ADOT Blog

Yesterday we told you about ADOT’s Pavement Materials Testing group and how it is responsible for testing aggregate and creating asphalt friction course mix designs.

Placing asphalt friction course on a newly constructed road is sort of like icing a cake (stay with us here).

Remember this awesome time-lapse video showing the construction of a temporary bypass at Greenway Road and the Loop 303? Well, today we’ve got an even more in-depth look at how crews built the new intersection – complete with temporary barriers, fences and traffic signals – in just about 43 hours! (Take a look at the photos below for an amazing before and after aerial glimpse of the new bypass!)

When ADOT builds a freeway, there is an essential step that surprisingly requires absolutely no construction or even heavy lifting. We’re talking about partnering – the ADOT and construction industry process that allows everyone on the project to get together, set goals and talk about the work ahead.

You've probably never gotten a good look at the Passive Acoustic Devices (PAD) out on the freeways … they're easy to miss. PADs are small objects that sit near the top of utility poles and are barely visible to drivers below, but they collect a lot of useful data.

If you’ve been following our Building a Freeway series, you should be pretty familiar by now with much of the work that’s happening out on the Loop 303.

Maybe you've noticed some of the cameras that are perched high above the roadways ... These are Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and are used by ADOT's Traffic Operations Center (TOC) to constantly monitor traffic conditions throughout the state.

We’re thankful for the approximately 1,570 volunteer groups who currently adopt an Arizona highway. It’s hard to believe, but roughly 335 of the groups have been volunteering for more than 10 years and of those, 50 have been with Adopt a Highway for more than 20 years!

Short of a time machine, travel demand models might just be the next best thing for taking a glimpse at the future of our transportation system. So, what is a travel demand model?

Have you ever spotted something on the highway and wondered, ‘what is that and why is it there?’ If you have, the ADOT Blog is here to help you find the answer!