“Sun would not last long enough for I-35 construction improvements to be finished.”
Boy aint that the truth. The “new” I-11 to go thru Kingman..what a JOKE. They could have run that road up thru to Dolan Springs and cut off 40 miles to Vegas from Phoenix. But NOOOO they gotta run it west to Kingman and then up to Vegas, Eff Kingman..the place is run by nothing but a bunch of toothless good ol boys who are drooling for some kickbacks. Biggest bunch of crooks I ever saw.
They are designing I-11 this way to make use of US 93, which is almost in freeway condition for much of its length. Upgrading US 93 into I-11 is cheaper than building new.
Well, now I have a different take as a new Arizonan as of 2012.
We have this great Colorado River and Lake access to that valley with many cities that struggle to get the right amount of tourism and development. Highway 66 re-route for I-40 changed every bit of access for that chain of small cities.
A limited access interstate with no slow downs or stops can afford to curve around to provide connective access, it won’t slow down the run to Vegas that much.
I will agree there is a lot of good-ol’-boy politics in Bullhead, Kingman, Lake Havasu but I am more interested in going to those cities than I am to Los Wages. The route is not all that bad now — just desolate without safety and services.