It may be years down the road, but the proposed Interstate 11 that would run through western Arizona may have gotten another step closer. The Arizona State Transportation Board Friday has approved $15 million for an environmental study along part of the Arizona route.
Once constructed, I-11 will connect Nogales and Las Vegas, extending north through Nevada, potentially reaching as far as Canada.
The environmental impact statement will look at that section of the proposed freeway between Nogales and Wickenburg. The three-year study will begin in 2015.
The recommended I-11 corridor would likely follow US 93 from the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge south to Wickenburg, running west of Phoenix, through the Tucson area to Nogales and the Mexican border.
I-11 is envisioned as a continuous high-capacity trade corridor. Planners say I-11 also would have the potential to include freight and passenger rail, energy transmission and other high-tech facilities.
