Crews complete all major work on Loop 101 widening project

PHOENIX – The final major components of the Loop 101 Improvement Project in the north Valley have been completed following the last scheduled full weekend closure for lane-marking work, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

ADOT’s $185 million project, which started in Jan. 2019, has added a fourth regular (general purpose) lane in each direction along 13 miles of Loop 101. Drivers have already been experiencing improved traffic flow along the wider freeway for several months while crews focused attention on other necessary work such as interchange enhancements, the addition of permanent, easier-to-see lane stripes and the sealing of concrete deck joints.

Other improvements added during the Loop 101 project include:

•   Wider bridges above cross streets, the Central Arizona Project canal and area washes.
•   A new Loop 101 overpass above the city of Scottsdale’s planned Miller Road extension.
•   New freeway lighting and signs.
•   Noise barriers in areas where warranted.
•   New landscaping in several areas. On- and off-ramps at interchanges reconstructed to fit the profile of the wider freeway.

As with other freeway construction projects, crews will oversee a required landscape establishment period and take care of any other minor punch-list work in the new year. Drivers are asked to continue to stay alert for workers or equipment in the area. 

The Loop 101 Improvement Project has been funded as part of the Regional Transportation Plan for the Maricopa County region. Projects in the plan are funded in part by Proposition 400, a dedicated half-cent sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004.