ADOT Blog

If you drive Valley freeways during rush hour, you’re probably pretty familiar with ramp meters … They’re the two-light signals positioned at most Valley on-ramps that tell motorists when it’s okay to head onto the freeway. Ramp meters have been used in the Phoenix-Metro area for about the past 20 years and maybe you think not much about them has changed … but, actually they’ve recently become much more efficient!

‘Why are the cones and barricades still up, but no one is working?!?!?’ If you’ve ever driven by an empty freeway work zone, you might have wondered this yourself. But, despite how things may appear, there still is a risk to the traveling public, which means those barricades are very necessary.

The wildfires burning through portions of the state are destroying so much … from the scenic acreage that will be changed forever to the property loss and the lives so terribly affected.

Monsoon season officially begins today, and brings with it some potentially hazardous driving conditions that all motorists should be prepared for.

Talk about a quick turnaround … it’s been just three months since a fiery crash destroyed the Mescal Road/J-Six Ranch Road bridge in Cochise County and already ADOT has approved a contract to rebuild and reopen the bridge this fall.

We received a question on our Facebook page last week asking us why, in this time of tight state budgets, ADOT is spending money to swap out what appear to be perfectly good highway signs. We thought it was a great question, so here’s the answer…

Between homework, heavy backpacks and pop quizzes, kids face enough challenges … walking to school should be the simplest part of the day. But that’s not always the case, which is a reason why Safe Routes to School was created. The program takes aim at the growing epidemic of childhood obesity by making it a little easier and a bit safer for kids to ride a bike or walk to school!

Most people don’t find the sound of traffic especially soothing … ADOT certainly recognizes this and is constantly working to minimize the impacts to surrounding neighborhoods from the noise of new freeways.

Crews are busy adding more than 80 lane miles of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to two Valley freeways – 30 miles in both directions on Loop 101 in the west Valley and 12 miles on east- and westbound Loop 202 in Chandler that will link directly to HOV lanes on the Loop 101 (Price Freeway) and Interstate 10.