Interchange

Loop 303 interchanges project named finalist for national honors

Loop 303 interchanges project named finalist for national honors

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Loop 303 interchanges project named finalist for national honors

Loop 303 interchanges project named finalist for national honors

September 6, 2024

America’s Transportation Awards cites community development benefits

PHOENIX – An Arizona Department of Transportation project that constructed Loop 303 interchanges at 43rd and 51st avenues near Interstate 17 has been named a top 12 finalist in the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition.  

This designation makes the $70 million Loop 303 project eligible for two different honors: the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award. The competition is sponsored by AASHTO, an association representing highway and transportation departments nationwide, as well as AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Through Oct. 29, you can vote once daily for the People’s Choice Award by visiting americastransportationawards.org. The Grand Prize will be decided by an independent panel of transportation experts. Both awards will be presented at AASHTO’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.

ADOT partnered with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the regional transportation planning agency, and city of Phoenix to accelerate construction of the Loop 303 bridges and ramps to address current and future traffic growth near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in the north Valley. The interchanges were completed in September 2023, several years sooner than originally planned.

“With a large semiconductor manufacturing facility under construction, these two interchanges are connecting Arizonans and empowering our state’s economy,” ADOT Director Jennifer Toth said. “This collaboration with the Maricopa Association of Governments and city of Phoenix also supports continued development and growth of businesses and services, including health care and housing.”

Earlier this year, the project earned a West Region award in the America’s Transportation Awards “Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project” category among state departments of transportation.

Construction of new Loop 303 interchanges at 43rd and 51st avenues was funded through the dedicated Proposition 400 half-cent sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. The project is part of the Phoenix area’s Regional Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Investment Plan managed by MAG.

The new interchanges were designed to help manage future transportation needs in the area, support the Phoenix area’s growing semiconductor footprint and its supply chain, and allow for community development, including businesses and services. 

ADOT manages the construction and maintenance of nearly 7,000 miles of state highways, including Phoenix-area freeways. Project information is available at azdot.gov/projects

 

ADOT project adding two Loop 303 interchanges wins regional award

ADOT project adding two Loop 303 interchanges wins regional award

I-17 101 traffic interchange

ADOT project adding two Loop 303 interchanges wins regional award

ADOT project adding two Loop 303 interchanges wins regional award

July 15, 2024

America’s Transportation Awards cites community development benefits

PHOENIX – A recent Arizona Department of Transportation project that constructed Loop 303 interchanges at 43rd and 51st avenues near Interstate 17 is a winner in the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition that includes a focus on community development.

The $70 million Loop 303 project earned a West Region award in the “Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project” category in the national competition among state departments of transportation. The competition is sponsored by AASHTO, an association representing highway and transportation departments nationwide, as well as AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

ADOT partnered with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), the regional transportation planning agency, and city of Phoenix to accelerate construction of the Loop 303 bridges and ramps to address current and future traffic growth near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in the north Valley. The interchanges were completed in September 2023, several years sooner than originally planned.

“This project is an example of great teamwork and cooperation among partnering organizations,” said ADOT’s Central District Administrator Randy Everett. “It took a lot of hard work by staff at MAG, city of Phoenix, ADOT and the contractor, Fisher Sand and Gravel, to deliver this project on the accelerated schedule.”

The award was presented this week at the annual meeting of WASHTO, which represents departments of transportation in the West.

Construction of new Loop 303 interchanges at 43rd and 51st avenues was funded through the dedicated Proposition 400 half-cent sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. The project is part of the Phoenix area’s Regional Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Investment Plan managed by MAG.

The new interchanges were designed to help manage future transportation needs in the area, support the Phoenix area’s growing semiconductor footprint and its supply chain, and allow for community development, including businesses and services. 

ADOT manages the construction and maintenance of nearly 7,000 miles of state highways, including Phoenix-area freeways. Project information is available at azdot.gov/projects

 

Contract awarded for I-40/US 93 interchange project in Kingman

Contract awarded for I-40/US 93 interchange project in Kingman

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Contract awarded for I-40/US 93 interchange project in Kingman

Contract awarded for I-40/US 93 interchange project in Kingman

March 15, 2024

Construction starts this summer on free-flowing connection

KINGMAN – The State Transportation Board has awarded a $106 million construction project to build a free-flowing traffic interchange for Interstate 40 and US 93 in Kingman.

With the contract awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co. during the board’s meeting on Friday, March 15, construction is expected to begin this summer and take two and a half years.

The interchange in west Kingman is designed to reduce congestion on the highly traveled route between Phoenix and Las Vegas while improving safety, travel times and reliability. While vehicles now must stop at a traffic signal where Beale Street intersects with I-40, the system-to-system interchange will feature ramps that allow traffic to flow freely.

The interchange is designed to handle projected traffic growth for the next 25 years. 

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

Jan. 23 virtual meeting set for I-10/Jackrabbit Trail improvements

Jan. 23 virtual meeting set for I-10/Jackrabbit Trail improvements

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Jan. 23 virtual meeting set for I-10/Jackrabbit Trail improvements

Jan. 23 virtual meeting set for I-10/Jackrabbit Trail improvements

January 10, 2024

ADOT seeks public input about planned interchange reconstruction

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will hold a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23, to provide information, gather comments and answer questions about designs to improve the Interstate 10 interchange at Jackrabbit Trail in the Buckeye area.

ADOT’s virtual meeting is scheduled as follows:

  • 6 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 23 
  • Participants can register online at azdot.gov/JackrabbitMtg
  • You also can use the call in number: 669.444.9171 Participant ID: 264911
  • English Webinar ID: 951 5167 6868  Spanish Webinar ID: 948 3052 6118

Planned improvements include:

  • Reconstructing the I-10/Jackrabbit Trail interchange and adding traffic signals.
  • Widening on- and off-ramps and providing additional turn lanes.
  • Widening Jackrabbit Trail to three lanes in each direction between McDowell Road and Van Buren Street.

The project to improve traffic flow and safety at the Jackrabbit Trail interchange is not currently funded for construction. This project is included in the Regional Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Investment Plan.

The virtual meeting will include a presentation by ADOT’s project team and an opportunity for questions and comments from participants. Following the meeting the presentation will be available on the project’s study website at azdot.gov/I10Jackrabbit.

Public comments about the draft recommended improvements at I-10 and Jackrabbit Trail can be submitted through Feb. 7 in the following ways: An online survey at azdot.gov/i10JackrabbitComments; by phone at 623.695.7411; by mail at ADOT Community Relations, 1655 West Jackson St., MD 126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007 and by email at [email protected].

 

I-10 Diverging Diamond Interchange open at Watson Road in Buckeye

I-10 Diverging Diamond Interchange open at Watson Road in Buckeye

I-17 101 traffic interchange

I-10 Diverging Diamond Interchange open at Watson Road in Buckeye

I-10 Diverging Diamond Interchange open at Watson Road in Buckeye

April 27, 2023

ADOT opens second such interchange built during I-10 widening

PHOENIX – Drivers in the West Valley can now use the second I-10 Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) to be constructed as part of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s ongoing freeway widening project in the Buckeye area.

Crews reopened the I-10 interchange at Watson Road today (Thursday, April 27). The interchange has been reconstructed using the diverging diamond design, which has grown in popularity across the country for safety and traffic flow benefits.

Diverging diamonds allow the two directions of cross-street traffic traveling over or under a freeway to shift to the opposite side of the roadway. The crossing is designed to improve the overall movement of traffic and enhance safety by limiting potential traffic conflict points and allowing direct left turns onto a freeway entrance ramp. Drivers avoid waiting at a traffic signal and don’t cross in front of opposing traffic when making those left turns.

ADOT continues work to widen 8 miles of I-10 from two to three lanes in each direction between Verrado Way and State Route 85. The entire $82 million I-10 improvement project, which was launched in July 2021, is on schedule for completion this summer (2023).

The I-10/Watson Road interchange is the fourth full diverging diamond to be added along the state’s highway system. The nearby DDI at Miller Road opened in Aug. 2022 as part of the I-10 widening project. DDIs also have been constructed at I-17 and Happy Valley Road in north Phoenix and along I-10 at Houghton Road in the Tucson area. Two smaller diverging diamonds also are in use along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway in Phoenix.

ADOT works in partnership with the Maricopa Association of Governments on the planning and construction of new freeways, additional lanes and other improvements in the Phoenix area as part of the Regional Transportation Plan for the Maricopa County region. Projects are funded in part by Proposition 400, a dedicated sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004.

In Tucson, a wider Houghton Road bridge starts coming into view

In Tucson, a wider Houghton Road bridge starts coming into view

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In Tucson, a wider Houghton Road bridge starts coming into view

In Tucson, a wider Houghton Road bridge starts coming into view

By Garin Groff / ADOT Communications
January 25, 2021

We’ve been sharing plans for a new and much wider Houghton Road bridge at Interstate 10 in Tucson for some time now, but we know it may have been hard to picture exactly what we’ve been talking about.

No more. Take a look at this aerial shot and you can see the new bridge is wide - even wider than the interstate below.

This photo from early January shows only the girders of the new bridge, as it doesn’t have the concrete deck on top of it yet. Once the deck is completed later this year, it will accommodate six lanes of traffic rather than the two lanes on the existing structure. It’s all part of a $24.4 million interchange replacement project to improve safety and traffic flow in this rapidly growing area southeast of downtown Tucson.

You probably also spotted that the photo shows sections of concrete that will form the new ramps. They’re being built in stages, so drivers should expect periodic changes as traffic is gradually shifted onto larger sections of the new ramps through the rest of 2021. Through the rest of the project, occasional nighttime closures are possible on the ramps as well as on Houghton Road.

However, drivers should expect periodic overnight lane restrictions on I-10, including this week. Each weeknight, crews will reroute one direction of I-10 up and over the entrance and exit ramps. The other direction of I-10 will be reduced to a single lane. Houghton Road will remain open, but expect delays of up to 15 minutes. The work is scheduled from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. as crews work on bridge piers and abutments.

Drivers can expect to take advantage of the new bridge and ramps by the end of 2021. 

And a reminder: The Houghton Road interchange will be the first diverging diamond interchange in southern Arizona. To learn more about that kind of interchange or the project as a whole, please visit azdot.gov/i10Houghton.

Gilbert holds groundbreaking for L-202 Lindsay Road interchange

Gilbert holds groundbreaking for L-202 Lindsay Road interchange

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Gilbert holds groundbreaking for L-202 Lindsay Road interchange

Gilbert holds groundbreaking for L-202 Lindsay Road interchange

By Doug Nintzel / ADOT Communications
January 8, 2021

As a new year begins, so will a new freeway project in the southeast Valley. Work on the addition of a new Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange at Lindsay Road, east of Gilbert Road, will start this month.

To mark the start of construction, the town of Gilbert hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in the area near where new on- and off-ramps will be added along the Santan Freeway at Lindsay Road. Gilbert’s event team should be applauded for arranging and carrying out a socially distanced ceremony with precautions taken during the current health situation.

Officials from Gilbert, including Mayor Scott Anderson, spoke about the work of various agencies over time to make the project a reality as well as the benefits that a new interchange will provide for local drivers and the town’s economic development opportunities.

ADOT’s State Engineer Dallas Hammit also took part in the groundbreaking and focused his remarks on how this project is an example of partnering and cooperation between local, regional, state and federal agencies.

Over approximately the next year, ADOT will now manage a $21.7 million project to add the Lindsay Road interchange. Completion is anticipated in early 2022. Other improvements include the widening of the westbound Loop 202 off-ramp at Gilbert Road and eastbound off-ramp at Val Vista Drive and construction of a new westbound frontage road between Lindsay and Gilbert roads.

Gilbert will complete local street improvements in the area. Both ADOT and Gilbert will provide project updates, including traffic restriction reports, as the construction moves forward. Minimal restrictions are expected along Loop 202 during the course of the project since much of the work will take place away from the freeway’s lanes. We urge drivers to use caution and to always watch for workers and equipment in freeway or local street work zones.

I-10/Houghton interchange work moving quickly to reopen ramps

I-10/Houghton interchange work moving quickly to reopen ramps

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I-10/Houghton interchange work moving quickly to reopen ramps

I-10/Houghton interchange work moving quickly to reopen ramps

By Garin Groff / ADOT Communications
October 27, 2020

One of ADOT’s major priorities while rebuilding the I-10/Houghton Road interchange is to minimize disruptions and closures, which means we’ve got to move really fast when we close a roadway.

If you’ve driven through that interchange in the last couple months, you’ve seen that our crews have moved so quickly that they’ve transformed the landscape on half of the interchange in less than two months. This photo from the project team shows the work so far, including constructing bridge piers for a new overpass on the west side of the interchange, regrading everything on the east side of interchange and building up the earth for new ramps.

That’s a lot of progress for a project that kicked off Aug. 24.

We closed two of the interchange’s ramps in late August, with a goal of rebuilding and reopening them before Thanksgiving. Those ramps – the westbound exit ramp and eastbound on-ramp – are already taking shape and should be paved by early November.

We’ll rebuild the ramps on the west side of the interchange as well, but they will remain open through the project except for an occasional nighttime restriction or closure. Likewise, only occasional overnight restrictions and closures will be needed on Houghton Road. And, I-10 will remain open, though drivers should expect overnight lane restrictions at times.

The new $24.4 million interchange east of downtown Tucson is expected to be complete in late 2021. It will feature southern Arizona’s first diverging diamond interchange – a type of interchange where drivers cross and travel on the left side of the overpass while crossing the interstate.

You can read more about the I-10/Houghton Road project and diverging diamonds here. And if you’ve driven through north Phoenix recently, you may have noticed ADOT opened Arizona’s first major diverging diamond interchange earlier this month at I-17 and Happy Valley Road. The Phoenix interchange won’t be fully complete until late this fall, but the major elements are in place if you’re looking to get a feel for what’s coming to I-10 and Houghton Road in southern Arizona next year.

Adelante Nogales via SR 189

Adelante Nogales via SR 189

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Adelante Nogales via SR 189

Adelante Nogales via SR 189

By Gaby Gonzalez Kemp / ADOT Communications
September 23, 2020

Gaby Gonzalez Kemp, Nogales High School homecoming 1998

I don’t get the opportunity to visit Nogales as often as I’d like, but the rolling green hills of Santa Cruz County seem to welcome me back with open arms as I exit Interstate 19 on that unique left exit to this quaint, little town I call home.  It is such a special place. 

I don’t think local residents really recognize how special our hometown is until they depart and live elsewhere. But, at the end of the day, or at the end of I-19, there’s no place like home. And, these days, our home is getting a remodel. 

The “remodel” encompasses improving State Route 189 (Mariposa Road) from the international border with Mexico to Grand Avenue. The purpose of the project is to improve traffic flow and safety. 

Nogales is changing and these roadway improvements are going to pave the way for more good things to come, not only for Nogales, but for the state and the nation. In the age of Key Commerce Corridors, Nogales plays a HUGE role in the vitality and fruitfulness of North America! 

To that end, the future is looking like two new “flyover” ramps extending from east to north on Mariposa Road and south to west from I-19, to help hundreds of commercial trucks get to and from the Mariposa Port of Entry on SR 189. 

As a proud Nogales High School graduate (shout out to the Class of 1998!), who was once a teen driver navigating Frank Reed Road and Grand Avenue, I can attest to the fact that it is a good idea to separate teens and other local drivers, like my parents and my tias, from commercial truck traffic. I am relieved to see these improvements do just that at this critical intersection. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation project is going to change the face of Nogales in a good way. Finally, we will have the infrastructure to support all the potential that Nogales has and newcomers will be able to see it as they arrive in our homey little town. Whether it’s a visiting football team from Tucson or delegations from Washington, D.C., these eye-catching engineering improvements are important for both the people who live and work in Nogales as well as others across the nation. More than ever, we are all connected. Investing at our border in Nogales means success for the nation. Bravo Nogales, the unsung hero!

So, will there be some headaches? Claro, que sí, es normal. It is normal to have some growing pains. Will we do everything we possibly can to inform the community so you can plan ahead and work together to try to resolve issues? Claro que si! After serving Arizona residents across the state for nearly 10 years, I can tell you that ADOT is committed to strengthening our communities through developing collaborative solutions. 

Is everyone always going to be happy while construction is underway? Pues, no. But, I promise we will do our best to minimize impacts and keep everyone up to date. This project is near and dear to my heart because I want to see Nogales be poised to win. Do we need everyone to do their part and be patient, flexible and vigilant during construction? Claro que si! This is a team effort, and you also have an important role to play.

What can you do? Informate. Inform yourself. Visit the project website, call us, text us (but, please don’t text us while driving). Cuidado. This is a great new adventure; let’s work together to continue to more forward, or para seguir adelante mi querido Nogales! Y si se les ofrece algo, aqui estamos para servirles (if you need something we are here to help!).

Gracias.

Bridge girders a big sign of progress at I-10 and Ruthrauff

Bridge girders a big sign of progress at I-10 and Ruthrauff

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Bridge girders a big sign of progress at I-10 and Ruthrauff

Bridge girders a big sign of progress at I-10 and Ruthrauff

By Garin Groff / ADOT Communications
September 16, 2020

Nine months into a project to rebuild the Interstate 10 interchange at Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro, drivers have something to look up to.

It’s not just one thing to look up to, but 15 massive new bridge girders that have been set in place to create half of the Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro structure that will eventually span the interstate in Tucson.

The bridge girders over the new eastbound lanes of I-10 are the most high-profile sign of progress to date on the $129 million project that began in January. They’re visible from quite a distance to drivers on I-10, and for good reason – they’re massive. The girders stretch 138 feet and stand 6 feet tall. Each one weighs in at 158,000 pounds.

The girders are just one part of constructing the bridge, as crews will spend the next couple months building the bridge deck that will eventually carry traffic.

Aside from the bridge girders, crews have rebuilt about one mile of eastbound I-10 with a new concrete surface. Also, retaining walls for the new eastbound frontage road are going in. 

You can expect to see more bridge girders going into place this October, when the structure over the Union Pacfic Railroad to the east of I-10 will start to take shape.

As for the remaining bridge section over westbound I-10, crews will begin that segment in early 2021. By January, we expect to shift both eastbound and westbound traffic onto the new eastbound I-10 lanes. That will allow crews to construct the westbound portion of the bridge while also reconstructing the westbound I-10 lanes.

Once the interchange is complete by late 2021, drivers can cross over the railroad tracks without having to stop for the train.

Don’t forget: ADOT is maintaining access to local businesses through the entire project. For updates and traffic alerts, please visit azdot.gov/RuthrauffTI.