PHOENIX – The planned early opening of one of the ramps that will soon connect Interstate 10 and Loop 303 in the West Valley will not take place this weekend, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

ADOT has decided to postpone opening the eastbound I-10 ramp to northbound Loop 303 until overhead lighting is in place for all four of the ramps that will connect the two freeways.

Plans had called for crews to open the eastbound I-10 ramp to northbound Loop 303 ahead of schedule to reduce the amount of traffic using the construction detour route along McDowell Road and Cotton Lane.

The new ramp and three others at the I-10/Loop 303 interchange will instead open on schedule in September.

Work on the $145 million interchange connecting I-10 and Loop 303 began in November 2011.

TUCSON — Good news for the estimated 150,000 drivers who travel daily on the busiest highway in the Tucson metropolitan area. Motorists are now driving on a smoother, wider section of Interstate 10 in Tucson after the Arizona Department of Transportation completed two years of major construction on improvements between Ruthrauff and Prince roads, including extensive traffic restrictions over the last two weekends to finish final paving on the newly widened section of I-10.

At 5:50 p.m. tonight, ADOT lifted all the westbound restrictions on I-10 between Ruthrauff Road and Miracle Mile after crews completed applying the smooth, durable layer of rubberized asphalt on the pavement. The eastbound lanes were successfully paved the previous weekend.

Crews will need to return in approximately one month to complete final lane striping.

The final paving was part of a $76.4 million project to widen I-10 to four lanes in each direction between Ruthrauff and Prince roads that began in late 2011. The project upgraded a two-plus-mile section of I-10 by increasing capacity, reducing congestion and improving traffic flow on the most heavily traveled corridor in Tucson.

As part of the project, in March ADOT opened the reconstructed Prince Road traffic interchange, which now carries traffic over Union Pacific Railroad. The previous at-grade interchange experienced significant congestion and backups when 40-60 trains pass daily through the area, sometimes requiring vehicles to back up onto I-10 during peak hours.

PHOENIX — There's good news for drivers using Interstate 10 in the downtown Phoenix area. The weekend closure of I-10 for an Arizona Public Service Co. power line project has been lifted ahead of schedule, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

APS officials notified ADOT that the installation of six new power lines above I-10 near Seventh Street was completed early this afternoon, allowing crews to reopen the freeway at about 1:30 p.m., beginning with the westbound lanes. The closure had been scheduled to be in place until late Sunday evening. The westbound 7^th Street exit ramp from I-10 will remain closed until this evening.

I-10 had been closed in both directions in areas between the I-17 Split interchange and the I-17 Stack interchange west of the Deck Park Tunnel since early Saturday morning for the APS power line project. Drivers detoured along I-17 or used other freeways and local streets as alternate routes. 

ADOT also completed important maintenance along I-10 in and near the tunnel this weekend, including the installation of new and improved overhead signs, new lane stripes and regular tunnel maintenance.

APS and ADOT selected this weekend for the highly-publicized closure in order for the work to be completed before hotter summer weather arrives and at a time when the Arizona Diamondbacks were on a road trip in Chicago.

For more on Arizona highway conditions visit ADOT's Travel Information site at az511.gov or call 5-1-1. Updates are also available on the ADOT Twitter feed (@ArizonaDOT) and on Facebook.

The Arizona Department of Transportation takes seriously all collisions on state highways, including cross-median crashes, which are a small percentage of serious crashes on the Interstate 10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson. ADOT’s Traffic Safety Section, along with the Federal Highway Administration, is currently implementing a Roadway Departure Safety Plan that will help reduce cross-median and other roadway departure crashes on highways across the state.

ADOT is also working on the I-10 corridor between Phoenix and Tucson by implementing improvements indicated in a detailed Interstate 10 Corridor Study completed by ADOT in 2010. Improvements already constructed or under design will increase capacity and enhance safety by widening the roadway through the addition of lanes, and constructing barriers where indicated by ADOT and national standards along multiple stretches of I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson.

ADOT’s median-barrier standards are consistent with or exceed the standards used by most states to determine when a median barrier should be constructed. These standards are based on research that shows on wide medians, a barrier becomes a relative safety hazard rather than a safety feature. This is because they reduce the open median space available where most drivers departing the roadway can recover control without colliding with an obstruction. While cross-median crashes are frequently severe, collisions with median barriers are more frequent and can also be fatal. For this reason, even after the completion of improvements, many sections of the I-10 corridor will continue to have an open median.

Neither the federal government nor the majority of states have a method of continuously tracking cross-median crashes. In the past, ADOT has conducted traffic studies to determine the number of cross-median crashes. ADOT has recently updated its crash reporting form that police officers are required to fill out when investigating any serious collision to include a cross-median descriptor. This will allow us to more easily determine the number of cross-median crashes at or near a given location through ADOT’s computerized crash tracking system.

PHOENIX – Work to demolish the existing Interstate 10 bridges over Perryville Road in the West Valley is underway this week as part of a project to construct a new freeway interchange in the Goodyear area, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The demolition and removal of the older bridges is expected to take several days to complete before crews begin the construction of new, longer bridges over Perryville Road, which is west of the future I-10/Loop 303 interchange also being built in Goodyear.

To allow for the construction of the new bridges over Perryville Road, I-10 traffic was switched this week to newly constructed detour routes along the paths of the future off- and on-ramps for the interchange.

The detour routes still provide drivers with three lanes in each direction as they travel along the ramps. The speed limit in the area is 55 mph. Perryville Road is temporarily closed between McDowell Road and Van Buren Street to allow I-10 traffic to move freely along the construction detours. Citrus Road and Jackrabbit Trail are alternate north-south routes for local traffic.

I-10 traffic will be using the detour routes until September while crews build the new bridges.

The $18.8 million I-10/Perryville Road interchange project is scheduled for completion this fall.

PHOENIX – The Burnt Well rest area along Interstate 10 west of Phoenix at milepost 86 near Tonopah will receive upgrades to the facilities and plumbing system as part of a rest area rehabilitation program implemented by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Both east and westbound facilities will close to the public on Monday, April 14 in order to receive new plumbing, updated restroom facilities and improved ramadas. The work is anticipated to be complete this summer.

Drivers are encouraged to use alternate facilities, such as the Bouse Wash rest area located at milepost 52 approximately 30 miles east of Quartzsite, and the Ehrenberg rest area located at milepost 4.7 near the California state line.

This renovation will help revamp the water system, which is a key component of the rest area. Water is needed to operate the restroom facilities, the septic system and the drinking fountains as well as provide for the needs of the caretakers who live on site.

The Ehrenberg rest area is also scheduled to undergo similar upgrades as Burnt Well. The project at Ehrenberg will begin after the Burnt Well project is complete.

A map of all state highway rest areas is available at: azdot.gov/maps.

PHOENIX — The wait is over. 

For the first time, motorists traveling along Prince Road at the Interstate 10 junction will no longer be inconvenienced when one of the 40-60 trains pass daily through this area of Tucson.

Instead of waiting, motorists can now travel over — instead of under — I-10 after the Arizona Department of Transportation opened the reconstructed Prince Road traffic interchange at 5 a.m. today, just in time for the Monday morning rush-hour traffic.

The new overpass, which was built 30 feet above ground level on the east side of I-10 and slopes down to reach current ground-level, is a key part of a $76.4 million I-10 widening project between Ruthrauff and Prince roads. The project will upgrade a two-plus mile section of I-10 by increasing capacity, reducing congestion and improving traffic flow on this highly traveled corridor in Tucson.

The previous at-grade interchange experienced significant congestion and backups when trains passed through this area, sometimes causing a line of vehicles to form on the I-10 exit ramps during peak hours.

The Prince Road interchange was closed in fall 2011 and it remained closed until today.

“We want to thank the community for their support and patience, especially the nearby businesses who were affected by the ongoing construction,” said Rod Lane, ADOT Tucson district engineer. “This bridge will relieve congestion that's occurred for many years at this intersection.

“This improvement has eliminated the at-grade intersection of the railroad and the highway at this location. It will greatly increase the flow of traffic through this area and will go a long way toward increasing the safety of the traveling public. We are very excited to see the effects on travel and are pleased to work with the community and stakeholders in getting this project completed.”

While the new Prince Road interchange is now open, there is additional work on the I-10 ─ Ruthrauff Road to Prince Road widening project that needs to be completed, including at the Prince Road interchange. The eastbound I-10 entrance ramp at Prince Road will remain closed for another month so that crews can complete landscaping, electrical and barrier installation. The eastbound I-10 exit ramp is currently open and will remain open.

In addition, currently traffic is traveling on the three inside lanes of I-10 and will remain in this configuration through May when ADOT will repave the entire project when temperatures are ideal for this work. Once final paving is completed, I-10 will be expanded to four lanes in each direction.

Following today’s opening, some overnight closures will be needed to complete additional work on I-10 between Ruthrauff Road and Prince Road, including:

• Metal artwork at the Prince Road Bridge
• Landscaping
• Sign structures and existing detour removal
• Electrical connections for the high mast lighting
• Loop detectors on eastbound I-10 for traffic volume counts and speed classification
• Message board installation on eastbound I-10
• Rubberized asphalt paving (scheduled to occur in early May)