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I-17 bridges in Munds Park ready for upgrades

I-17 bridges in Munds Park ready for upgrades

May 25, 2011

The bridges over Pinewood Boulevard in Munds Park have been carrying Interstate-17 traffic for the past 53 years and now it’s time for some well-deserved reconstruction!

ADOT has already begun the project that will rebuild the bridges and ramps on I-17 at Munds Park, an area just south of Flagstaff . Work started last month and is scheduled to wrap up by fall 2012.

When the job is finished, motorists will have two new bridges each measuring 100-feet long (they’re now just 25 feet). The bridges will also be wider to accommodate an eventual third lane planned for I-17. A new sidewalk on Pinewood Boulevard is going in, too. It will allow pedestrians to cross safely underneath I-17 (see above video).

This update is necessary because there is more traffic now then when the bridges were built in 1958. Back then there was no development in Munds Park . The bridges are just inadequate for today’s traffic.

Drivers should expect some slowing of traffic due to this project – especially over busy holiday weekends. It is expected that delays at peak holiday travel times could reach up to 45 minutes … so please plan accordingly.

Project Timeline

April 2011 - Oct. 2011: The northbound bridge will be demolished, then reconstructed and I-17 will be repaved through the work zone. Because the northbound bridge is closed, motorists traveling northbound on I-17 will be directed to a detour that crosses over the median and utilizes southbound lanes. All on and off ramps will remain open.

April 2012 - Oct. 2012: The southbound bridge will be demolished, then reconstructed and I-17 will be repaved through the work zone. While this work is being done, the southbound bridge will be closed and motorists will be detoured over to the northbound lanes of I-17.