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Time sure does fly...

Construction started on the Loop 303/I-10 interchange project last winter, but now, only about one year later, work on the future freeway-to-freeway connection is 50 percent complete!

To mark the milestone, we thought we’d share a look at the project’s progress. So, enjoy the photos, and for more information, there are a few important sites you can continue to check regularly:

• For updates on all things Loop 303 and to take a virtual drive of the interchange, visit the project page.
• For details on how construction will impact your commute, check out the closures and restrictions page.
• And, of course, you can always revisit some of our previous project posts here on the blog!

Road maintenance is about more than just paving roads and fixing guardrail.

Hopefully, our blog has enlightened you to that fact. But we know we really haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to covering everything our crews are responsible for.

That’s why today, we’re going to share with you, 5 ADOT electrical maintenance-related tasks you may not have known about: 

1) Blue Stake requests
Blue Stake refers to the law that requires anyone doing any sort of excavation to call a statewide hotline (811) before they dig. Arizona Blue Stake, Inc. will then notify any underground facility owners (water, gas, electrical, ADOT, etc.) so they can mark the locations of their underground lines, allowing the person doing the excavating to avoid them.

ADOT has six techs in the Phoenix Maintenance District alone devoted to Blue Stake requests. These employees work with Arizona Blue Stake, Inc. by researching and then marking the location of any ADOT underground utilities that are in the way of an excavation plan.

“Our Blue Stake crew is dedicated to protecting our underground facilities,” said Joe McGuirk, ADOT’s electrical operations engineer for the Phoenix district, adding that his crew gets about 25,000-30,000 “tickets” or inquiries a year.

Everyone knows about ADOT’s bridges, roads and facilities that sit above ground, but the agency has a lot underground, too. McGuirk said there are things like conduits and fiber cable for ADOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that are underground and crucial to the operation of the state’s highway system, along with all the wires that keep the freeways lit at night.

2) Pump House Maintenance
Just in the Phoenix-metro area, there are 70 pump stations. They’re all positioned near roadways and help to keep the roads dry.

“They collect storm water,” McGuirk said. “We don’t want water on our roadway.”

ADOT crews maintain the pumps and make sure they’re ready and working properly. The crews on this team also work on regular improvement projects to make sure the pumps will work efficiently. Besides all this, the crews are on-call during rainstorms to fix anything that needs repair in order to avoid flooding.

3) I-10 Deck Park Tunnel maintenance
A crew of three works to “keep the tunnel safe and ready for traffic,” McGuirk said.

Cleaning and maintenance are among the team's regular duties, but they also maintain the tunnel’s ventilation system. The eight ventilation fans in the tunnel keep carbon monoxide at safe levels.

4) Signals and lighting
This is the ADOT Electrical Operation’s largest group. The ADOT employees on this team make sure all of ADOT’s signals and lights are in working order (that includes changing quite a few light bulbs!).

McGuirk said in the Phoenix area alone, ADOT has 164 signals (that doesn’t include ramp meters) and roughly 13,000 light bulbs to maintain.

Duties in this section include preventative maintenance and coordination with municipalities and railroads. Unfortunately, this team also has to regularly replace wire that is stolen right out of the ground.

5) Intelligent Transportation Systems
There are 200 traffic cameras in the Phoenix district, along with about 80 DMS boards, and McGuirk said he has a five-person team devoted to the care and preservation of the systems.

This includes repairs and upgrades to the DMS boards themselves and fixes to the detector stations.

“We maintain all the equipment out in the field for ADOT’s Traffic Operations Center,” he said.

There’s more… 
This is by no means a complete list of all the maintenance duties performed by ADOT crews. But, we hope it gives you a look at some of the “unseen” tasks being performed by our crews every day to help keep the state’s highway system operating smoothly.

There’s a lot more to cover on this subject – and we will, so stay tuned!

West Valley drivers have, no doubt, already noticed there’s a lot happening over on the I-10/Loop 303 interchange project, but for the rest of you, we thought we’d provide a quick update…

Just back in July, a couple of new ramps opened up at I-10/Sarival Avenue (an eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp). And, since then, two additional ramps have opened – a new westbound I-10 on-ramp and eastbound off-ramp at Citrus Road.

Now that those ramps are open to drivers, ADOT has been able to move forward with the permanent closing of the I-10 on- and off-ramps at Cotton Lane and the partial closure of Cotton Lane and Loop 303 through fall 2014 (see map above). The closures are necessary so crews can continue to work on the Loop 303/I-10 interchange (you can take a “virtual” look at the future interchange online).

When the $134 million interchange project in Goodyear is complete, I-10 access to Cotton Lane will be restored via frontage roads stretching between Sarival Avenue and Citrus Road.

Besides the new interchange, ADOT is working on a series of ongoing projects that will modernize Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway between I-10 and Grand Avenue by late 2014.

Have you “liked” ADOT’s Facebook page yet?

Well, what are you waiting for!?! Maybe we’re a little bit biased, but we think some pretty cool stuff gets posted over there, including this photo from a few weeks ago

It was posted as part of a “Where in AZ?” challenge, but actually proved to be not that much of a challenge – quite a few people guessed the location right away!

Which brings us to the topic of today’s blog post: the photo … well, not the photo, but the project that’s in the photo, more specifically the I-10/SR 90 traffic interchange project.

It sits southeast of Tucson and just west of Benson (many of you who have taken a trip to Kartchner Caverns might recognize the turnoff).

You’ll learn more about the project in the video above, but basically this project is going to reconstruct the existing traffic interchange and realign more than a mile of curves on I-10 west of SR 90.

The new interchange and realignment will feature wider entrance and exit ramps with traffic signals, overpass bridges that will provide for future growth, and a design that will accommodate a future project to add a westbound I-10 climbing lane starting at the Ocotillo Road exit east of SR 90.

If that wasn’t enough, the project also entails the construction of new access roads to SR 90, drainage improvements, improved lighting, utility relocation and other roadway enhancements.

The project is scheduled for completion by fall 2012, except for the final paving – due to upcoming colder weather (it's got to get here eventually, right?) the paving work will take place in spring 2013. We’ll keep you updated on the progress here on the blog and on our Facebook page (hint, hint … go “like” us!).

As ADOT prepares to open a new eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp at Sarival Avenue and I-10, crews have been busy adding the finishing touches…

Painting, striping and sign installation were among the final tasks completed this week, but even though the ramps are expected to open today, the work is nowhere near over. That’s because these ramps are just part of a larger, ongoing ADOT project that will build a freeway-to-freeway interchange between I-10 and Loop 303 (we blogged about the project earlier this year).

Two additional I-10 ramps are scheduled to open at Citrus Road by late August, which will set the stage for the permanent closing of the I-10 on- and off-ramps at Cotton Lane and allow crews to continue to work on the I-10/Loop 303 interchange.

More about this project:

• By early September, Cotton Lane will be closed between Van Buren Street on the south and McDowell Road on the north. Drivers will be able to use Sarival Avenue or Citrus Road as primary north-south routes in the area. Local access will be maintained along Cotton Lane between Van Buren and Garfield streets. 
• By late September, ADOT plans to close the stretch of Loop 303 between McDowell and Thomas roads and detour traffic along a new section of Cotton Lane west of the freeway construction work zone. Traffic signals will be installed at McDowell Road and the new Cotton Lane intersection.

When the $134 million Loop 303/I-10 interchange project in Goodyear is completed, I-10 access to Cotton Lane will be maintained via frontage roads stretching between Sarival Avenue and Citrus Road. ADOT is working on a series of ongoing projects that will modernize Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway between I-10 and Grand Avenue by late 2014.

Progress is being made on the I-10 widening project we first told you about back in October and construction has reached a milestone, requiring a closure in the Tucson area...

Beginning March 12, the I-10 Prince Road underpass and ramps will close. This closure is necessary so ADOT can widen this busy Tucson interchange.

But, don’t worry ... motorists can use Ruthrauff Road or Miracle Mile ramps to enter or exit I-10. Businesses in the area will remain open during construction and are accessible on both sides of I-10 using frontage roads and nearby surface streets.

A little background on the project

This project is designed to widen I-10 to four lanes in each direction from Ruthrauff Road to Prince Road.

Crews also are working to reconstruct the Prince Road traffic interchange so that the road will pass over Union Pacific Railroad tracks and I-10. This is vital due to frequent traffic backups and delays at the Prince Road/I-10 intersection (more than 40 trains pass through the area each day, which can cause traffic to back up onto nearby I-10).

Work, which should be complete by late 2013, also includes new landscaping and the updating of on- and off-ramps to provide better connections and improved access for motorists.

If you’ve been following our Building a Freeway series, you should be pretty familiar by now with much of the work that’s happening out on the Loop 303.

But we still have a lot to show you! In fact, there’s a significant part of the project we haven’t even touched on yet...

It’s the Loop 303/I-10 interchange and construction is just getting started.

When the project is complete in 2014, drivers can expect many improvements; including a freeway-to-freeway connection between Loop 303 and I-10 (it will look similar to the Loop 101/I-10 interchange in Tolleson and Avondale for those of you familiar with the West Valley).

Right now we’re in the first of four phases and a lot of the preliminary work being done is designed to help ease the commute for drivers once construction begins on the later phases. For example, new ramp interchanges will be built at Sarival Avenue and Citrus Road. Work on those starts in March, but should be finished this summer and the new interchanges will help motorists maneuver around more upcoming construction.

As the project progresses there are a few important sites you’ll want to check in on regularly …

• For updates and all things Loop 303.
• For details on how construction will impact you and your commute, check out the closures and restrictions page.

And, of course, stay tuned to the blog. We’ll continue to share important project information along with explanatory videos and blog posts!

The new year officially is here, but before we dive into 2012 we’re going to take a quick look back.

ADOT’s Public Information/Media Relations team came up with a great list of the state’s major transportation accomplishments from 2011 and we thought we’d share it here on the blog!

From new freeway openings to the approval of ADOT’s Long Range Transportation Plan, here's a look at some of the highlights …

Phoenix Area Freeways:

Loop 303 Opens

ADOT widened major stretches of Phoenix area freeways in 2011 and opened the first new segment of freeway to be built under the Maricopa Association of Government’s 20-year Regional Transportation Plan. Fourteen miles of Loop 303 were opened in May between Interstate 17 and Happy Valley Parkway in Peoria, allowing drivers for the first time to use Loop 303 to make the 39-mile trip between I-17 and I-10.

HOV Lane Additions

Drivers benefited from two accelerated projects to add High Occupancy Vehicle lanes along Loops 101 and 202. The final 30 miles of HOV lanes along Loop 101 between State Route 51 in north Phoenix and I-10 in Tolleson were opened in stages during the year and completed in November. Meanwhile, in the Chandler area, 12 miles of carpool lanes were completed this fall along Loop 202 Santan Freeway between I-10 and Gilbert Road.

I-10 Widening in West Valley

Another significant milestone was marked in August with the completion of ADOT’s three-year initiative to reconstruct and widen I-10 between Loop 101 and Verrado Way. Those projects modernized I-10, transforming what had been a limited highway with two lanes in each direction into a modern freeway that now provides as many as five lanes in each direction – including carpool lanes.

State Highway System:

Mescal Road/J-Six Ranch Road Bridge

Just over six months after a fiery crash damaged the Mescal Road/J-Six Ranch Road bridge, ADOT swiftly rebuilt the bridge to reconnect the Cochise County communities of Mescal and J-Six Ranch, which were separated by I-10 and depend on the overpass for convenient access to goods, services and neighbors. While the bridge was out of service, residents and workers in the Benson-area communities were required to take lengthy detours around I-10 to reach the other side of the highway. Federal Highway Administration emergency relief funds, a shortened time frame for designing the replacement bridge and a quick construction bid process all helped put the project on the fast track. A typical bridge construction project can take up to two years.

State Route 260 Widening

Continuing a decade-long commitment to expand the capacity of SR 260, ADOT completed a project to widen the highway starting 15 miles east of Payson from Little Green Valley to Thompson Draw. The $20 million project is the fourth of six projects to construct a four-lane divided highway from Star Valley to the top of the Mogollon Rim.

State Route 87 Improvements

ADOT fulfilled its commitment to complete SR 87 improvements before the Memorial Day weekend and in time for the busy tourism season in the Rim Country. The $11.8 million reconstruction and widening project included the addition of a third southbound lane to enhance safety and traffic flow along the uphill stretch during drives between Payson and the Phoenix area. The improvements were the latest in a series of projects during the last two decades to enhance travel on SR 87, which is now a divided four-lane highway between Mesa and Payson.

US 93 Widening Project

Shortly after ADOT completed a $71.3 million widening project on the US 93 approach to the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge in 2010, the first Desert Bighorn Sheep were spotted in February using one of the three wildlife crossings that were constructed to protect motorists and provide a safe crossing for the native animals. The project earned ADOT several honors this year, including the Arizona Chapter American Public Works Association Award, 2011 Public Works Project of the Year and FHWA’s 2011 Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative Award for the agency’s creative and innovative solution to balance motorists’ safety, while protecting wildlife and connecting ecosystems.

Hassayampa River Bridge Project

Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, ADOT completed a $3.9 million bridge project over the Hassayampa River on I-10, approximately 40 miles west of downtown Phoenix. This area is a major route for travelers heading to and from California along I-10.

Overnight Bridge Demolition

On a late April night in southern Arizona, ADOT tore down two bridges in 10 hours – no small task. ADOT had already planned to remove the old Marsh Station bridge, which required a 67-mile overnight detour for motorists on I-10 east of Tucson. About three weeks before the demolition was set to occur, two semi trucks collided under the overpass at the Mescal Road/J-Six Ranch Road bridge. The bridge was badly damaged from the resulting fire and would have to be replaced.

Planning and Programming:

Long Range Transportation Plan

For more than two years, ADOT worked toward developing the state’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, a blueprint that looks 25 years into the future to determine how to plan for and fund transportation projects that keep up with Arizona’s needs. The State Transportation Board formally approved the Long Range Transportation Plan, also known as What Moves You Arizona, in November, allowing ADOT planners to move ahead with their work to develop a transportation system that will carry Arizona into the future. The award-winning program was nationally recognized for planning and involving the public.

Intercity Rail Study

In October, ADOT kicked off the public outreach phase of its intercity rail study. The study’s goal is to identify if there is a need for intercity rail along I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson. Over the course of a month, ADOT gathered information, data and comments. The agency will provide its findings to the public and to policymakers, so they can make an informed decision about how to move forward. ADOT is looking at all options, which include rail, transit—and the option to build nothing at all. The study will be complete in 2013.

Bicycle Safety Action Plan

As part of our public safety plan, ADOT is developing a Bicycle Safety Action Plan to help keep cyclists safe on Arizona’s highways. The goal is to reduce the number of bicycle crashes with motor vehicles and improve safety for both cyclists and drivers.  The goal of the Bicycle Safety Action Plan is to reduce the total number of bicycle crashes on Arizona highways by 12 percent by 2018.

Safe Routes to School

This year, nearly $3.5 million in grant funding was distributed by ADOT for 21 Safe Routes to School projects for schools and communities statewide. Eight of these projects, totaling $2.8 million, were designated for infrastructure improvements, such as the construction of sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, signage and striping. An additional 13 projects, totaling $720,000, went toward non-infrastructure elements, such as providing bike helmets to students, safety education and law enforcement. All Safe Routes to School projects are designed to get kids walking or biking and adopt healthy habits.

Motor Vehicle Division and Enforcement and Compliance Division:

Motor Vehicle Division

MVD continued to improve the quality of customer service at MVD offices by shortening the wait times for the more common motor vehicle and driver license transactions, while serving over 3.5 million customers at MVD’s 54 offices or satellite/specialized offices in 2011 The average wait time per transaction was approximately 19 minutes, compared to over 45 minutes just five years ago. Throughout the year, MVD also provided transaction assistance to returning soldiers with the U.S. Army Intelligence Command at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. ADOT also launched several new specialty license plates, including the long-awaited Arizona Centennial plate.

Enforcement and Compliance Division

ADOT officers conducted Operation Bullhead, joint-agency commercial vehicle enforcement operation in Mohave County at the request of Bullhead City officials. ADOT officers recovered stolen vehicles identified during inspections. The enforcement division also created a Single Trip Overweight International Border Permit program for produce transporters out of Mexico and assisted local law enforcement with scrap metal yard investigations.

Other Accomplishments:

Grand Canyon National Park Airport

In June, the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, owned and operated by ADOT, began daily 737 airline service from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Travelers can now book a flight on Vision Airlines out of Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. The new service is the first step in a larger vision to make it easier for all tourists to visit the canyon. The Transportation Security Administration was also stationed at the airport this year, making it easier for airline companies to fly into the airport, since they no longer have to provide their own passenger screening.