Loop 202

Wayback Wednesday: Mystery men of 1990s era ADOT

Wayback Wednesday: Mystery men of 1990s era ADOT

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Wayback Wednesday: Mystery men of 1990s era ADOT

Wayback Wednesday: Mystery men of 1990s era ADOT

By David Woodfill / ADOT Communications
December 21, 2022

Here's an old photo we found showing what we believe are workers at the construction site of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway, then known as the East Papago Freeway.

If we're correct, that would date this photo to the mid-'90s. The concrete cylinders in the background are drainage culverts that presumably will be placed into the ditch that the workers are standing over.

It's difficult to ascertain what these mystery men of ADOT were doing in the photo, but we have a few guesses:

  • The guy in the front just stepped in "something" and the others are coming to help him scrape it off his shoe.
  • They are taking turns re-enacting Neil Armstrong's first steps onto the lunar surface.
  • They all showed up late to their shift and their supervisor is making them walk the plank.

Whatever the situation, it's an interesting slice of Arizona history. Nowadays, the Valley is ringed with an extensive highway system that loops the Valley -- Loops 101, 202 and 303. The most recent addition was the South Mountain portion of the Loop 202, which was completed ahead of schedule in December 2019.

There's no telling where these gentlemen are today, but it would be interesting to hear their thoughts on how far our highway system has evolved over the decades.

Thank you for your service, mystery men of ADOT.

Smoother ride for Loop 202 drivers in Chandler area

Smoother ride for Loop 202 drivers in Chandler area

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Smoother ride for Loop 202 drivers in Chandler area

Smoother ride for Loop 202 drivers in Chandler area

March 25, 2020

PHOENIX – Two sections of pavement along Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) are much smoother to drive on following an Arizona Department of Transportation improvement project.

Crews worked in recent weeks to remove the worn top layer of rubberized asphalt along most of the eastbound Loop 202 lanes between Interstate 10 and Loop 101 (Price Freeway). Specialized machines, which include rotating diamond-tipped blades, smoothed the remaining concrete base pavement in a process known as diamond grinding.

The pavement improvements also were done along eastbound on- and off-ramps at the Kyrene Road and McClintock Drive interchanges. The contractor used as many as three diamond grinding machines to save time as the work progressed on weekends and weeknights since late February.

Diamond grinding also was done along the westbound Loop 202’s right lanes and exit ramp approaching Kyrene Road. Those lanes and ramp also had especially worn rubberized asphalt that had been in place for more than 15 years.

Separate work is scheduled Saturday, April 4, along the eastbound Santan Freeway. Eastbound Loop 202 will be narrowed to two left lanes between I-10 and McClintock Drive from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 4 for crack sealing. Both of the primary I-10 ramps to eastbound Loop 202 will be closed while the eastbound I-10 HOV lane ramp to eastbound Loop 202 will remain open to traffic. The eastbound Loop 202 off- and on-ramps at Kyrene Road and off-ramp at McClintock Drive will be closed. Drivers can consider using eastbound US 60 (Superstition Freeway) or Chandler Boulevard as alternate routes.

ADOT will make additional pavement improvements along Loop 202 east of I-10 in April. As has been done on a number of other Valley freeways in recent years, an asphalt seal will be placed on the remaining rubberized asphalt in that area to extend the life of that existing pavement. The fog seal work is scheduled on Sunday, April 5, and will require a closure of westbound Loop 202 between Loop 101 and I-10.

Crews set final bridge girder for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway

Crews set final bridge girder for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Crews set final bridge girder for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway

Crews set final bridge girder for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway

July 2, 2019

PHOENIX – After construction on 40 bridges over more than two years, workers have placed the final girder for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona Department of Transportation’s single largest-ever freeway construction project.

Crews with Connect 202 Partners, the freeway developer, lowered the 91-foot, 77,000-pound girder into place recently at the interchange under construction at Desert Foothills Parkway in Ahwatukee. This work will be followed by pouring the concrete deck for the overpass later this month.

More than 1,000 girders, all of them manufactured locally, have been installed for the 22-mile freeway, which will connect with Interstate 10 at the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in Chandler and 59th Avenue in west Phoenix.

Along with the South Mountain Freeway interchange under construction at 17th Avenue, Desert Foothills Parkway will have a first diverging diamond configuration, in which local street traffic makes a temporary shift to the left side while crossing the freeway, allowing for direct left turns onto entrance ramps. In addition to enhancing safety, a diverging diamond interchange is designed to move traffic efficiently because there is no need for left-turn arrows.

Both interchanges will be partial diverging diamonds because neither Desert Foothills Parkway nor 17th Avenue continues to the south. A typical diverging diamond interchange accommodates local traffic approaching from both directions.

A full diverging diamond interchange is scheduled to open in summer 2020 at the Happy Valley Road and Interstate 17, and one is planned for Houghton Road at I-10 in the Tucson area.

The South Mountain Freeway is expected to open to traffic before the end of 2019, with work continuing into 2020. The largest freeway construction project in Arizona history, the South Mountain Freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to I-10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.

For information on the project, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

ADOT testing concrete pavement treatment along Loop 202

ADOT testing concrete pavement treatment along Loop 202

I-17 101 traffic interchange

ADOT testing concrete pavement treatment along Loop 202

ADOT testing concrete pavement treatment along Loop 202

June 19, 2019

PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation engineers are exploring another option for smoothing out the ride along Phoenix-area freeways where the asphalt pavement showed its age and was wearing down, especially after last winter’s heavier wet weather.

It’s called diamond grinding – where a specialized grinding machine uses diamond-tipped saw blades to both smooth and add small grooves in a freeway’s concrete-base pavement. Concrete industry contractors developed diamond grinding to improve ride quality, limit noise and provide increased surface friction to enhance stopping on the pavement.

The Arizona Department of Transportation will evaluate a section of eastbound Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) in Chandler where diamond grinding was done as part of a recent pavement repair and preservation project.

The diamond grind test section is along the eastbound Loop 202’s right two lanes near Dobson Road. Crews last month removed a 1-inch layer of rubberized asphalt that was worn out by time, traffic and Mother Nature.

“This is another tool in our pavement-improvement tool box,” said Randy Everett, senior administrator of ADOT’s Central Construction and Maintenance District serving the Phoenix area. “This is an opportunity to explore options and see how the diamond grind performs in an area where the rubberized asphalt finally wore down well after its expected lifespan of 10 years.”

loop202diamondgrindingnearloop101interchangeeb202neardobsonadotphotomay2019
The eastbound Loop 202 on-ramp at Alma School Road also was treated with the diamond grind process in May.  

Much of the Santan Freeway’s rubberized asphalt surface between the US 60 interchange in Mesa and Loop 101 in Chandler also was given an asphalt-based sealant treatment recently. That fog seal treatment, which has been used on several other Valley freeways, is designed to extend the life of the existing asphalt pavement.

ADOT maintenance crews used weekend closures along the Santan Freeway last month to fix potholes or make repairs to other sections of worn pavement.

Weekend closures of parts of Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) set for May

Weekend closures of parts of Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) set for May

I-17 101 traffic interchange

Weekend closures of parts of Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) set for May

Weekend closures of parts of Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) set for May

April 24, 2019

PHOENIX – Sections of Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) in the southeast Valley are scheduled to be closed on two weekends in May for pavement improvements.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has set the following closures to allow crews to apply an asphalt-based treatment to extend the life of the existing pavement and also repair areas of worn pavement:

  • Loop 202 closed in both directions between US 60 (Superstition Freeway) in Mesa and Williams Field Road in Gilbert from 10 p.m. Friday (May 3) to 3 a.m. Monday (May 6) for pavement improvements. Both US 60 ramps to southbound Loop 202 closed. Please plan ahead and be prepared to use alternate routes, including US 60 and Loop 101 to reach Loop 202 in the Chandler area.
  • Loop 202 closed in both directions between Loop 101 (Price Freeway) in Chandler and Williams Field Road in Gilbert from 10 p.m. Friday (May 10) to 3 a.m. Monday (May 13) for pavement improvements. Southbound Loop 101 ramp to eastbound Loop 202 in Chandler closed. Please plan ahead and be prepared to use alternate routes, including US 60 (Superstition Freeway).

Following a wet winter, ADOT crews have been working since February to make repairs, often during overnight hours, to areas of freeway pavement damaged by a combination of moisture and heavy traffic.

The fog seal treatment along the Santan Freeway in the southeast Valley will involve tanker trucks spraying an asphalt-based emulsion on the pavement. Crews will be prepared to reopen the freeway in segments after the emulsion has time to dry and other pavement repairs are completed. The treatment helps offset the effects of aging and drying in older pavement, including rubberized asphalt, extending its life cycle.

Fog seals have been applied with positive results in recent years along sections of other Valley freeways, including I-10, Loop 101 and Loop 303 in the West Valley and State Route 51 in Phoenix.

For South Mountain Freeway, 2018 has been a year of great progress

For South Mountain Freeway, 2018 has been a year of great progress

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For South Mountain Freeway, 2018 has been a year of great progress

For South Mountain Freeway, 2018 has been a year of great progress

December 27, 2018

By Dustin Krugel / ADOT Communications

2018 has been an important year with the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway in its second full year of construction. With the freeway nearly two-thirds completed, signs of progress abound in the 22-mile corridor. Asphalt pavement is being installed, concrete medians and artistic sound walls are being built and overhead message boards are above the future travel lanes.

To date, crews have installed 20 miles of drainage pipe, laid 107,000 tons of asphalt pavement, moved 9.9 million cubic yards of dirt and used 10,800 tons of rebar manufactured from recycled steel.

Some of the highlights:

Pecos segment (32nd Lane to I-10 Maricopa/Loop 202 Santan Freeway)

  • Crews have installed a new 48-inch waterline along a 1.3-mile stretch of Liberty Lane between Desert Foothills Parkway and 20th Street.
  • Mainline paving started between 17th Avenue and Desert Foothills Parkway and west of 40th Street to the I-10/Loop 202 interchange in Chandler.
  • Overpasses at 40th Street, 24th Street and 17th Avenue are nearly complete.
  • After months of environmental study and public input, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration decided to add a freeway interchange at 32nd Street that will be constructed after the freeway opens to traffic.
  • Construction is underway on the 32nd Street interchange, including setting 15 steel-reinforced concrete girders (shown in the photo above).

Salt River segment (Lower Buckeye Road to 51st Avenue)

  • In September, crews set the 292nd and final girder needed on the two half-mile Salt River bridges, the longest of the project.
  • The Elliot Road bridge (shown above) opened to traffic in April, the first bridge completed for the South Mountain Freeway.
  • Estrella Drive reopened to traffic in late October after crews completed construction on an interchange that includes two roundabouts.
  • Crews laid the first “blacktop” lane mile of pavement from Estrella Drive to Olney Avenue in Laveen.

I-10 segment (I-10 Papago to Lower Buckeye Road and improvements to I-10 between 43rd and 75th avenues)

  • Crews completed a 1,500-foot flyover ramp over I-10 that will carry northbound South Mountain Freeway traffic to westbound I-10.
  • Motorists began using new I-10 access roads built in both directions between 51st and 67th avenues to improve traffic flow and maintain access to 59th Avenue.
  • In October, I-10 travel lanes shifted to the outside, or right side, of the freeway to allow the next phase of work on the South Mountain Freeway interchange to begin along the I-10 center median.

Center segment (51st Avenue to 32nd Lane)

  • Pre-construction work started, including plant salvage and geotechnical investigations.
  • Crews began work on bridge foundations by drilling shafts deep into the ground.
  • In April, controlled rock blasting started along two ridges at the southwestern edge of the South Mountain Park to break large rock into smaller, more manageable pieces for removal.
  • After months of environmental study and public input, ADOT and the Federal Highway Administration decided to add a freeway interchange at Ivanhoe Street that will be completed after the freeway is opened.

You can see more photos of progress at the project's Flickr page.

The South Mountain Freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to I-10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.

For more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com

 

Transportation Defined: Bid-Well

Transportation Defined: Bid-Well

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Transportation Defined: Bid-Well

Transportation Defined: Bid-Well

December 12, 2018

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

During recent work for the future South Mountain Freeway, crews poured the equivalent of 60 dump trucks worth of concrete into a steel-reinforced deck for the flyover ramp that will eventually connect with Interstate 10 west of downtown Phoenix.

While that work is fascinating in and of itself, for our purposes it’s a convenient segue to talk a piece of machinery known as a Bid-Well.

Put simply, different models of Bid-Wells are a concrete finishing machines typically employed for this type of bridge cement pour and used to ensure a flat deck surface. The picture above shows one in use while crews were doing similar South Mountain Freeway work at the 40th Street interchange.

According to Kole Dea, an ADOT senior resident engineer who is overseeing the construction of the freeway's Papago segment, a Bid-Well “is a self-propelled piece of equipment that finishes cast-in-place concrete to a smooth, uniform finish. The roller travels back and forth to achieve this."

The ends of the machine, between which the roller moves back and forth, typically is traveling forward on rails which are attached to a bridge’s girders or the temporary bridge structure, Dea said.

The tweet below shows a Bid-Well 4800 smoothing cement during a 2016 deck pour at the I-10 Davidson Canyon bridge east of Tucson.

A YouTube search will bring up other videos of Bid-Wells in action.

And next time you travel over the smooth surface of a freeway bridge, maybe bid the Bid-Well thanks for a job well done.

Transportation Defined is a series of explanatory blog posts designed to define the things you see on your everyday commute. Let us know if there's something you'd like to see explained ... leave a comment here on the blog or over on our Facebook page!

South Mountain Freeway: Two-way traffic returning to Liberty Lane in Ahwatukee

South Mountain Freeway: Two-way traffic returning to Liberty Lane in Ahwatukee

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South Mountain Freeway: Two-way traffic returning to Liberty Lane in Ahwatukee

South Mountain Freeway: Two-way traffic returning to Liberty Lane in Ahwatukee

September 17, 2018

Pipe installation

By Dustin Krugel / ADOT Communications

Good news for Ahwatukee motorists!

Two-way traffic is being restored in stages along Liberty Lane, an Ahwatukee roadway providing access to schools, churches and more that runs parallel to Pecos Road, where the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway is being built.

Liberty Lane had been restricted to eastbound traffic only on a stretch of about 1.3 miles between Desert Foothills Parkway and 20th Way since work began in March to relocate a 4-foot-diameter city of Phoenix waterline from the freeway right of way.

This past weekend crews restored two-way traffic between 12th Street and west of 18th Way. That's much of the area that had been restricted to one direction of traffic.

Crews have now set a full closure of Liberty Lane between 18th Way and 20th Way as the next phase of work includes completing the waterline connection with a city of Phoenix water main. The closure is expected to remain in place through early October, and local motorists should consider Pecos Road as an alternate route in the interim.

Crews are working six days a week to install the final segment of pipe between Desert Foothills Parkway and 12th Street, but work has been especially challenging due to hardness of rock and a large concentration of underground utilities that must be avoided in the area.

The remainder of Liberty Lane, from 12th Street west to Desert Foothills Parkway, is scheduled to return to two-way traffic by the end of the year. Final resurfacing and lane striping is also scheduled to be completed early next year, along with replacement of sidewalks, curbs and gutters.

Keeping tabs on South Mountain Freeway progress in West Valley

Keeping tabs on South Mountain Freeway progress in West Valley

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Keeping tabs on South Mountain Freeway progress in West Valley

Keeping tabs on South Mountain Freeway progress in West Valley

August 31, 2018

By Dustin Krugel / ADOT Communications

Construction is occurring along 95 percent of the 22-mile corridor that will become the South Mountain Freeway.

Recently, ADOT’s video team got a first-hand look at progress on the west end of the project. You can see the result above.

First up is the I-10/Loop 202 interchange that ADOT and Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, are building near 59th Avenue. It’s easily one of the most visible signs of South Mountain Freeway construction in the Valley as nearly 200,000 vehicles pass through this busy area daily.

The interchange will include five flyover ramps to seamlessly carry traffic to and from I-10 in the West Valley. In fact, the video interview with Rob Samour, ADOT’s lead engineer on the project, is atop a ramp nearly 100 feet above I-10 traffic. This 1,565-foot-long bridge will carry northbound South Mountain Freeway to westbound I-10.

Working on Loop 202

Next up is visiting the two largest structures on the project: two half-mile-long bridges over the Salt River between Broadway Road and Southern Avenue at 59th Avenue, about 4.5 miles south of the I-10/Loop 202 interchange.

At this location, ADOT is installing the longest bridges girders of their type in the state. These precast concrete girders are essentially support beams that weigh 169,000 pounds and are 170 feet long. That’s 9 feet longer than ADOT’s current longest span for a similar girder type.

Our last stop is Laveen, where the Elliot Road overpass opened to traffic in April and now the first lane mile of freeway has been paved north and south of this location.

While work is now over halfway complete on the South Mountain Freeway, Samour reminds everyone that there’s still a lot of work to be completed.

“We ask for patience for the motorists," he says. "We are going to have some restrictions in place for the next 15 months but the end result will be better connectivity for motorists in the East and the West Valley.”

Freeway designers draw inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright

Freeway designers draw inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright

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Freeway designers draw inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright

Freeway designers draw inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright

August 6, 2018

South Mountain Freeway - Pecos Segment Soundwalls

By David Woodfill / ADOT Communications

As with any new construction by the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway will have aesthetic details reflecting the area's history and environment.

As we shared last week, our designers have worked with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to honor the late modern architect with decorative fins and other details added recently to sound walls along the Pecos segment between 40th and 48th streets in Ahwatukee.

This sawtoothed pattern, which also will appear on retaining walls, abutments and bridge barriers, is a nod to Wright's 1920s work at the Ocotillo Settlement in what became Ahwatukee. This winter encampment, where the architect worked on designs for a resort that never came to be, included triangular structures with horizontal bands that were Wright's artistic interpretation of South Mountain's peaks and valleys.

The slideshow above includes more pictures of these newest features on the 22-mile freeway that will provide a direct connection between the West Valley and East Valley.