New SR24 freeway directly connects east Mesa, Gateway Airport, to Valley

A lonely expanse of creosote will become a frenzy of construction activity on Monday as crews will start building a new freeway that’s expected to spur development in east Mesa. The state Route 24 Freeway is considered a major catalyst despite its puny size. It will begin as a mile-long segment with just two lanes in each direction. But for the area east of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, the freeway will finally make the area easily accessible. “This used to be referred to as the edge of the world, because it was,” Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said. “It is no longer that.” The Gateway Freeway will begin at the Loop 202 Santan Freeway, branching to the east just north of the Gateway airport. It will connect with Ellsworth Road when it opens in the fall of 2013. Mesa was so eager to get the freeway started that it loaned the Arizona Department of Transportation funds to speed up construction by four years.

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