As regional leaders, we don’t look at the Prop 400 extension as a list of isolated projects benefiting one city or another. Instead, it’s about how all 4.8 million of us in this region get home every day. How we get to work and what kind of work is available. How we make sure transportation is an opportunity not a barrier to the lives we want.
The original Prop 400 changed what is possible in our region. Imagine our Valley with no Loop 101, no Loop 202, and no Loop 303. Imagine our Valley with no State Route 51 or State Route 24. Imagine the congestion and parking problems in our major cities without the investment in public transit, or the inconvenience to our rural communities if we didn’t fund the roads less traveled.
Imagine the economic development that would not have happened. The businesses that would not have opened. The jobs that would not be available.
Imagine all the hours you would have spent in traffic rather than with family or friends.
Extending the half-cent sales tax means we keep the door open to opportunity. The proposed Prop 400 extension funds highways, arterials, and public transit. It ensures road projects we’ve already committed to, get finished.
And importantly, it doesn’t discriminate. A Prop 400 extension provides infrastructure that benefits cities, towns, and rural communities. It provides options for people with disabilities and those without cars. It enables autonomous vehicles, ride-shares, buses, light rail, and good ol’ fashioned, gas-powered cars and trucks to share the load of getting residents where they need to go.
We are united. Legislators and the Governor must give the people of Maricopa County the ability to vote on a Prop 400 extension, one that maintains the support of all local mayors which was built over years of research, discussion, and compromise. This isn’t about anybody’s pet project, and it shouldn’t be derailed by anyone’s personal vendetta. This is about the shared goal of improving quality of life for all residents.