With traffic shifted, reduced speed limit in place on Pecos Road

PHOENIX – With Pecos Road shifted to make room for the next phase of construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona Department of Transportation is reminding motorists that a reduced 40 mph speed limit is in place through the entire segment of this local roadway in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

Last weekend, Pecos Road traffic between 17th Avenue and 24th Street shifted to an alignment that maintains two travel lanes in each direction while ensuring there’s a safe work zone to construct the freeway. 

For this shift, which follows a similar reconfiguration in April of Pecos Road between 24th and 40th streets, the former eastbound lanes were widened and restriped to accommodate traffic in both directions, with a double yellow line between.

The reduced speed limit allows for two-way traffic on the interim Pecos Road after the median and shoulders were removed to ensure there would be two lanes of traffic in each direction during freeway construction, which is occurring just north of Pecos Road on the opposite side of the concrete barricades.

In the coming weeks, crews will rip up the former westbound lanes of Pecos Road, which are located within the footprint of the freeway. In addition, crews will start clearing and removing trees, brushes and rubbish, installing pipes and beginning the initial earthwork needed to build the freeway.

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.