A scenario of the future of the interstate corridor, told through the proposed Interstate 11 Corridor. (click on all images on page for a larger view)
Phoenix and Las Vegas are the two biggest metropolitans in the United States not connected by an interstate corridor. The interstate corridor not only facilitates personal travel; it has infrastructure to move freight by road and rail, and infrastructure to move energy and goods to market. The Interstate 11 Corridor will be important to the growth and development of the Phoenix and Las Vegas metropolitan areas as the final piece of an ‘Intermountain West Corridor.’ This will link fuel resources from Canada to a new water port in Mexico, and a new land port in Arizona. The corridor is important for the metros, and the Intermountain West, to help it grow and be competitive with other regions of the U.S.
A view of the proposed corridor. The team on this project examined the area from just north of Wickenburg to Las Vegas.
These corridors have been conceived of as engineered projects with low place sensitivity. Solutions have been expensive, inefficient, and damaging to their surroundings. Interstate corridors cut wide swaths through the country, damaging habitat and inducing sprawl – a fossil-fuel based pattern of urban design. What if we could think about the corridor as an anticipatory infrastructure, designed to be sensitive to: its ecological context, climate change, and new technologies?
This case study for the I-11 spans Las Vegas to Wickenburg, AZ, the northwest edge of the Phoenix sprawl. An ecological analysis of this area yielded two primary resources the I-11 could grow: renewable energy, and conservation tourism. People are aware (worldwide) of the nearby Grand Canyon National Park, but other world-class underdeveloped ecological resources are adjacent to the corridor.
New technologies in vehicle design allow for a much more efficient use of the highway - in the case of the Interstate 11, no extra lanes are necessary to grow traffic on the route.
These ecological resources have several endemic species of great importance in the Sonoran Desert bioregion. An expanded corridor could cause habitat fragmentation, and species loss - the corridor design must minimize wildlife disruption. A principal means to do this, is to shrink the corridor width. Corridors have right-of-ways for energy, rail, and automobiles. We shrink the corridor by recognizing driverless cars can occupy roads at a much higher density, research showing perhaps by as much as two times the capacity we consider maximum. We do not need to widen the road. New energy transmission lines can be placed underneath the road into a conduit, and unused road space can be transformed into rail, as the load condition for the road and rail are nearly identical.
Driverless car technology can allow passengers to engage surroundings. Freed from paying attention to the road, passengers can learn about renewable energy systems, and the ecosystems surrounding them. Roadside infrastructure, such as rest areas, can bring water to people and species, to efficiently augment resources in the drying West. These places can be designed to minimize wildlife disturbances in addition to maximizing opportunities for interface.
Driverless car technology (sensing) may enable a new relationship with wildlife along corridors, minimizing habitat fragmentation and species death.
The proposed corridor runs through uniquely sensitive and high value ecological landscapes. The project team identified species zones and what types of overpasses and underpasses might be best for each area.
Rest areas can be interfaces with wildlife, and trailheads to minimize extra development (parking) along the route. The water used in these areas can be remediated and used for habitat. In this case study, the infrastructure is placed along a habitat underpass along a wash. This ties the rest area to the natural hydrology of the area.
New ecological tourism sites likely to be attractive once the corridor arrives will place Kingman, AZ in the center of world class destinations. But the new corridor will bypass the existing route. We propose remaking the Beale Street area into an 'eco-district' for green minded tourists.
The systems diagrams for the new design. Windpower and solar, at high capacity in the Beale District, power the area. Water from the district is treated and reused to grow food on site. All of these systems may have components for education and outreach. University partnerships can spur development of these technologies, and funding for them may occur through grants. These elements are critical to this town on a high plateau that only has a limited supply of water.
A view of the remaking of the main street from car dominated motels and strip properties, to a more multimodal community. New housing for workforce employees may occur on the northern hills, and on the lower areas to the west, a farm and food hub are located. These areas get water from natural flow, and treated water from the intensified development.
A view of the eco-district - this is the design for an information/visitor's center.
With the time to plan and design for the future of this corridor, we must think about infrastructure in an anticipatory way to marry new technologies to anticipated changes in climate to create an emergent and resilient future. This I-11 project is a vision to establish a platform for designers to participate in leadership of next generation infrastructure. Project team includes: Logan Ziegler, Kristina Fivecoat, Emy Carnate, Andres Diaz, Burim Kalaveshi and Amanda Gann.