Loop 303

If you think you've spotted an Arizona highway on the the big screen, you're probably right.

GOODYEAR – With each strand of reinforcing steel put in place and each truckload of earth moved, the Arizona Department of Transportation’s $63 million project to complete a traffic interchange linking Loop 303 with Interstate 10 in the West Valley continues to take shape.

Plans call for the “south half” of the interchange, which includes extending Loop 303 south from Thomas Road to Van Buren Street, to open to traffic by late fall. This work started nearly a year ago.

Before we talk about Phoenix-area projects coming this year, let's look in the rearview mirror at 2016 accomplishments.

PHOENIX – With Valley drivers benefiting from several freeway improvement projects completed during 2016, including the widening of Loop 101 between Shea Boulevard and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) in the Scottsdale area, the Arizona Department of Transportation is poised to start or complete several Phoenix-area projects in the coming year.

ADOT is wrapping up final work on the last in a recent series of projects to upgrade Loop 303. Here are some of the new features.

PHOENIX – Drivers in the northwest Valley are using a wider stretch of freeway this morning after the Arizona Department of Transportation on Thursday opened new lanes along Loop 303 between Grand Avenue in Surprise and Happy Valley Parkway in Peoria.

In less than two years, this seven-mile stretch of Loop 303 has been improved from a four-lane highway to a safer freeway, with three travel lanes in each direction. The wider freeway is part of $96 million in projects that also added new Loop 303 interchanges at Grand Avenue and El Mirage Road.

PHOENIX – Loop 303 will remain closed west of Interstate 17 through 3 a.m. Saturday as production of a motion picture continues.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is allowing Paramount Pictures additional time to film “Transformers 5: The Last Knight” between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway in the north Valley. Traffic through this area is detouring east- and westbound on State Route 74.

While Loop 303 is closed between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway:

PHOENIX – A section of Loop 303 west of Interstate 17 will be closed Friday through Wednesday (June 15), according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Loop 303 is scheduled to be closed between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway from 2 a.m. Friday to 11:30 p.m. Wednesday for permit activity. Traffic will instead be detoured east- and westbound on State Route 74, two miles north of the Loop 303 alignment.

While Loop 303 is closed between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway:

PHOENIX – New ramps connecting Loop 303 and Grand Avenue (US 60) in Surprise will open to traffic this weekend, a key milestone for the project to improve the interchange that links the two roadways.

The northbound Loop 303 on- and off-ramps and southbound Loop 303 on-ramp at Grand Avenue are scheduled to open by 11:30 p.m. Friday (April 1), according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

SURPRISE ‒ Next weekend, Grand Avenue (US 60) will be closed from 9 p.m. March 18, to 7 p.m. March 20, between R.H. Johnson Boulevard/Sunrise Boulevard and Loop 303 to accommodate freeway bridge work, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Motorists should plan ahead and consider alternate routes while the closure is in effect.

The primary detour for Grand Avenue traffic will be along Loop 303 and Bell Road. Southbound Loop 303 drivers in the Peoria area can connect with Grand Avenue via southbound El Mirage Road and westbound Bell Road.

PHOENIX – Work to complete the freeway-to-freeway interchange linking Loop 303 with Interstate 10 in Goodyear is underway this week, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

As part of the $83 million project to build the south half of the traffic interchange, crews will complete the four remaining ramps to connect the two freeways and extend Loop 303 south to Van Buren Street. The improvements also will allow traffic to make connections between Loop 303 and Cotton Lane south of Van Buren Street.

Work on the Loop 303 continues out in the West Valley.

When we last left off with the Loop 303, all ramps had just opened at the freeway’s I-10 traffic interchange. Months later, more improvements are still on the way.

Have you heard the news? All four of the ramps connecting Loop 303 and I-10 are open!

Besides being an opportunity for visitors to check out the new Loop 303/I-10 interchange, ADOT's recent open house also offered the chance to reflect on what the new connection means to the area.

On Saturday morning (Aug. 16), ADOT and the city of Goodyear will host an open house to allow visitors a close-up look at the soon-to-be-completed Loop 303/I-10 traffic interchange.

Check out the progress on the Loop 303/I-10 traffic interchange project.

West Valley drivers are going to notice a change at Loop 303/McDowell Road and Loop 303/Thomas Road come Sunday morning.

The Loop 303 is “growing up” right before our eyes!

We’ve been following the progress of the Loop 303/I-10 Interchange project since ADOT started construction two years ago.