Bell/Grand project update: Bridge’s agave pattern taking shape

SURPRISE ‒ A distinctive agave pattern is taking shape as columns rise for a $41.9 million overpass and interchange under construction at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60).

Those viewing the Arizona Department of Transportation’s construction site over the next week will see work on columns occurring on both sides of Grand Avenue. After crews drill 66-foot-deep shafts, steel cages rise and are surrounded by molds. Then concrete is poured to finish columns bearing the agave pattern.

Other current work includes finishing installation of drainage pipes and relocating utilities along Bell Road and Grand Avenue. The video below by the city of Surprise offers an aerial view of the project area.

Bell Road closed April 1 between 134th Drive and West Point Parkway to allow faster completion of a bridge that will carry traffic over Grand Avenue and the BNSF Railway tracks and provide ramps to and from Grand. The closure will end by November.

The primary detour route is along Dysart, Greenway and Litchfield roads. Please obey all traffic signs and posted speed limits, and also note that additional law enforcement is on patrol.

Access to businesses next to the project area will be maintained throughout the project.

The US 60 (Grand Avenue) and Bell Road Interchange project is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan approved by county voters in 2004. Funding sources include a county half-cent sales tax for transportation projects and the MAG region’s share of federal highway funds.