man who is about to move into his new home learned on Monday that he might have to tear down that new home.

"There's several homes being built there now, ones that just got finished," said Shane Norton, whose new home in Buckeye is in the proposed path of I-11.

Now, Norton suddenly has a big problem.

"I just built a house here. I would have not made that decision had I known there was going to be a future freeway coming through here," said Norton.

From new construction to generational agriculture, folks in Buckeye are not happy with a shift in the new proposed route for Interstate 11 that runs right through their properties.

"People had talked about that hey I did my homework before I purchased my house or built my house and this road wasn't here and all of a sudden that I've been here for a year, I'm looking at my home being devalued because there's a road running through it."

The proposed interstate will run from Reno to Nogales, in hopes of speeding up travel to Las Vegas and improving commerce traffic from the border. The stretch being discussed this week runs from Wickenburg down south. Last weekend, ADOT extended public comment on the issue, but the question is will it do anything to move the freeway out of the path of upset Buckeye residents.

"When they were deciding on this blue route, whenever they were making those decisions, whatever board voted on this, there certainly wasn't a lot of public input before they said this is our most preferred route," said Norton. "We just got told that this was their preferred route when it was already decided."

A meeting on the freeway took place at Casa Grande on Thursday, and ADOT is hosting additional meetings over the next two weeks. ADOT officials said the route has not changed since it was published a month ago, but they are not clarifying when that route was officially chosen.

The public comment period lasts until July 8.