PHOENIX – A day after crews moved eastbound Interstate 10 traffic off a bridge over Ruthrauff Road in northwest Tucson, crews have begun demolishing the structure as part of an Arizona Department of Transportation interchange replacement project.

Over the weekend, westbound I-10 traffic began using what had been the westbound frontage road and eastbound I-10 traffic moved to what had been the westbound lanes. ADOT is maintaining three lanes of travel in each direction of I-10 as well as access to area businesses throughout this two-year project.

Demolishing the eastbound bridge is an important step forward for a $129 million project building a modern traffic interchange that includes a bridge carrying Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

All traces of the bridge are expected to be gone by the end of the week.

Crews will spend the rest of the year creating the western half of the interchange and new eastbound I-10 lanes in the project area. By late 2020 or early 2021, another traffic shift will allow crews to demolish the westbound I-10 bridge and construct the eastern half of the interchange.

The new interchange is scheduled to open in late 2021. Work began in January as part of the Regional Transportation Authority’s 20-year transportation plan. The Pima Association of Governments manages the RTA.

More information about the project is available at azdot.gov/RuthrauffTI.

PHOENIX – Motorists who use Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande should plan for overnight lane restrictions through this fall because of a pavement improvement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The project, scheduled to begin Sunday, March 22, will replace the pavement on both directions of I-10 between State Route 587 (Casa Blanca Road) at milepost 175 and SR 387 at milepost 185 near Casa Grande.

Work is scheduled Sundays through Thursdays between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. During those times, 2-mile segments of I-10 will be narrowed to one lane in each direction. Drivers should plan for delays of up to 20 minutes.

The project includes improvements to guardrail and shoulders.

Drivers should proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

PHOENIX – Over the weekend beginning the evening of Friday, Feb. 14, the Arizona Department of Transportation will close Ruthrauff Road at Interstate 10 for a two-year project to modernize the interchange serving a growing area of northwest Tucson.

ADOT will maintain access to area businesses throughout this project, which is creating a bridge carrying Ruthrauff Road over both I-10 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks as well as widening the freeway.

“We’re excited to build a safer interchange that also will mean no more traffic delays when trains pass by I-10,” said Rod Lane, ADOT’s Southeast District engineer. “While we understand projects this big can make it challenging for commuters and businesses, we want the community to know customers can still access those companies near the work zone through the entire project.”

ADOT and area officials are working together to maintain a smooth traffic flow at I-10 and Orange Grove, Sunset and Prince roads, the interchanges immediately west and east of Ruthrauff Road. The new Ruthrauff Road overpass is expected to open to cross-traffic by fall 2021, with the interchange ramps opening later in the year.

Utility relocation on the $129 million project began in 2019, and construction began in early January.

Work to close Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro at I-10 is scheduled to begin the evening of Friday, Feb. 14, and continue through the morning of Sunday, Feb. 16. The following closures and restrictions will then be in place:

• Ruthrauff Road and El Camino del Cerro will be closed to all traffic between Highway Drive/Davis Avenue and the business entrances west of I-10.
• All ramps between I-10 and Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro will close except for the westbound I-10 off-ramp, which will remain open to provide access to westbound I-10 frontage road businesses only.
• The eastbound frontage road will be converted to a two-way road south of Sunset Road. There will be no access to El Camino del Cerro from the frontage road.
• The eastbound frontage road will be converted to a two-way road northwest of Commerce Drive. There will be no access to or from El Camino del Cerro from the frontage road.
• The westbound frontage road will close northwest of Prince Road.

Other major improvements include:

• Widening I-10 to four lanes in each direction
• Widening Ruthrauff Road and El Camino del Cerro to two lanes in each direction near I-10
• Reconstructing the I-10 frontage roads to connect to the elevated interchange

For more information, please visit azdot.gov/RuthrauffTI.

PHOENIX – Though major restrictions aren’t set to begin until late winter or early spring, construction is set to begin Monday, Jan. 13, on an Arizona Department of Transportation project building a new interchange at Interstate 10 and Ruthrauff Road in northwest Tucson.

The completed interchange will reduce delays and improve safety on Ruthrauff Road and on El Camino del Cerro west of I-10 by carrying traffic over the freeway and Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The two-year, $129 million project also will widen the freeway.

While I-10 will remain open throughout, with lane restrictions limited to overnight hours, interchange ramps will close in late winter or early spring and reopen when the project is complete. Ruthrauff Road and El Camino del Cerro will close at I-10 in late winter or early spring and reopen as the project nears completion in late 2021.

“This is an important project for the Tucson area,” said Rod Lane, ADOT’s district engineer for ADOT’s Southcentral District. “The new interchange will allow traffic to move more quickly through the area, and we’re improving safety because drivers will no longer have to cross the railroad tracks.”

The project will be similar to interchange reconstructions in recent years on I-10 at Ina and Prince roads, where the interstate was lowered and overpasses built to separate motorists and the trains that pass daily. As with the other projects, ADOT is adding capacity to I-10 as well.

Other major improvements include:

• Widening I-10 to four lanes in each direction
• Widening Ruthrauff Road and El Camino del Cerro to two lanes in each direction near I-10
• Reconstructing the I-10 frontage roads to connect to the elevated interchange

Drivers should expect intermittent lane restrictions and possible delays in the initial weeks of the project. When the Ruthrauff Road interchange closes in late winter or early spring, alternate routes to I-10 for those on both sides of the freeway include Orange Grove Road to the north and Prince Road to the south. Also to the north of Ruthrauff Road, Sunset Road provides access to I-10 from the west.

Frontage road restrictions will be in place through the project, though ADOT will maintain access to all businesses. To ensure access, the eastbound frontage road south of Sunset Road will be converted to a two-way road during construction.

By springtime, I-10 westbound traffic will shift to the westbound frontage road and eastbound traffic will move to the freeway’s westbound lanes. This will allow crews to demolish the eastbound overpass and rebuild a portion of I-10. In about a year, eastbound and westbound traffic will shift to the new eastbound lanes while the westbound overpass is demolished and crews rebuild westbound I-10.

The new Ruthrauff Road overpass is expected to open to cross-traffic by fall 2021 only, with the interchange ramps opening later in the year.

The project is part of the Regional Transportation Authority’s roadway improvement plan, managed by the Pima Association of Governments.

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

PHOENIX – When blowing dust reduces visibility along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Eloy and Picacho Peak, a detection and warning system developed by the Arizona Department of Transportation will quickly tell drivers to reduce speed for safety.

ADOT is completing installation of sensors, overhead message boards, variable speed limit signs, speed-feedback signs and closed-circuit cameras to create this first-of-its-kind detection and warning system in an area that is prone to sudden dust storms. The prototype system is expected to begin operating in the coming weeks between mileposts 209 and 219.

Those entering this stretch of I-10 already see signs saying Caution: Variable Speed Limit Corridor. This alerts drivers to a key part of the system: programmable signs that can instantly reduce the legal speed limit.

Placed every 1,000 feet for the first mile in each direction and then every 2 miles, the variable speed limit signs can change from 75 mph to as slow as 35 mph when there is blowing dust.

Electronic message boards placed 5 miles apart in the pilot area will alert drivers to blowing dust, while ADOT traffic operators can use overhead message boards on the way toward the dust detection zone to warn drivers of potentially hazardous conditions ahead.

Closed-circuit cameras will allow staff at ADOT’s Traffic Operations Center in Phoenix to see the real-time conditions on the roadway, while in-pavement sensors will report the speed and flow of traffic.

Along with the threat from monsoon storms in the summer and fall, conditions in this stretch of I-10 are such that strong wind any time of the year can suddenly produce localized dust that severely reduces visibility, a phenomenon known as a dust channel.

The warning system also includes weather radar, which will be mounted on a 20-foot tower at the State Route 87 interchange in Eloy, that can detect storms more than 40 miles away. This radar will complement 13 sensors mounted on posts next to the freeway that use beams of light to determine the density of dust particles in the air.

In addition to enhancing safety by providing earlier warnings about blowing dust, this innovative system will advance ADOT’s understanding of whether similar technology can be effective in other locations around Arizona.

The system, costing about $6.5 million, is funded in part by a $54 million federal FASTLANE grant ADOT received for I-10 projects that widened stretches between Eloy and Picacho and between Earley Road and Interstate 8 in Casa Grande to three lanes in each direction. As part of those projects, costing $115 million in all, ADOT improved interchanges at State Route 87 near Eloy and Jimmie Kerr Boulevard in Casa Grande.

Technology can’t replace common sense when it comes to driving into a dust storm. Though drivers will have almost instantaneous warnings about hazardous conditions along these 10 miles, the safest course of action will remain putting off travel if a severe storm is imminent. If caught in a sudden dust storm in or beyond the pilot area, a motorist should pull far off the roadway, turn off lights and remove one’s foot from the brake.

For additional information on dust storms and safety, including what to do if caught in blowing dust, please visit PullAsideStayAlive.org.

PHOENIX – Interstate 10 is now three lanes in each direction all the way between Tucson and Casa Grande thanks to investments by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The last 4 miles widened to six lanes is part of a $72 million project nearing completion between Eloy and Picacho. That project also has straightened the I-10 alignment in this stretch and created a new interchange with State Route 87, while work is underway to add a first-of-its-kind dust detection and warning system along 10 miles between Eloy and Picacho Peak.

It complements a $43 million project that has widened 4 miles of I-10 between Earley Road and Interstate 8 in Casa Grande and replaced the I-10 bridges over Jimmie Kerr Boulevard to accommodate three lanes in each direction.

Final work on both of these I-10 projects is scheduled for completion later this year. Thanks to these and other ADOT investments in recent years, the 23 miles of I-10 between State Route 387 near Casa Grande and Queen Creek Road near Chandler is the only stretch between Phoenix and Tucson with two lanes in each direction.

For the remaining stretch with two lanes in each direction, ADOT is collaborating with the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Gila River Indian Community on an environmental study and a design concept report. Proposed improvements include adding a lane in each direction and improving existing interchanges. While funding for initial improvements is tentatively planned for fiscal year 2023, the study will determine when construction could begin and establish the time frame for improvements.

For more information on the I-10 environmental study, please visit i10wildhorsepasscorridor.com.