During Arizona summers, it’s not uncommon for wildland fires to result in the closures of highways. When this happens, we’re usually asked why the highway is closed or restricted when the fire isn’t on the road.

It’s a fair question and the answer is simple: Safety. For the traveling public and first responders fighting the fire.

A recent Maricopa Association of Governments news release notes that the system has worked as designed and addressed the longstanding problem of rainwater building up in cross-street underpasses along this stretch of I-17 in Phoenix.

The 17th Avenue Underpass near downtown Phoenix was once part of a major transcontinental highway.

We recently stumbled upon this photo from 1974 of US 80 in Douglas.

Originally called the “Mother of Arizona Highways” because of its economic impacts to cities and towns it passed through, US 80 was completely paved or surfaced with oil by the spring of 1939.