It's said that “teamwork makes the dream work,” and yes, it’s cliche, but there’s a good reason why. Here are two recent examples:

A new pull-out area on eastbound I-40 near Ash Fork is nearing completion that will allow commercial truckers to put snow chains on their semis. This came about after staff from ADOT’s Infrastructure Delivery and Operations (IDO) and Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) divisions met to discuss the possibility of a snow chain pull-out area and location.

The State Engineer’s Office came up with the idea originally and then gathered the two divisions to expand on the idea and plan details like the location of the pull-out area.

“It made sense to put the pull-out area on eastbound I-40 just west of Ash Fork to give truckers and other drivers an opportunity to put on snow chains before making the uphill climb toward Williams,” said Kevin Duby, ADOT’s Statewide Road Weather Manager.

Staff from the different divisions met to confirm the location and make plans. IDO maintenance staff is building the pull-out area while TSMO signing crews will fabricate and install the signs. The new snow chain pull-out area will be available for use during this year’s winter weather season.

Partnering with outside entities is helping bring improvements to a section of State Route 169 in Prescott Valley. A developer is building housing near SR 169 and SR 69. As is usually the case, any developer building new housing or businesses is required to make necessary improvements to the roads to accommodate the new traffic the development will bring to the area.

The developer needed to widen SR 169 to build a new eastbound left turn lane into the new housing development. Maintenance staff from ADOT’s Northwest District made pavement repairs to the area first so the developer could proceed with building the new turn lane. ADOT’s TSMO division also stepped in and helped the developer create a traffic control plan. They are also managing the traffic signals at the intersection of SR 169 and SR 69 to help traffic flow through the area while the developer builds the turn lane.

That project is expected to wrap up in a few weeks.

ADOT makes a habit of working together and forming partnerships in order to achieve goals. 

It’s rare to come across a real-life cliffhanger.

It’s also not often that the word “blast” actually means explosion.

But today’s blog gives you the true meaning of both words.

The scene: State Route 264 in Second Mesa at milepost 378

The time: Early July, 2021

Key players: The Keams Canyon Maintenance Unit and a contractor

What’s at stake: A large boulder is on a ledge hanging over the highway below.

Here’s where our blog begins:

Tucked in the northeastern corner of Arizona, Second Mesa is known for finely woven Hopi clothing, brightly colored yucca baskets and the three villages that comprise it, Shongopovi, Sipaulovi and Mishongnovi.

It sits more than 5,700 feet high alongside steep cliff walls on SR 264 just east of State Route 87, an area where strong storms can push large boulders onto the highway.

Removing boulders on the road is old hat for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Keams Maintenance Unit, which typically makes short work of such work using jackhammers and loaders. 

It was in June that crews spotted the unstable boulder. They were removing another rock on the same area of SR 264 at the time.

“This rock boulder was sitting on the ledge and potentially was going to come down at some point,” said Elliott Koinva, Keams Canyon highway operations supervisor.

It needed extra incentive to budge, which is why ADOT hired a contractor to blast this boulder into smaller pieces.

The work was captured by our photographers and you can see the results in the FlickR album above.

This is what happened:

• Keams maintenance provided traffic control and lay down a two-foot layer of dirt below the unstable rock.  
• Crews shut down the road.
• Adams Contracting drilled three vertically aligned holes and used explosives to blast the boulder (watch a quick video of the blast) into pieces. 
• Keams crews removed them safely from the highway.

“Kudos to the Keams Canyon Maintenance unit for a successful and safe boulder removal operation,” said Northeast District Engineer Ed Wilson.

SR 264 is not alone in needing boulder maintenance. Here's information about a project beginning on State Route 80 near Bisbee.