Impact of Highways on Property Values: Case Study of Superstition Freeway Corridor

Abstract

The effects of freeway development on land use and property values were examined. A case study was prepared for the Superstition Freeway (US-60) corridor in Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona. Among the findings were the following observations. First, access benefits are transferred from highway users to nonusers through changes in property values. Freeway construction may have an adverse impact on some properties, but in the aggregate, property values tend to increase with freeway development. Second, freeways do not affect all properties' values in the same way. Proximity to the freeway was observed to have a negative effect on the value of detached single-family homes in the US-60 corridor but a positive effect on multifamily residential developments (e.g., condominiums) and most commercial properties. Finally, the most important factor in determining negative impact on property values appears to be the level of traffic on any major roads in the proximate area, which implies that regional traffic growth is more significant than the presence of a freeway per se.