Drivers along eastbound Loop 202 might notice something’s different on their Monday morning commute – but it’s going to take a very perceptive eye to catch the change. This weekend ADOT is installing signs with a brand new typeface on the Red Mountain Freeway between Loop 101 and Country Club Drive. Although the change is slight, the new signs should be a little easier to read!

It’s a sad truth, but trash thrown onto our state’s roadways really adds up. That’s because it’s not just a few random soda cans, cigarettes or empty bags littering the roads and surrounding areas. In reality, more than 800 tons of trash gets picked up in Arizona each year.

Construction work along State Route 87 is set to wrap up just in time for the upcoming holiday weekend!

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.

Memorial Day weekend is here and if you’re headed out of town you probably have your travel plans all wrapped up by now. Hopefully those plans already include some safety preparations … if not, here are a few things to think about before hitting the road!

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.

Most of the signs ADOT produces have to be pretty big so drivers can read them, but one of the newest is simply massive… At 16x16 feet, a new sign welcoming motorists to Arizona is among the tallest in the state. It recently was installed on Interstate 8 near Yuma; however, it was made in Phoenix, and as you can imagine, moving a sign that size isn’t a simple task (see video above and photo slideshow below).

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.

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!

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…

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.

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

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.

‘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.

Studying the Arizona Driver License Manual is the key to passing your exam.

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!

Last month we told you about the thousands who take on the immense task of cleaning up Arizona’s roads through ADOT’s Adopt a Highway program – more than 800 tons of trash is picked up off the state highways each year because of these volunteers!

On June 6, more than 300 soldiers with the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion returned home to Ft. Huachuca after serving in Iraq for the past year. These soldiers were welcomed by family, friends and community – but, many also were greeted with the fact that there is so much to take care after you’ve been away from home for 12 months.

Sometimes the simplest concepts work the best. Take for example the truck-mounted attenuator. Maybe you aren’t too familiar with them, but chances are you’ve seen one when driving on the freeway.

In less than a year, spectacular ramps and bridges have risen from bare ground in the southeast Valley. By this fall, they’ll link 12 miles of new high occupancy vehicle lanes on the Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) with Interstate 10 and the Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Chandler -- see the project's progress in the slide show above.