WILLCOX – Motorists on both directions of Interstate 10 to the west of Willcox should expect a short detour the weekend of Sept. 25-27 as part of a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Both directions of I-10 will close at Exit 336, which will require drivers to detour onto the exit and entrance ramps, from 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept, 25, to 6 a.m. Monday, Sept. 27.

Drivers should prepare to reduce their speed as they approach the work zone and exit I-10. Delays are possible.

Weather permitting, this is expected to be the final of several planned weekend closures required for the bridge deck replacement project. The bridge above I-10 will reopen later this fall, after crews complete paving and guardrail work.

For more information, go to the project website.

WILLCOX – Motorists on both directions of Interstate 10 to the west of Willcox should expect a short detour the weekend of Sept. 11-12 as part of a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Both directions of I-10 will close at Exit 336, which will require drivers to detour onto the exit and entrance ramps, from 6 a.m. Saturday, Sept, 11, to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12.

Drivers should prepare to reduce their speed as they approach the work zone and exit I-10. Delays are possible.

The closure is one of several planned during the bridge deck replacement project, which is scheduled through late 2021.

For more information, go to the project website.

TUCSON - In an unprecedented push to remove roadside garbage and debris, 42 Arizona Department of Transportation employees from southern Arizona were recently able to pick up 11,000 pounds of trash and bulk items.

ADOT personnel from Casa Grande, Coolidge, Nogales, Oracle, Three Points, Tucson, and St. David cleaned up a stretch of Interstate 10 from Rita Rd. to Kino Blvd.; a distance of about 11 miles. This portion of the highway is a hot spot for roadside garbage and debris and the cleanup required approximately half of the available ADOT South Central District maintenance staff. 

“We did this because of an overwhelming amount of roadside garbage and debris on ADOT right-of-way,” said Highway Operations Supervisor Fernando Murrietta. “The problem isn’t just how much litter there is, but how it gets there. People throw trash from their vehicle and it’s ADOT crews who live and work in southern Arizona who pick it up. We are part of the solution because we’re cleaning up other peoples’ messes.  Things would be much better if people would be more respectful of the environment.”

Maintenance personnel are available to perform cleanup duties as part of their ongoing work, but their primary responsibility is safety-related work such as guardrail repair, pavement maintenance, right-of-way fence repair to keep livestock off roadways and other similar jobs. 

In addition to ADOT employees, trash cleanups are conducted by volunteer groups as well as state prison inmate crews. Inmate crews have not been available due to COVID-19 restrictions in prison complexes, but are now beginning to return to roadside duties. 

For more information about the ADOT Adopt a Highway program: azdot.gov

WILLCOX – Motorists on both directions of Interstate 10 to the west of Willcox should expect a short detour the weekend of Aug. 27-30 while work crews pour a new concrete surface as part of a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Both directions of I-10 will close at Exit 336, which will require drivers to detour onto the exit and entrance ramps, from 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, to 6 a.m. Monday, Aug. 30.

Drivers should prepare to reduce their speed as they approach the work zone and exit I-10. Delays are possible.

The closure is one of several planned during the bridge deck replacement project, which is scheduled through late 2021.

For more information, go to the project website.

PHOENIX – Motorists on both directions of Interstate 10 to the west of Willcox should expect a short detour the weekend of Aug. 20-23 while work crews pour a new concrete surface as part of a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Both directions of I-10 will close at Exit 336, which will require drivers to detour onto the exit and entrance ramps, from 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, to 6 a.m. Monday, Aug. 23.

Drivers should prepare to reduce their speed as they approach the work zone and exit I-10. Delays are possible.

The closure is one of several planned during the bridge deck replacement project, which is scheduled through late 2021.

For more information, go to the project website.

Late Thursday, motorists began using the new bridges that carry traffic over I-10 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Drivers should expect ongoing temporary lane restrictions as crews continue work on the reestablished connection across I-10.

The ramps connecting I-10 to Ruthrauff Road and El Camino del Cerro remain closed and are expected to open in the next several months. Later this summer, westbound I-10 traffic will shift from its temporary configuration to the newly reconstructed westbound lanes.

The $129 million project also means drivers will no longer have to wait for trains to pass along the east side of I-10. With Ruthrauff/El Camino del Cerro now traveling above I-10, traffic can move through the area more smoothly and safely.

When the project is completed late fall, drivers will benefit from other improvements that include:

Expanding I-10 from three to four lanes in each direction.

Widening Ruthrauff/El Camino del Cerro to two lanes in each direction crossing I-10.

Reconstructing the ramps and frontage roads so all traffic flows above the railroad tracks.

Constructing an underpass to carry Davis Avenue/Highway Drive under Ruthrauff Road, with traffic using local roads and Maryvale Avenue to connect with Ruthrauff Road.

Drivers should expect occasional lane restrictions in the next several months, including when I-10 lanes are shifted to their permanent configuration.

The project is part of the Regional Transportation Authority’s roadway improvement plan, managed by the Pima Association of Governments. It is ADOT’s fourth recent major I-10 traffic interchange project in Pima County that allows drivers to cross I-10 without waiting for trains, following similar projects at Prince Road, Twin Peaks and Ina Road.

For more information, go to azdot.gov/RuthrauffTI.

PHOENIX – Motorists who cross Interstate 10 on Houghton Road are now traveling on a newly completed bridge as the Arizona Department of Transportation reaches a significant milestone in reconstructing an interchange that serves a rapidly growing area of Tucson.

ADOT crews shifted traffic from the existing two-lane bridge to the new six-lane structure early Wednesday morning. The $24.4 million project to build southern Arizona’s first diverging diamond interchange is now roughly 75 percent complete after beginning in late August 2020.

In addition to constructing the bridge, ADOT has also made significant progress rebuilding Houghton Road adjacent to the structure and reconstructing most segments of the entrance and exit ramps.

While a temporary Houghton Road traffic configuration is in place for the next several weeks with only one lane of travel in each direction, the traffic shift allows other important work to take place so the interchange can fully open by late 2021.

In the next several weeks, crews will complete the ramps on the east side of the interchange. Also, the old structure over I-10 will be demolished. The work will require overnight restrictions on I-10, tentatively scheduled for July 23-24.

All six lanes of the new bridge will open later this year, when the interchange will be converted to a diverging diamond configuration. In this type of interchange, traffic shifts to the opposite side of the road while crossing over I-10. 

The diverging diamond design was chosen because it promotes safety and can handle higher traffic volumes in the growing southeast Tucson area, where traffic is expected to increase by as much as 50 percent by 2045. 

For more information about the project and diverging diamond interchanges, please visit azdot.gov/i10Houghton.

PHOENIX – The installation of improved lighting in the Interstate 10 Deck Park Tunnel north of downtown Phoenix has been completed. Arizona Department of Transportation crews have worked in stages this year to replace old fixtures in the tunnel with modern, energy efficient LED lights.

ADOT installed the last of the new lights in the eastbound side of the Deck Park Tunnel on Saturday morning, June 12. The entire $1.4 million project, which started in January, means that more than 1,500 new LED lights were installed along with the replacement of old lighting fixtures dating back to when the tunnel opened to traffic in 1990.

In addition to the improved lighting providing a safety enhancement, ADOT anticipates the use of LED lights in the tunnel will reduce energy consumption by more than 60 percent and produce more than $175,000 in annual energy savings.

The new LED bulbs produce an improved, brighter white light in the tunnel compared to the outdated yellow-toned high pressure sodium lights that have been replaced. Since LED lights last longer than the high pressure sodium bulbs, crews will not have to replace them as often.

As with the old lighting system, the improved LED tunnel lights are now set at appropriate transitioning levels during daylight and nighttime hours to allow a driver’s vision to adapt given outside lighting levels. For example, the system runs fewer lights at night because of lower nighttime light levels outside the tunnel.

The I-10 tunnel extends approximately three-quarters-of-a-mile between Third Street and Third Avenue north of downtown Phoenix. The lighting project was paid for with available ADOT maintenance funds.

PHOENIX – The Bouse Wash Rest Area on Interstate 10 in western Arizona will close starting Monday, June 7, for a renovation that’s expected to be completed in early 2022.

The Arizona Department of Transportation’s renovation plans include upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, replacing restroom fixtures and expanding the parking lot. Also, renovations will improve and modernize ramadas, water and wastewater systems, vending buildings and other equipment.

The renovations will take place on the eastbound and westbound rest areas, which are west of Tonopah at milepost 53. During the closure, the nearest rest areas on I-10 will be at the Ehrenberg Rest Area near the California state line and the Burnt Well Rest Area at milepost 86.

While the Bouse Wash Rest Area will be closed to the general public, it will remain open for commercial truck parking only.

The improvements are the latest ADOT has made in recent years to repair and replace infrastructure that has been in place for as long as 50 years.

Motorists may use this link to find a map of all ADOT rest areas.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation and the Town of Marana have completed a joint project to improve the flow of traffic at the interchange of Interstate 10 and Cortaro Road after improving the pavement and changing lane configurations near the freeway.

A new lane configuration now gives motorists on westbound Cortaro Road at I-10 two dedicated left-turn lanes and two through-lanes, rather than having one of those lanes shared for both movements. The new configuration, along with traffic signal timing changes, will help drivers move through the intersection more efficiently whether they are turning left or continuing through the intersection.

The improvements were coordinated by ADOT and Marana, as the paving and striping changes needed to occur at the same time on each agency’s respective roadway. ADOT’s improvements included paving within the agency’s right-of-way under I-10. Meanwhile, Marana completed a pavement preservation project on Cortaro Farms Road to the east of I-10 along with Cortaro Road to the west of the freeway. 

Once paving was complete, ADOT and Marana changed the lane stripe configuration on westbound Cortaro Road. ADOT has also changed some westbound Cortaro Road signs and adjusted traffic signal timing.

ADOT asks drivers to pay extra attention initially when navigating the intersection, keeping an eye out for the new lane striping, new signs and a change in traffic signal timing.