Putting the super in superhighway

PHOENIX, March 1 (UPI) -- A stretch of highway in Phoenix would be wider than a football field if it grows from 14 lanes to 24 lanes to ease traffic congestion in the fast-growing city.

"The Phoenix metro area is growing like crazy," Eric Anderson, transportation director for the Maricopa Association of Governments, the regional planning agency that coordinates freeway construction projects, told USA Today. "We're adding about 125,000 people a year and we have a population approaching 4 million."

Several fast-growing cities are struggling with traffic congestion as they try to attract business and wonder how to deal with commuters, USA Today said.

"There's no question that traffic is a major factor for a business that's contemplating moving to Atlanta," says David Gill, an Atlanta bank president who heads a business group pushing for new ways to finance transportation projects in Georgia.

The Phoenix superhighway would have two carpool lanes, four local lanes and six general-purpose lanes in each direction, USA Today said. The section of I-10 carries about 194,000 vehicles every day but that will increase to 450,000 vehicles a day by 2025, according to the state Transportation Department.