While an area of Valley freeway for which the Maricopa Association of Governments is seeking input isn't technically in an East Valley city, traffic in that area affects much of the Valley.

And an East Valley Mayor -- Chandler's Kevin Hartke -- is the chair of MAG's executive committee through early summer of next year.

MAG will be conducting a public meeting next month to review proposed improvements to the Interstate 10 freeway corridor near Sky Harbor Airport.

The section under consideration is from the Deck Park Tunnel to the I-10/Interstate 17 Split interchange, including portions of State Route 51 and the I-10/Loop 202/SR 51 system interchange, known as the “Mini Stack,” according to a MAG release.

The meeting, where the public can offer comments, is scheduled for 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Burton Barr Library, 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix.

Study team members will be available to answer questions.

“The focus of the study is to develop improvements to improve safety while optimizing freeway capacity, travel time and protecting existing communities and neighborhood access,” the release stated.

The study is the first phase in a multi-step process to improve travel on the I-10, according to MAG.

Those unable to attend the session can visit the Interstate 10 Freeway Corridor Study webpage to view presentation materials and share comments.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.