The preopening celebration of State Route 24 (the Gateway Freeway) was an exciting day for all of the East Valley as we look toward the development and expansion of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, and into future as Superstition Vistas develops. State Route 24 will provide an easier route for commuters traveling from Pinal County, Tucson and other Southern Arizona cities to the East Valley. This extension should also encourage more people to use the growing reliever airport, Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport, for their commercial travel. The official first mile of freeway will be open in May, 2014.

This also marks an important day for Eastmark. Already, we are preparing to welcome thousands of students into Grand Canyon University at the beginning of 2015. We look forward to the incredible connections that will allow those commuting to make their way to campus more easily. There will be thousands of employees in the recruiting center and campus faculty associated with GCU. These drivers will be able to navigate to Eastmark more easily as a result of that expansion of the Gateway freeway.

 Workers at the new Apple plant at Eastmark will also be able to take advantage of the quick connection into East Valley cities. As we look to grow the employment base at Eastmark, this new East Valley freeway will be a huge value add for employers making their decisions about their businesses’ locations.

Congratulations to the State of Arizona and the City of Mesa for their long-term thinking and planning around the transportation connections in this emerging area. These investments will pay dividends long in to the future.

To learn more about businesses coming to Eastmark or about the new Mesa community, visit www.eastmark.com or join the conversation on Facebook.