Hilton Ranch Community Organization

On March 19th, 2011 recently appointed Coronado Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch and key members of the forest service spent a day touring the Sonoita region. The tour and presentations were arranged by the Mountain Empire Action Alliance. It was a pleasant day with many excellent presentations, lots of good food, and an informative but good time had by all. We would like to welcome Jim to the Tucson area, and to thank Jim and his staff for taking a day out of their busy schedules to spend with us.

Following is the presentation on Highway 83 outlining our concerns with Rosemonts proposed use of Scenic Route 83 for all of their traffic, effectively turning it into their haul road, one shared by the public.

PART 1 PART 2

We who live in the Hilton Ranch Rd community are very aware of the hazards on SR83, we have seen many accidents over the years and have seen many of the victims airlifted to the hospitals in Tucson. The typical traffic consists of residents, school buses (15 per day), motorcyclists, bicyclists, and other tourists. In addition SR83 is currently used to route oversized loads from I-10 that are unable to pass under the Marsh Station railroad bridge. The Arizona Department of Transportation mentioned this problem and suggested fixing I-10 to eliminate these oversized loads and reduce truck traffic on the scenic highway. Unfortunately this has still not been completed, but we have been informed that it will be completed in 2011. This will reduce the oversized loads traveling on SR83 and is a welcome improvement. It will improve SR83 safety, but will do nothing to change the fact that SR83 is a narrow 2 lane highway with many curves and hills, few shoulders, and many guardrails. Following are some video's to validate our concerns.

During the public scoping process I expressed my concern with their plan to us SR83 for all of their mine traffic. Rosemont representatives informed me that if they could, they would like to put in a 4 lane highway and they would make sure the roadway was safe.

I guess their story changed. This is Rod Pace speaking at a public meeting at Quail Creek in the 4th quarter of 2010. I'll be curious how much safe access to their proposed mine will cost the public. The table below shows Mr. Pace was a bit off on his estimates, more like 112 concentrate truck trips (not 80) and a total of 176 truck trips per day (not 100) (a truck trip is one way to or from the mine site). ADOT informed us that Rosemont approached them once a few years back to see what permits would be required for their access to the mine site. After a lot of letter writing and conversations with State representatives and ADOT, representatives from ADOT attended their first cooperating agency meeting over 20 MONTHS after being initially invited to participate as a cooperating agency by the Forest Service.

From Rosemont coppers MPO:

2.10.1 Copper and Molybdenum Concentrates

Shipments of copper concentrates will represent the highest volume of traffic from the plant, with the exception of employees arriving and departing at shift change. Copper concentrates will be transported by highway tractor trailer rigs to local smelters in Arizona or to rail sidings for shipment to the west coast for export. The tractor-trailer have a capacity of 24 T and will be covered by tarp to prevent losses while in route. At an annual production of about 484,700 T, approximately 388 trips per week will be required or about 56 trips per day, 7 days per week. The plant can load about four concentrate trucks per hour which will require 14 hours per day to load and ship the concentrates. The shipments will be scheduled to avoid the high traffic hours on SR 83 during early mornings, afternoons, and at shift change.

Copper concentrate, 56 loads per day, 7 days per week. The plant can load about four concentrate trucks per hour which will require 14 hours per day to load and ship the concentrates

Sulphuric Acid Trucks 3 per hour, 9 per day, delivered during day

Pebble lime trucks 5 per day, day and evening around busy times

SAG and Ball mill grinding balls 4 per day 5 days week (17 total), during the day, 2 mid morning, two mid afternoon

Diesel fuel, 4 per day during day between shift changes

Copper Cathode, 4 loads per day, 5 days per week

Ammonium Nitrate, 4 loads per day, 5 days per week

miscellaneous agents, 2 loads per day 5 days per week

Total of 88 Truck loads per day or 176 truck trips per day during weekdays

Total of 224 concentrate truck trips per weekend

Tetra Tech prepared the AZ-83 roadway assessment report, July 2009 for Rosemont . I have read through the report and have summarized my findings:

Following is a summary of the report titled “AZ-83 Rosemont Assessment” prepared for Rosemont Copper by Tetra Tech and released in July 2009. Any comments are welcome.

The AZ-83 Rosemont Assessment report consists of an Executive summary, an introduction describing the Rosemont mine project, a section concerning current AZ-83 roadway assessment, a section analyzing and comparing accident occurrences on AZ-83 and AZ-77, and a section outlining potential roadway improvements.

According to the Executive summary “The proposed Primary Access Road leading to the Rosemont Project off AZ-83 is located at MP 46.9. This location shows relatively low accident frequency and rate”. The report fails to mention that the sixth most accident-prone location is at MP 47, one tenth of a mile from Rosemont’s proposed primary access road. The top five (5) accident-prone locations are located at “Mile Post (MP) 44, 45, 46, 55, and 58. In particular, the roadway segment between MP 44.5 to 44.0 has the highest accident frequency for all fatal accidents along AZ-83. Additionally, locations where substandard designs are present coincide with the high accident frequency locations”. When I analyzed the ADOT accident statistics from 3/01/2002 to 2/28/2007 almost 2 years ago I found 10 accidents reported at MP 47. Tetra Tech only reports 7 accidents from 2003 to 2008. Either 3 accidents occurred from 3/1/2002 to 12/31/2002, or a mistake was made. If the 3 accidents had been included then MP 47 would be tied with MP 58 for the 4^th most accident-prone location. The only significant changes proposed for the substandard, accident-prone locations are changes to AZ-83 at MP 44 where the majority of accidents occur.

Several substandard elements were identified in section 2 “Roadway assessment”. They include:

1. Tight reverse horizontal curves are identified in Table 2.1 of the report.

1.1. At Hilton Ranch Rd, AZ-83 intersection (MP 49.1), a substandard horizontal curve exists. Section 2.2.3.2 states “Near the Hilton Ranch Road and AZ-83 intersection, the combination of a hill and a horizontal curve contribute to a substandard sight distance at this location. The alignment in the vicinity of Hilton Ranch Road is also a concern because the intersection is on blind curve, which makes southbound left turn movements from AZ-83 onto Hilton Ranch Road difficult. Based on the curve data in Table 2.2, this area also has a substandard horizontal curve alignment. Therefore, the fairly sharp curve, coupled with a steep slope, heavy vegetation, and no shoulder, contributes to the poor sight distance at this intersection. Finally, the roadway pavement ends less than one (1) foot beyond the white edge stripe causing shoulder deterioration.” No improvements are suggested to mitigate these problems beyond a potential shoulder improvement and by adding a bus pull-off area on this dangerous blind curve and intersection.

1.2. At MP 47.7, 47.6, and 47.5 tight reverse horizontal curves. MP 47 is the 6^th highest accident location according to the report using data from 2003 to 2008 provided by the ADOT. No improvements are suggested to mitigate this problem in the report.

1.3. At MP 44.1, 44.2, 44.3 tight reverse horizontal curves. ADOT is addressing this as part of the ADOT Safety Project, “the horizontal curves within this roadway segment will be realigned, fixing the substandard curve radii. The project will also replace the existing substandard guardrails, widen the roadway shoulders, flatten the road cuts, and install new signs and striping. These improvements will increase the motorist sight distance and the overall safety of this roadway segment. This safety project is identified as Tracs number H705701C and ADOT project number 083-A(200)A. As of April 14, 2009, the project was still waiting for environmental clearance”. This work has been completed. The construction was paid for by HES funds (federal safety funds)

2. Improper guardrail placement Section 2.5 states “Most of guardrails along AZ-83 fail to meet ADOT design standards since they are outdated and located too close to the edge of the paved roadway”. According to the report these guardrails are reported present throughout the AZ-83 study area between MP 33 and 52. However, the illustration 2.12 shows an example of a typical substandard guardrail at the Sahaurita Rd intersection (MP 55, substandard guardrails are present in areas other than between MP 33 and 52). No improvements are identified to mitigate this problem in the report. Section 4.0 of the report states that “all potential roadway improvements were designed not to affect existing utilities or guardrails”. Without proper guardrail placement roadway shoulder’s cannot be widened.

3. Insufficient roadway shoulder widths. Section 2.6 states the shoulders along AZ-83 are cracked and at most locations the width is less than the standard required 6-foot width. Section 4.6 suggests that “one of the planned ADOT projects highlighted in Section 2.6 focuses on upgrading shoulders to the required standards”.

3.1. The only reference to an ADOT project to widen AZ-83 shoulders is mentioned in the AZ-83 MP 44 to 45.5 Safety project which states “The project will also replace the existing substandard guardrails, widen the roadway shoulders, flatten the road cuts, and install new signs and striping”. I checked ADOT’s website and find no reference to a project on AZ-83 to widen the shoulders. The report would imply that ADOT has plans to fix the shoulders along AZ 83, not just a 1.5 mile stretch of them. It is not clear if Rosemont is proposing to improve the roadway shoulders that are not being improved by the ADOT plan.

4. Insufficient sight distance. The stopping sight distance for horizontal curves is evaluated by examining the potential obstructions along the inside region of a curve. These are the problem areas identified in the report.

4.1. The AZ-83 and Hilton Ranch Rd intersection was found to be unsafe. “Near the Hilton Ranch Road and AZ-83 intersection, the combination of a hill and a horizontal curve contribute to a substandard sight distance at this location. The alignment in the vicinity of Hilton Ranch Road is also a concern because the intersection is on blind curve, which makes southbound left turn movements from AZ-83 onto Hilton Ranch Road difficult.” No improvements are suggested to mitigate these problems beyond a potential shoulder improvement accomplished by adding a bus pull-off area on this dangerous blind curve and intersection.

4.2. “A tight horizontal reverse curve (Illustration 2.7), combined with a 6% downgrade, deteriorates the sight distance along AZ-83 between MP 44 and 46. Moreover, the steep road cuts within this area also obstruct the sight distance along the horizontal curves”. The AZ-83 MP 44 to 45.5 Safety project does not identify increased sight distance as a result of the improvement

5. Lack of existing School bus stops The report identified seven existing bus stops. “With the exception of the Hilton Ranch Road school bus stop, the bus stops do not have a pull-off area along AZ-83 (i.e., the buses stop within the through lane of AZ-83). At the Hilton Ranch Road school bus stop, a wide compacted dirt area was observed on the east side of AZ-83”. The report recommends seven school bus stop pull off areas be constructed at the current bus stop locations to improve traffic flow. The recommended bus stop at Hilton Ranch Rd directly follows a substandard curve with limited sight distance. The bus will be susceptible to rear end collisions if NB traffic travels into the pull off area for any reason.

6. Lack of existing wide load truck turnouts Currently no truck turnouts exist on AZ-83. Two wide load truck turnouts are suggested. One proposed just south of the Sahaurita/AZ-83 intersection on the west side of AZ-83 (SB traffic side). Another is proposed at MP 47.2 just north of the proposed primary access road.

The AZ-83 Accident analysis summary in Section 3.7 of the report states “the major causes of accidents on AZ-83 are speeding along with the curvy roadway geometry. Additionally, the narrow roadway shoulder and lack of adequate pull off locations along AZ-83 adds to the safety issues since it prevents slow moving vehicles from pulling over and allowing cars to pass. The narrow shoulder and lack of pullouts are also safety concerns for tourists who want to enjoy the scenic views along AZ-83”.

After assessing AZ-83 for substandard design issues the following locations/issues are left unmitigated:

Narrow roadway shoulders are identified as a safety issue. The report implies the ADOT has a project to improve them, but no reference to a project can be found in the report or on the ADOT website. Does Rosemont plan on improving them?
Guardrails are identified as improperly placed, yet nothing is suggested to mitigate it.
The Hilton Ranch Road intersection with AZ-83 is identified as unsafe for a variety of reasons, yet nothing is suggested to mitigate them.
The Sahaurita Rd intersection with AZ-83 is listed in the top 5 accident locations, yet nothing is suggested to improve the intersection.
The AZ-83 interchange with I-10 is listed in the top 5 accident locations, yet nothing is suggested to improve the interchange, nor was it considered in the report.

Tetra Tech prepared another report for Rosemont in April of 2009 the Traffic Analysis Report. The report suggests two scenarios for the operational phase. Scenario one suggests that 100% of the mine employees would participate in carpools, 5 persons per vanload. Scenario two suggests that 75% of the mine employees would participate in carpools. They also suggest that during the construction phase 100% of the 900 construction employees will arrive by bus. How convenient to avoid any form of impact on SR-83 by eliminating employee traffic. What impact would mine traffic have on SR-83 if nobody carpooled? ADOT had them complete traffic analysis without allowing for car-pooling (a more realistic scenario). Over 50% of the traffic travelling SR83 will be directly related to the mine. 60,000 truck trips every year, over 1.2 Million trips over the life of the mine.

In May of 2009 Tetra Tech completed the State Route 83 Scenic Road Evaluation report for Rosemont. They claim the mine will have little impact the scenic designation or value of AZ83. If you believe that I've got a bridge for sale!