Interstate 40

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.

I-40 lane restrictions west of Ash Fork for pavement repairs

I-40 lane restrictions west of Ash Fork for pavement repairs

I-17 101 traffic interchange

I-40 lane restrictions west of Ash Fork for pavement repairs

I-40 lane restrictions west of Ash Fork for pavement repairs

August 2, 2023

Work starts Aug. 3 and continues Monday-Thursday through Aug. 17

PHOENIX – Both directions of Interstate 40 will be reduced to one lane between Seligman and Ash Fork during daylight hours Monday to Thursday starting Thursday, Aug. 3, and ending Thursday, Aug. 17, as an Arizona Department of Transportation project removes and replaces surface pavement. 

The lane restrictions, a 55 mph speed limit and a width restriction of 14.5 feet will be in place from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday between mileposts 123 and 146. 

ADOT has committed $90.5 million to pavement repair projects, most of them in northern Arizona, after the record-setting winter. Governor Hobbs and the state Legislature also have allocated $54 million for additional pavement improvement projects in rural Arizona. A website at azdot.gov/PavingRepairs details these Statewide Critical Pavement Repair Projects.

Meanwhile, another ADOT project will reduce westbound I-40 to one lane from milepost 108 to milepost 86, between Seligman and US 93, from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Tuesday, Aug. 8, and ending Thursday, Aug. 11. Crews will be applying a sealant to extend the life of the pavement. The speed limit will be reduced to 55 mph in the work zone and there will be a width restriction of 14 feet. 

Motorists should slow down in work zones and give workers plenty of space.

Paving project beginning on I-40 between Holbrook and Joseph City

Paving project beginning on I-40 between Holbrook and Joseph City

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Paving project beginning on I-40 between Holbrook and Joseph City

Paving project beginning on I-40 between Holbrook and Joseph City

April 21, 2023

Drivers should plan for extra travel time

HOLBROOK – The Arizona Department of Transportation will continue two improvement projects on Interstate 40 from Joseph City through Holbrook (mileposts 278-290) starting Monday, April 24.

Crews will be working on the bridge decks at the Tanner Wash Bridge and the Geronimo Road overpass, as part of a pavement improvement project along I-40 from Joseph City to Perkins Valley Road. 

For more information, visit the project webpage.

Additionally, crews will be striping the highway and installing traffic counters from Perkins Valley Road through Holbrook. For more information, please visit the project webpage.

Both projects are expected to be completed by early May.

Restrictions will be lifted each day after hours and on weekends. At least one lane of traffic will be open in each direction during paving operations. 

Drivers should allow extra travel time and be prepared to slow down, stay alert and merge safely when approaching and traveling through the work zones. 

ADOT statewide electric vehicle charger plan gets approval

ADOT statewide electric vehicle charger plan gets approval

I-17 101 traffic interchange

ADOT statewide electric vehicle charger plan gets approval

ADOT statewide electric vehicle charger plan gets approval

September 15, 2022

Arizona is one of the first states in the nation to have its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan given the stamp of approval from the Federal Highway Administration. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation submitted its draft proposal in August and with the federal approval this week, $11.3 million will be made available immediately with another $16.3 million coming in October of this year to begin implementing the plan. This is a portion of the overall $76.5 million allocated for this program in Arizona over the next five years through the recently enacted federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) /planning/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act

The next step for ADOT is to solicit and award the contracts to upgrade existing stations as well as develop new locations along designated alternative fuel corridors. Advertising for bids to upgrade existing stations will begin in spring of 2023 followed by bid solicitations in autumn 2023 for new construction. The plan calls for stations to be no more than 50 miles apart wherever possible. 

In many cases, stations will be located where there is already infrastructure in place, such as truck stops, roadside lodging, restaurants and shopping centers, among other possibilities. 

Currently, the alternative fuel corridors are identified as all six of the federal Interstate Highways throughout the state. These are Interstates 8, 10, 15, 17, 19, and 40 which account for more than 20 percent of all the vehicle miles traveled in Arizona. Other non-interstate corridors will be determined and included in the plan in future years. The plan will next be updated in August of 2023. 

Among the specific goals of the plan are reducing electric vehicle drivers’ “range anxiety” by closing gaps in the charging network along the designated corridors and ensuring the network is resilient, equitable, accessible and reliable. Also the plan aims to identify new charging locations as part of an ongoing public outreach process and will use data to evaluate the system and make improvements. 

A copy of the plan, more information, and contact information to leave feedback are available here: /planning/transportation-studies/arizona-electric-vehicle-program

ADOT continues to invest in Interstate 40

ADOT continues to invest in Interstate 40

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ADOT continues to invest in Interstate 40

ADOT continues to invest in Interstate 40

By Ryan Harding / ADOT Communications
May 26, 2022

We understand that sometimes the going on Interstate 40 can get rough. But, setting aside the rest of that old adage, ADOT continues to invest in the 360-mile northern Arizona corridor.

Last week, maintenance crews began smoothing out some of those rough patches along a 6-mile stretch of I-40 in Kingman. They are milling down patches of rough pavement between Andy Devine Avenue and milepost 46, west of the city limits. This will help create a smoother, safer ride for drivers in Kingman.

Other work currently being done along I-40 includes replacing pavement along a 10-mile stretch between I-17 and Walnut Canyon Road in east Flagstaff. There are also 10 bridges along I-40 that are being worked on. 

All of this work adds to the more than 90 miles of pavement work and 47 bridges that have been repaired, upgraded or replaced along I-40 since 2016.

"OK," you say, "that’s great. But, there are needed improvements in the Mohave County region. Are there plans for that portion of I-40?"

You’re absolutely right. ADOT has been doing a lot of needed bridge and pavement work in the Flagstaff area due to damage from years of snow and ice and heavy use. There are plans for pavement rehabilitation projects ranging from 10 to 15-mile stretches of I-40 in a few areas around Kingman and west of Ash Fork. There are plans for bridge improvements in the Mohave County region as well. These projects can be found in our current Five-Year Construction Program.

And, of course, the big project of the West Kingman traffic interchange improving traffic flow between US 93 and I-40 is coming in 2024.

While these projects do depend upon available funding to get done, we remain steadfast in our efforts to improve I-40. Our track record of committing $297 million to various improvements along the I-40 corridor since 2016 demonstrates that.

 

Motorists planning travel in and around Flagstaff should plan for I-40 restrictions

Motorists planning travel in and around Flagstaff should plan for I-40 restrictions

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Motorists planning travel in and around Flagstaff should plan for I-40 restrictions

Motorists planning travel in and around Flagstaff should plan for I-40 restrictions

July 21, 2021

Drivers in northern Arizona should prepare for traffic shifts and lane restrictions on Interstate 40 at Exit 191 in west Flagstaff as crews continue project work to replace a bridge, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. 

This location is approximately three miles west of the I-40 interchange with Interstate 17. 

Eastbound I-40 will be reduced to one lane and traffic shifted to the north side of the roadway beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, July 23. A similar shift will occur on Friday, July 29 for the westbound lanes. In addition, there will be a 15-foot vehicle width limit in place and the speed limit will be reduced to 55 mph. These restrictions will be in place through mid-fall this year. 

Ongoing restrictions at this location include the closure of the on- and off-ramps as well as the crossroad under the bridge. 

The project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2022. 

Throwback Thursday: A snow-saturated Flagstaff

Throwback Thursday: A snow-saturated Flagstaff

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Throwback Thursday: A snow-saturated Flagstaff

Throwback Thursday: A snow-saturated Flagstaff

By John LaBarbera / ADOT Communications
July 15, 2021

Today, in the midst of triple-digit temperatures throughout the state, we throwback to a frosty winter’s scene in 1967 Flagstaff, showing what is today Interstate 17 meeting Interstate 40. 

Of course, at the time, the road that would become I-17 was still known as State Route 79. It officially upgraded to interstate status in 1971. And I-40 would not be formally christened in Flagstaff until 1968, a year after this photo was snapped. The entire stretch across the state would be completed in 1984.

Immediately, our eyes are drawn to the snow-capped San Francisco Peaks, rising majestically over the City of Seven Wonders to a maximal apex of more than 12,600 feet.

And just below the peak, on the right side of the frame, we see the streets of downtown Flagstaff to the north, and an evergreen-shrouded Northern Arizona University immediately to its south. Not pictured: The Walkup Skydome, which wouldn’t break ground for another eight years, opening in 1977.

Nestled in the hills just west of downtown, is Lowell Observatory. At the time this photo was captured, Lowell was playing an integral role in the Apollo moon landing mission. The once-but-sadly-no-longer-a-planet Pluto was discovered there in 1930. Lowell Observatory sits atop Mars Hill… perhaps a glimpse into future discoveries.

Today, there are fewer trees and more shopping centers in the area immediately surrounding Milton Road, the street I-17 becomes after crossing I-40. But there are still plenty of ponderosa pines that peek down on visitors.

Currently, we have two ongoing I-40 projects in the Flagstaff area, and even more the further away we go. Meanwhile, I-17 has a slew of projects on deck in our Tentative Five-Year Construction Program.

So, while it continues to heat up in the Copper State this summer, we can lose ourselves in this refreshing glimpse of a time much cooler.

Two Guns bridge connects outlaw past to new engineering

Two Guns bridge connects outlaw past to new engineering

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Two Guns bridge connects outlaw past to new engineering

Two Guns bridge connects outlaw past to new engineering

By Laurie Merrill / ADOT Communications
March 5, 2021

If ever a name conjured up stories of former times and dastardly deeds, it’s Two Guns, an abandoned town on Interstate 40 with more tales of the Wild West than a saguaro cactus has needles.

Today, Two Guns is one of two locations along Interstate 40 east of Flagstaff where the Arizona Department of Transportation has launched a bridge rehabilitation project. Between there and just down the highway at Meteor Crater Road, the ambitious project will remove and replace both bridge decks. Other modernizations will include roadway embankment improvements, new guardrails, new barriers, and other tweaks to bring the bridges up to modern standards. 

As good as these improvements will be, these emblems of engineering also serve as a bridge (pun intended) to mustier, sepia-toned times, times not only of colorful cowboys but also of earlier bridge projects that were, for their time, monuments to modernity.

That Two Guns has a thorny past is as much of an understatement as the phrase “dry heat.”

It starts with the so-called "Apache Death Cave" where it is said 42 Apache were massacred in 1878. The rival Navajo had gotten wind the Apache were using a cave to travel undetected and set up an ambush. You can still visit the Apache Death Cave today by using the Two Guns exit on I-40.

Another story goes that from 1879-80, Billy the Kid and other outlaws used the ruins of a stone house in Canyon Diablo, a chasm near Two Guns, as their hideout. 

In 1882, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad succeeded in building a trestle bridge over the 225-foot-deep, 550-foot-wide Canyon Diablo. Considered a stunning achievement, the span – described as a “bridge of spindly steel legs” in our 2012 Arizona Transportation History  – was the first east-west crossing in northern Arizona and of vital economic importance to trade and the transfer of supplies. It wasn’t replaced by another railroad bridge until 1946.

Another Canyon Diablo Bridge, this time built to handle the new-fangled automobile, opened to traffic in 1915. For a short time, this would even carry the Mother Road itself, US 66, until it was replaced by a more modern bridge built farther north on I-40 near, yep, you guessed it, Two Guns. You can still visit the original span today, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Finally, as we told you about in another blog last year, perhaps the wildest denizen of Two Guns is the one who gave the community its name: entrepreneur, attraction operator, liar and murderer Henry "Chief Crazy Thunder" Miller. 

From the relics of the Wild West outlaw days to modern I-40 and the current bridge getting a state-of-the-art makeover, a stop at Two Guns as you travel east from Flagstaff will definitely help bridge the past and the present.