A famous quote from President John Adams said, “Facts are stubborn things.”
In reality, it’s abjectly annoying to me that facts mean nothing when people swoop into Peoria and preach to an audience that either lacks background knowledge or shares an ignorance of the facts behind the stories they’re pedaling.
Any long-term resident of north Peoria would probably remember that Loop 303 was originally designed to go along the space that’s now Happy Valley Road. Around 20 years ago, the old airstrip in north Peoria was used as one of the strongest pitching points to prevent the construction of Loop 303 on Happy Valley Road. The argument then was that the airstrip in north Peoria would have been adversely affected if Loop 303 went along Happy Valley Road.
Well, in trying to save the old airstrip that was north of today’s West Wing, the construction of Loop 303 was prolonged, the quick connectivity of Loop 303 to I-17 and/or its easy access to greater Phoenix metro was not achieved, Loop 303 was pushed so far north to the extent that it did not serve the original goal of bridging the isolation of north Peoria from the greater Phoenix metro area, and in the end, the old airstrip is no longer there.
In actuality, north Peoria is still isolated from greater Phoenix because the Loop 303 serves no meaningful connection to the greater Phoenix metro area. And now, no one is saying anything about the old airstrip and why it’s no longer there. And in the words of President Ronald Reagan, “There you go again,” with another airport deal in north Peoria.
Personally, someone needs to address what happened to the old airstrip. Who owes north Peoria residents the apology of using the old airstrip to prevent proper routing of the 303? And what are north Peoria residents supposed to benefit from in this new airport?
As an individual, the technicalities discussed in this proposed new airport mean nothing to me since I’m not politically or technically engaged enough to understand most of it. However, common sense is not really common, and that’s why I’m opposed to this new airport because this proposal needs to be explained to the residents in the area.
