Attention to detail is critical throughout design and construction of the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project. It’s also important as ADOT works to create awareness for drivers and others who’ll be impacted by three years of road work. Nowhere was that more evident than during production of the project’s TV commercials, which underscores the importance of having “good info.”

The TV spot - available in English and Spanish - begins with two friends playing chess in a park. One player captures the other player’s queen. He thinks he’s won the match until a young girl walks by, looks at the board and sees the winning move. She whispers a piece of advice into the second player’s ear.

Checkmate!

So what did she say to help the player win the game?

“E1 to E8,” explained local chess expert Josue ‘Sway’ Garcia, who was on set during the June 8 production in Scottsdale. “That meant he should move his rook to capture his opponent’s rook and force the checkmate.”

Garcia has been a chess aficionado for more than 25 years. In the last three years alone he’s logged nearly 40,000 matches on Chess.com, won 19,854 of them, and tied 807. On the production set, he was more than an extra playing chess in the background. His primary role was to verify the two players’ chess board was set up correctly and all the moves featured in the commercial are authentic.

In chess, losing a queen is “devastating,” Garcia said. But in this match, it created the opportunity for one move that signaled checkmate ahead.

Garcia said there’s another detail the keen-eyed chess enthusiast might notice on the board: Losing the queen was a blessing in disguise for the winning player.

“If he hadn’t lost his queen,” Garcia said, “he would have lost the match.”

Sure, details only chess players will notice; but making sure they were accurate was a priority for this production. Similarly, drivers and others might not notice or understand many of the details that go into reconstructing 11 miles of I-10 in the metro-Phoenix region. But they truly matter for the project to be a winner.

And, although ADOT can’t help you navigate a chess board, we can provide you with “good info” to navigate the construction zone on I-10. Visit i10BroadwayCurve.com; while you’re there, subscribe to receive project email alerts. Download the free mobile app, The Curve from the App Store or Google Play. You can also call 602.501.5505, email [email protected] or stop by the project office at 3157 E. Elwood Street, Suite 100, in Phoenix between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

We’re getting the word out every way we can to alert drivers about this weekend’s full closures of the US 60 (Superstition Freeway) between Interstate 10 and Loop 101 (Price Freeway).

We also want to let drivers and others know how two Arizona Department of Transportation teams coordinated schedules to work on their projects at the same time, eliminating the need for another closure in the future.

The ADOT maintenance team already had US 60 scheduled to close in both directions this weekend between Loop 101 and Hardy Drive for pavement seal work. 

To reduce the number of times US 60 must be closed, ADOT scheduled a second project simultaneously over the weekend. 

For the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project, crews will continue to remove rubberized asphalt from the road surface and set up the work zone between I-10 and Hardy Drive. The coordination effort between the two teams is allowing the work to get done at the same time, resulting in fewer impacts. 

We hope it’s some consolation that, while full freeway closures are sometimes necessary to advance a project or conduct repairs, piggybacking on the already scheduled US 60 closures means at least one less closure in the future. We hope drivers can get behind us on that. 

How many 202s does it take to make a detour? When it comes to construction on the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project, the answer is one, two or sometimes all three.  

Metro Phoenix’s 101, 202 and 303 freeway loops make it easy to connect with all points of Greater Phoenix. But for the purpose of navigating around construction during the Broadway Curve Improvement Project, get used to hearing about the three sections of Loop 202 - the Red Mountain, Santan and South Mountain freeways, which run north, east and south of the construction zone. 

We’ll move clockwise, starting with the northern portion - the Red Mountain Freeway. Much of its 31 miles runs parallel to, and north of, Interstate 10 and US 60 (Superstition Freeway), and is the best bet for most people traveling to and from the East Valley. It will connect you to Arizona State University, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, downtown Phoenix and beyond. Loop 202’s northern portion begins at the intersection of I-10 and State Route 51 just east of downtown Phoenix. At Power Road, Loop 202 turns south, and the freeway’s eastern portion begins. The Red Mountain section of the Loop 202 ends at US 60. 

The Santan Freeway picks up from here, continues south to Warner Road, then turns west until it meets up with I-10 25 miles later. At this point, drivers are beyond the project area and can continue to the West Valley or toward Tucson. The Santan Freeway connects the communities of Chandler, Gilbert, south Mesa and Queen Creek.  

The third and most recent addition to the Loop 202 system is the South Mountain Freeway, which connects the communities in the southeast and southwest valleys. Its 22 miles picks up at I-10, where the Santan ends, and continues west all the way around South Mountain Park along the southernmost part of Phoenix. It begins its northward bend near 35th Avenue and connects with I-10 again at 59th Avenue west of downtown Phoenix. The South Mountain Freeway provides an alternative to I-10 through downtown Phoenix for those headed to the West Valley or south toward Tucson. 

So don’t get thrown for a loop. Understanding the Loop 202 system will make driving around the Valley easier, even after the Broadway Curve Improvement Project is completed.

Want to learn more? Here’s a map of the other Valley freeway nicknames. 

Stay #AheadOfTheCurve and get the latest information on the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project website and on social media.