Slow down! Digital signs alerting motorists to their speed on Pecos Road

PHOENIX – Slow down.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is sending that message to motorists traveling on a stretch of Pecos Road reconfigured for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway construction.

ADOT and Connect 202 Partners, the developer building the South Mountain Freeway, have installed speed-monitoring equipment and signs showing motorists both how fast they are going and the reduced speed limit of 40 mph. The digital signs flash repeatedly when motorists travel more than 5 mph above the speed limit.

“Pecos Road is a local road, not a freeway, and construction is occurring on the other side of the concrete barricades,” said Rob Samour, ADOT’s senior deputy state engineer for major projects. “Motorists have a responsibility to slow down and obey the reduced speed limit.”

ADOT and Connect 202 Partners continue to monitor Pecos Road traffic and make refinements to ensure the safety of workers and motorists, including applying a new thermal reflective paint on the lane stripes and additional raised pavement markers to enhance visibility, along with additional signage and installing lane separator posts as needed to guide traffic.

On April 3, Pecos Road traffic between 24th and 40th streets shifted to an alignment that maintains two travel lanes in each direction with construction underway in Ahwatukee. The former eastbound lanes have been widened to accommodate traffic in both directions, with a double yellow line between.

By late May, Pecos Road between Desert Foothills Parkway and 24th Street will shift to this alignment.

Scheduled to open in late 2019, the South Mountain Freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, it will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system.

To stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts, please visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.