Portion of Loop 303 project now 60 percent complete

Driven the Loop 303 lately?

If you have, you know things are looking very different than they did about a year ago…

That’s when work got under way on a project designed to transform the two-lane roadway into a modern urban freeway.*

Right now construction on the segment from Peoria Avenue to Mountain View Boulevard is 60 percent complete and crews are getting ready to switch traffic over to the newly completed northbound lanes so work can continue on the southbound lanes – more on that tomorrow.

Today we’re focused on how far the project has come!

It was just April when the project was at the 30 percent mark. Back then, work was wrapping up on the bridges being built at Waddell and Greenway roads.

Now crews are working on the Cactus Road bridge … they’re also working on finishing touches for those northbound lanes – things like curbs and gutters, retaining walls, signage and striping (see photos).

After the big traffic switch (again, more on that tomorrow!), crews will immediately get started on building the southbound lanes. So, commuters who regularly drive the 303 can expect to see a lot of the work they’ve been seeing for the past year – just on the other side of the freeway.

More on the project
This portion of the Loop 303 Improvement Project is scheduled to wrap up by fall 2013. When complete, this six mile stretch of Loop 303 will include three lanes in each direction with a median, auxiliary lanes and signalized traffic interchanges at Bell, Greenway, Waddell and Cactus Roads.

* Today we’re just talking about a six-mile stretch of the Loop 303 between Mountain View Boulevard and Peoria Avenue. The entire freeway stretches from I-10 in Goodyear to I-17 in Phoenix and a few different projects are under way along the 39-mile span.