Craig,
Alternate routes of departure are very important. Freeways will always get clogged anytime there is an emergency. Buy a PHX city map and a map that is 1:10,000 or 1: 20,000 plan for other routes. some surface streets are faster than the highway, and some surface streets work better than others.

Write me privately and I'll give you some options.
Luke
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What you know isn't as important as knowing what you don't know