I-10 in Buckeye now provides smoother sailing than the Gila River

In those years just before a freeway improvement project is ready to start, we’re all allowed to imagine what it will be like once the work is done. On I-10 in the Buckeye area, the imagination has become reality. 

ADOT’s $82 million project to add new third lanes and other improvements along the 8-mile stretch of I-10 between Verrado Way and State Route 85 is officially done. That means no more weekend or overnight restrictions are planned. You’re allowed to applaud.

I remember being in Buckeye when the project started in July 2021. What a difference two years has made.

As someone who has done quite a bit of driving in the area, including those trips to Disneyland or San Diego, the wider I-10 is a sight for sore eyes. Fresh pavement and lane stripes are certainly pluses too. But this project also is about local travel for residents of the growing Buckeye community.

The upgraded I-10 interchanges at Watson and Miller roads are now operating using the increasingly popular diverging diamond design. By now those of you who are local drivers at those interchanges are plenty familiar with how traffic moves through diverging diamonds. Experience tells me they’re a big improvement and ready to serve the community for decades to come.

Projects like this are never easy. ADOT and its team of contractors do their best to keep the traffic moving as much as possible, but we understand it’s not easy when you’re part of the slow going in any particular work zone. For that, we thank you for your patience and hope that the upgraded stretch of I-10 is now worth it.

We appreciate the teamwork between contractors, city of Buckeye officials and the ADOT crew in getting the job done on schedule. Our job as drivers is never-ending. Be alert, buckle up, never drive while impaired and share the road on this much better stretch of I-10.