Smoother ride for Loop 202 drivers in Chandler area

PHOENIX – Two sections of pavement along Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) are much smoother to drive on following an Arizona Department of Transportation improvement project.

Crews worked in recent weeks to remove the worn top layer of rubberized asphalt along most of the eastbound Loop 202 lanes between Interstate 10 and Loop 101 (Price Freeway). Specialized machines, which include rotating diamond-tipped blades, smoothed the remaining concrete base pavement in a process known as diamond grinding.

The pavement improvements also were done along eastbound on- and off-ramps at the Kyrene Road and McClintock Drive interchanges. The contractor used as many as three diamond grinding machines to save time as the work progressed on weekends and weeknights since late February.

Diamond grinding also was done along the westbound Loop 202’s right lanes and exit ramp approaching Kyrene Road. Those lanes and ramp also had especially worn rubberized asphalt that had been in place for more than 15 years.

Separate work is scheduled Saturday, April 4, along the eastbound Santan Freeway. Eastbound Loop 202 will be narrowed to two left lanes between I-10 and McClintock Drive from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 4 for crack sealing. Both of the primary I-10 ramps to eastbound Loop 202 will be closed while the eastbound I-10 HOV lane ramp to eastbound Loop 202 will remain open to traffic. The eastbound Loop 202 off- and on-ramps at Kyrene Road and off-ramp at McClintock Drive will be closed. Drivers can consider using eastbound US 60 (Superstition Freeway) or Chandler Boulevard as alternate routes.

ADOT will make additional pavement improvements along Loop 202 east of I-10 in April. As has been done on a number of other Valley freeways in recent years, an asphalt seal will be placed on the remaining rubberized asphalt in that area to extend the life of that existing pavement. The fog seal work is scheduled on Sunday, April 5, and will require a closure of westbound Loop 202 between Loop 101 and I-10.