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Work starts on south half of Loop 303/I-10 interchange

Work starts on south half of Loop 303/I-10 interchange

February 29, 2016

Ramps built during the first phase of the Loop 303/I-10 traffic interchange project will be completed in the second phase.

If you drive in the West Valley, you might have noticed some ramps near the Loop 303/I-10 interchange that don’t quite look finished.

Ever wonder what’s going on there?

The ramps were actually built during the first phase of the Loop 303/I-10 traffic interchange project, which wrapped up in 2014 when the “north half” of the interchange opened to traffic.

That north half includes four ramps that connect the Loop 303 to I-10 and allow drivers to travel from:

  • southbound Loop 303 to both east- and westbound I-10
  • eastbound and westbound I-10 to northbound Loop 303

Just last week, ADOT has started work on the “south half” of the interchange that will complete the four remaining ramps to connect the two freeways and extend Loop 303 south to Van Buren Street. The improvements also will allow traffic to make connections between Loop 303 and Cotton Lane south of Van Buren Street.

We’ll tell you more about that in a second, but first let’s get back to those “unfinished” ramps and why they were built early…

There are a couple of reasons, including safety.

Having portions of the ramps already built allows the contractor to limit how much work is done directly over I-10 during this new phase of the project. It also reduces the construction-related restrictions that will be necessary on I-10 during the project (good news, right?!?).

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Ramps were built early for a couple of reasons, including safety.

As we mentioned up top, crews have already started work on the next “south half” phase of the project, scheduled to be completed by early 2018.

In the initial stages, crews will work on building a paved construction-bypass route along Van Buren Street near Cotton Lane.

The temporary lanes will allow Van Buren Street traffic to use a curved detour route around freeway bridge construction.

The bypass will limit restrictions and allow crews to safely build a new Loop 303 bridge over Van Buren Street without traffic traveling directly under the structure.

The first stage of work also will focus on construction of the westbound I-10 to southbound Loop 303 ramp and the northbound Loop 303 to westbound I-10 ramp. The project also will add ramps connecting eastbound I-10 to southbound Loop 303 as well as northbound Loop 303 to eastbound I-10.

The improvement work will require temporary lane restrictions and closures near the interchange. Portions of the I-10 frontage roads in areas between Sarival Avenue and Citrus Road will be closed at times. The project also will add a top layer of smooth rubberized asphalt on I-10 in the area of the Loop 303 interchange.

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