The entertainment industry has its annual awards that showcase “the best of” in movies and TV shows. The transportation industry is no different as we have annual awards programs that recognize transportation projects that are making a difference in communities across the country. I am pleased to announce the Arizona Department of Transportation recently received three regional awards in the 2020 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AAA, America’s Transportation Awards showcases transportation projects delivered by state departments of transportation and tells the story of the importance of transportation to our communities. With 79 projects nominated nationwide in three categories, the competition was fierce.

Under the category “Best Use of Technology and Innovation – Large Project,” ADOT won for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project. As our first public-private freeway project in ADOT’s history and the state’s largest single highway project at $2 billion total, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project is the final leg of the loop transportation system in the metropolitan Phoenix area that connects the West Valley to the East Valley. Using the P3 method, we built the freeway as a single project and saved nearly $100 million. We are already witnessing the economic development opportunities in the area and reduction in commute times for drivers.

Under the category “Quality of Life/Community Development – Small Project,” ADOT tied for first place with the State Route 347 at Union Pacific Railroad project. We built a six-lane divided overpass with raised medians and sidewalks to carry traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians over the railroad track in the City of Maricopa. Now, the community doesn’t have to wait for trains to pass by on its main north-south corridor. The City of Maricopa is reaping the benefits of the project with shortened emergency response times and construction has begun on several commercial projects. Most importantly, drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists can safely travel on this major corridor without delay due to train traffic.

Under the category “Operations Excellence – Medium Project,” ADOT tied for first place again with the I-10/SR 87 Improvement Project with Dust Detection System. This project added a travel lane in each direction on a four-mile stretch of Interstate 10. We also built a modern interchange at SR 87 with two lanes in each direction plus turn lanes and traffic signals over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. But, the cornerstone of the project is the installation of a first-in-its-kind dust detection and warning system. Blinding dust storms in the area between Tucson and Phoenix have been a safety concern to us for years. The dust detection system is helping us improve safety for the traveling public.

As a regional winner, our projects will be considered for the next phase of the nationwide competition, making it into the “Top 12” list. These 12 projects compete for the two top prizes – the Grand Prize, chosen by an independent panel of judges, and the People’s Choice Award which is determined by the public through online voting this fall.

I applaud the men and women at ADOT who design, build and maintain a transportation system that ensures we meet our True North, Safely Home. And thank you as well to the many stakeholders involved in these award-winning projects. Receiving the recognition by our peers in transportation makes me very proud and validates the outstanding work we do for the people of Arizona.

We all know what to expect when the monsoon whips up dust storms that race across the desert between Tucson and Phoenix: strong winds, limited visibility and hazardous driving conditions.

But drivers on that stretch of Interstate 10 should expect something very different this summer when storms hit: reduced speed limits, speed feedback signs and new overhead boards that display urgent safety messages.

These features are now working together as part of ADOT’s dust detection and warning system, which became operational just in time for the 2020 monsoon season that officially began June 15. This video shows you how this first-of-its-kind system works on a 10-mile segment of I-10 between Eloy and Picacho Peak, along with what drivers will see when dust storms automatically activate the system.

This system was developed by ADOT to improve safety during dust storms. But it only works if drivers heed the warnings. So make sure to pay extra attention to the safety messages on overhead signs and to obey the reduced speed limits, which are enforceable. Speed limits can drop to as low as 35 miles per hour, depending on real-time conditions in the area.

You can read more about the dust detection and warning system on our website.

Please remember that this technology is no substitute for common sense. Wherever you are traveling, be sure you've reviewed our dust storm safety tips at PullAsideStayAlive.org. 

If you drive along Interstate 10 near Ruthrauff Road, you’ve almost certainly noticed mounds of dirt that keep rising higher and higher along the highway’s west side. It’s a can’t-miss sign ADOT crews are making progress on the project to rebuild this busy Tucson interchange at Ruthrauff Road/Camino del Cerro.

But there’s a lot more going on that’s not in plain view.

More than four months into the $129 million project, change is constant as crews work to build a new bridge over I-10 and the train tracks. This video shows some of the work you likely can’t see while you’re on the road.

First, the dirt. Crews are piling up all that earth to raise the grade for the future eastbound frontage road.

You’ll also see clusters of rebar sticking out of the ground. Soon, they will support concrete piers for the future Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro bridge.

One large feature at the site is a rebar grid that crews are still assembling. It’s part of a drainage structure that will pass under I-10.

Some other progress is less visible. Construction is still underway on the loop roads east of the railroad tracks. In the short term, those roads will provide local access when crews temporarily close Highway Drive/Davis Avenue at Ruthrauff Road to construct the Ruthrauff Road bridge. In the long term, the roads will provide an easy connection between Ruthrauff Road and Highway Drive/Davis Avenue.

Once that bridge is complete and the interchange opens in late 2021, drivers can cross over the railroad tracks without having to stop for the train.

Remember that ADOT is maintaining access to local businesses through the entire project. For updates and traffic alerts on the project, please visit azdot.gov/RuthrauffTI.

“Historians write the history, but balladeers bring it to life.”

So says Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s official state balladeer, who has spent more than 60 years bringing Arizona to life through song.

Ellis performed a few numbers and answered questions about his musical career during a visit late last year to ADOT, including a tribute we've already shared to the I-17 Mystery Tree, which he calls "Scrubby." At right is a video with another of his songs, "I-10 Highway," which Ellis wrote in the 1970s.

“The road between Tucson and Phoenix, it was paved, but it was very, very narrow, and it went through all these little towns like Chandler, which was a tiny white spot on the road, and Coolidge, and all these places,” Ellis says as he sets up the song, which includes these verses:

“Arizona I-10 Highway, there’s a trucker going my way, play a tune in the afternoon with a guitar that I carry on my back.”

“I can see the sign to Tucson, from the freeway that I ride on, telling me all the sights to see down in Tucson, that are long gone with each puff from a diesel stack.”

“As I pass the irrigation roads (and) crops some Pima farmer grows, folks flipping by like the pages of a worn-out history book.

And the story that it seems to tell the pride of his work in a job done well and the cooperation of a reservation full of neighbors and the labors of his people (that it took).”  

There’s also a verse about Picacho Peak and its history as the site of an 1862 clash between Union and Confederate forces that was the westermost battle of the Civil War.

Ellis isn’t an Arizona native but a transplant from Kansas, where he grew up on a small farm south of Lawrence. He became determined to make Arizona his home when at the age of 6 he saw pictures in National Geographic magazine.

“I was fascinated about the plants, cowboys, Indians and mining,” he said.

He made his Arizona dream come true in 1959 after graduating from college, driving across the state line with his wife by his side.

His first job was in communications at KOOL-TV, which is now KSAZ-TV. He brought his guitar, and during down time, like right after news broadcasts, he would sing and play in the empty Studio B.

His hard work and talent led to coffee house gigs around and beyond Arizona, and he became an original member of the New Christy Minstrels, the legendary folk group.

In 1966, Ellis became Arizona's first official state balladeer, a designation proffered by Governor Sam Goddard.

You can learn more about Ellis, his performance schedule, history and songs at DolanEllis.com. You can also learn about the Arizona Folklore Preserve in Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, which Ellis founded to preserve songs celebrating Arizona’s western heritage and culture, at ArizonaFolklore.com.

Since an eastbound Interstate 10 bridge started carrying traffic over Ruthrauff Road in 1965, the number of vehicles that have traveled this northwestern Tucson locale is impossible to calculate.

But once crews began demolishing the structure this week, we can count exactly how much time it took to reduce the bridge’s surface into concrete rubble and twisted rebar: two days.

This Flickr album of the demolition work shows the rapid progress we’re making to rebuild I-10/Ruthrauff Road interchange only two months after starting the $129 million project.

As for the remaining parts of the bridge, they’ll also be history by the end of the week.

If you’re wondering how I-10 traffic can keep flowing with one of two bridges now gone at Ruthrauff Road, here’s the solution ADOT’s project team has in place: Westbound I-10 traffic is now getting through the work zone on the westbound frontage road, while eastbound I-10 traffic has been shifted to the old westbound lanes.

Some temporary sections of pavement allow three lanes of traffic to flow in each direction. And we’re maintaining access to all businesses with other temporary changes to the frontage roads.

The demolition work is just one of many dramatic changes drivers will see until the I-10/Ruthrauff Road project is completed in late 2021. Stay tuned for more photos and other updates.