# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddmiy_CEl2D
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70864497-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2556d43438.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-22T20:00:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

The last stretch of Interstate 10 in the entire country was finished in downtown Phoenix, and it only exists the way it does because Phoenix voters rejected the original plan.

In the 1960s, the state planned to carry I-10 through central Phoenix on an elevated freeway, raised over the neighborhoods, with large spiral ramps down to street level. Homes along the route were cleared ahead of construction.

Opposition built through the early 1970s. Arizona Republic publisher Eugene Pulliam campaigned against the design, citing the freeway sprawl of Los Angeles. Phoenix College professor Gerard Judd organized a coalition against it, and the Encanto Citizens Association rallied residents at public meetings.

In May 1973, Phoenix voters rejected the elevated freeway in an advisory election.

The state redesigned the route, placing the freeway below street level for six blocks between Third Avenue and Third Street, with a park built on top. Voters approved that plan in 1975. Construction began in 1983.

The tunnel opened on August 10, 1990. It was the final segment of Interstate 10 between Santa Monica, California, and Jacksonville, Florida. According to ADOT, it is not technically a tunnel but a series of 19 bridges built side by side. In 2024 it was renamed the Dean Lindsey Memorial Tunnel, after the engineer who oversaw the project.

The delay carried a cost. The corridor had been cleared years before construction began, and the surrounding neighborhoods experienced decades of disinvestment. Several are still recovering.

Margaret T. Hance Park now sits on top of the freeway.

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#DeckParkTunnel #Interstate10 #PhoenixHistory #ArizonaNews #DownInnaDesert

## Stats

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- **Likes:** 143
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## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

downinnadesert, deckparktunnel, phoenixhistory, interstate10, arizonanews

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