A group of private companies - led by Kiewit Development Co., Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., Sundt Construction, Inc. and Parsons Corporation - (South Mountain Development Group) has suggested a public-private partnership to construct the proposed South Mountain Freeway in Arizona, United States.

Arizona Department of Transportation has informed that the highway, if built under this proposal, would not be a toll road.

This is the first unsolicited proposal for a highway public-private partnership (P3) submitted to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Under state law, ADOT is required to conduct an initial review and a more detailed analysis of the proposal before deciding if the concept merits an open solicitation for other companies to submit competitive proposals. ADOT may use any part or the entire unsolicited proposal as the basis for a request for proposals seeking other firms to submit competitive proposals.

The South Mountain Freeway remains a corridor under study, and this P3 proposal has no impact on the ongoing environmental impact statement that is scheduled to be finalized in 2014.

According to an executive summary of the proposal submitted by South Mountain Development Group,

"The South Mountain Freeway is a critical project to the region and its economic recovery. It has been on the books for 30 years and has been part of a regional freeway plan approved on two separate ballot measures, first in 1985 and again in 2004. Early delivery of this project will reduce congestion, create an economic boost by generating much needed construction jobs and provide a long awaited route to bypass downtown Phoenix."