Big freeway construction project is in its early stages south of I-10 in Goodyear

The opening of a well-known travel center featuring a beaver mascot in Goodyear made a lot more news this summer than the start of ADOT’s latest freeway construction project, also in that West Valley city.

The project to extend Loop 303 southward between Van Buren Street and Maricopa County 85 kicked off in June. It’s a huge endeavor and is scheduled to take approximately four years to complete, according to ADOT Senior Resident Engineer Jimmy Naujokaitis.

“This is the final leg of Loop 303 in the Southwest Valley, replacing Cotton Lane while providing additional traffic capacity for moving people and products in the region,” said Naujokaitis. “There will be a need for patience as we move through a number of construction stages.”

You can listen to a conversation with Jimmy Naujokaitis on a new episode (Episode 128) of our On the Road with ADOT podcast. 

This Loop 303 project is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Proposition 400 Regional Freeway Plan (RTP) approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. It’s one of the last projects to be funded under the Prop 400 RTP, since many projects will now move forward under the Prop 479 plan voters approved in Nov. 2024.

“The contractor so far has focused on clearing work along the construction corridor,” said Naujokaitis. “Work on a drainage box culvert south of Yuma Road is well underway.” 

Another early stage involves construction of a northbound frontage road that will carry Cotton Lane traffic in both directions while the freeway is being built.

Crews also will start to work on stabilizing the ground on which the freeway will be built.

That earthwork involves a process known as High Energy Impact Compaction, where specialized equipment will literally pound the ground, to compact the earth within the construction corridor and provide solid support for the freeway itself. Although not something new within the industry, it is something new for an ADOT project.

The construction contract adds up to more than $300 million. It’s also interesting to think about how this leg of Loop 303 will connect with the east-west State Route 30 freeway in the future. More on the Loop 303 project in Goodyear is available here.