On Monday, the State Transportation Board approved $15 million for the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement, which would allow the Arizona Department of Transportation to begin an environmental study in the area between Nogales and Wickenburg, part of the proposed corridor for Interstate 11. The Tier 1 EIS is expected to take three years to complete and will begin in 2015.
Interstate 11, once fully constructed, will connect Nogales and Las Vegas, extending north through Nevada, potentially reaching as far as Canada.
The $15 million in funding for the environmental study will come from the 2015-2019 Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program.
In October, the board reviewed and accepted the recommendations documented in the Corridor Concept Report, the final element in the initial two-year feasibility study.
The recommended I-11 corridor would likely follow US 93 from the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge south to Wickenburg, running west of the Phoenix metropolitan area, through the Tucson area to Nogales and the Mexican border.