TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) The Arizona Transportation Board may study an Interstate 10 bypass route that would allow trucks and other traffic to avoid the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas.

S.L. Schorr, who represents Pima County on the board, proposed the bypass at a board meeting Dec. 14 in Tucson, saying it’s needed because the interstate is getting more congested.

Schorr said Tucson is the only city along the I-10 route from California to Florida that does not have a bypass option for trucks or those who don’t intend to get off the highway in the city.

He wants the Arizona Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of a bypass that would connect to I-10 somewhere near Willcox, run north of Tucson and connect to I-10 west of Phoenix.

The bypass could be limited to just heavy trucks, or trucks and interstate traffic and Schorr said that would ease congestion without requiring more I-10 widening projects like the one that will soon begin in Tucson.

The study would also look at ways to pay for the bypass construction, including a possible toll road.

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