PHOENIX – With the city of Phoenix set to open its Chandler Boulevard extension between 27th and 19th avenues at 8:30 a.m. Friday, July 28, Pecos Road west of 17th Avenue will close permanently for construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

Westbound Pecos Road traffic will divert north at 17th Avenue, and the Chandler Boulevard extension will provide access to and from the Foothills Reserve Community, which motorists now reach via Pecos Road.

In the coming weeks, crews will remove the existing pavement on Pecos Road, clear and remove trees, brush and rubbish, and install drainage pipes so that freeway construction can occur on the one-mile stretch between South Chandler Boulevard and 17th Avenue.

South Chandler Boulevard will also be closing permanently south of Cottonwood Lane.

Pecos Road east of 17th Avenue will remain open during South Mountain Freeway construction until the final stages of the project, when local traffic will shift to the new freeway lanes.

The South Mountain Freeway, which is scheduled to open by late 2019, will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, it will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system.

You can stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – To construct Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway in the Ahwatukee Foothills, crews have been using heavy equipment since April to excavate a hillside near Desert Foothills Parkway.

While this method has been effective thus far at removing rock, Connect 202 Partners, the developer responsible for building the 22-mile-long freeway for the Arizona Department of Transportation, anticipates that controlled rock blasting will be necessary in some locations beginning in August.  It is currently anticipated controlled blasting will take place in areas west of 24th Street and beyond Desert Foothills Parkway.

Controlled rock blasting uses small amounts of timed charges to break rock into smaller, more manageable pieces. The broken rock will then be removed and used as fill throughout the Pecos Road segment of the freeway. Controlled rock blasting is a standard construction technique used in many areas of the nation for many years without damage to property.

Connect 202 Partners will ensure that ground vibrations from controlled rock blasting using modern techniques comply with local and federal safety and ground vibration standards, which are in place to avoid any impact to structures. Any blasting activities will be in accordance with industry best practices using only proven and safe methods.

“Controlled rock blasting has been used to shape essential roadways throughout the world, including the initial construction of Pecos Road previously,” said Rob Samour, ADOT’s senior deputy state engineer for major projects. “Connect 202 Partners has hired an experienced team, including a blasting engineer, blasting consultant and vibration monitoring expert with close to 100 years of combined blasting experience in Arizona and across the United States.”

While controlled rock blasting activities will not result in any damage to nearby structures, Connect 202 Partners invited property owners within a half-mile of the area where controlled blasting may be used to participate in a free home survey to document their homes’ current structural condition.

Connect 202 Partners has hired Aimone-Martin Associates, which specializes in blasting and vibration monitoring and has extensive experience working in residential areas in Arizona, to conduct the surveys. The firm also uses seismographs to ensure that ground vibration is within allowable levels and provide a second level of assurance for homeowners.

To ensure the safety of motorists using Pecos Road and Desert Foothills Parkway, there will be temporary traffic restrictions during blasting activities. Message board signs on Pecos Road and Desert Foothills Parkway will provide advance notice of any traffic restrictions.

The 22-mile freeway, expected to open by late 2019, 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 on controlled rock blasting, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com/Pecos.

PHOENIX – With Pecos Road shifted to make room for the next phase of construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona Department of Transportation is reminding motorists that a reduced 40 mph speed limit is in place through the entire segment of this local roadway in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

Last weekend, Pecos Road traffic between 17th Avenue and 24th Street shifted to an alignment that maintains two travel lanes in each direction while ensuring there’s a safe work zone to construct the freeway. 

For this shift, which follows a similar reconfiguration in April of Pecos Road between 24th and 40th streets, the former eastbound lanes were widened and restriped to accommodate traffic in both directions, with a double yellow line between.

The reduced speed limit allows for two-way traffic on the interim Pecos Road after the median and shoulders were removed to ensure there would be two lanes of traffic in each direction during freeway construction, which is occurring just north of Pecos Road on the opposite side of the concrete barricades.

In the coming weeks, crews will rip up the former westbound lanes of Pecos Road, which are located within the footprint of the freeway. In addition, crews will start clearing and removing trees, brushes and rubbish, installing pipes and beginning the initial earthwork needed to build the freeway.

Scheduled to open in late 2019, the South Mountain Freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, it will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system.

To stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts, please visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – Pecos Road between 17th Avenue and 24th Street is shifting to an interim alignment for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway construction.

During a weekend closure ending in time for the morning commute on Monday, July 17, the current eastbound lanes of Pecos Road will be widened and restriped to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction along this nearly four-mile-long stretch in the Ahwatukee Foothills. 

In April, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Connect 202 Partners, the developer responsible for building the South Mountain Freeway, shifted Pecos Road to this configuration between 40th and 24th streets.

Moving both directions of travel slightly to the south creates a safe work zone for freeway construction while allowing local traffic to continue using Pecos Road.

The following closure will take place from 10 p.m. Friday, July 14, to 5 a.m. Monday, July 17, to install temporary traffic signals, restripe the roadway and place barricades:

• Pecos Road eastbound and westbound closed between 24th Street and 17th Avenue, with Chandler Boulevard and Ray Road as alternate routes.

In the interim Pecos Road alignment, the speed limit is reduced to 40 mph to accommodate two-way traffic, a double-yellow line separates the directions of travel and there are no shoulders.

Once construction is complete in the Pecos segment, traffic will move to the new freeway lanes in the final stages of the project. The entire South Mountain Freeway is scheduled to open in late 2019.

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

You can stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway continues taking shape with the installation of bridge girders, together weighing more than two Boeing 747 jets, at the future interchange with 17th Avenue in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

The girders are the first placed for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s South Mountain Freeway project, which will require a total of nearly 1,100 girders on 40 bridge structures throughout the 22-mile-long corridor.

During three overnight closures for the work completed this weekend at 17th Avenue, two 450-ton cranes lifted and placed each of the 17 steel-reinforced concrete girders, which are 145 feet long and weigh up to 131,000 pounds. Each girder took about an hour to hoist and place. 

Crews will return in August to pour concrete to form the bridge deck.

With girder placement complete at the 17th Avenue interchange, crews are set to place 16 girders this week at the 40th Street overpass, also in the Pecos corridor.

Overnight closures of 40th Street between Briarwood Terrace and Pecos Road are needed from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday-Wednesday, July 10-12, to place bridge girders for the 40th Street interchange.

The South Mountain Freeway, which is scheduled to open in late 2019, will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, it will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system.

You can stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – Several major milestones on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project will require some extended closures of roadways in Ahwatukee during the month of July, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. 

Following the Fourth of July holiday, the first girders will be set on the new bridges over 17th Avenue and 40th Street. In mid-July, crews will shift Pecos Road traffic between 24th Street and 17th Avenue to an interim roadway following a similar reconfiguration that took place between 40th and 24th streets in April.

Motorists who travel regularly on Pecos Road need to plan ahead to avoid the following closures of these local routes:

• 17th Avenue between Liberty Lane and Pecos Road will close overnight to set bridge girders for the new 17th Avenue traffic interchange from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. on July 5 and 6 (and July 7, if needed).
• 40th Street between Briarwood Terrace and Pecos Road will close overnight to place bridge girders for the new 40th Street traffic interchange from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. on July 9 and 10 (and July 11, if needed).
• Pecos Road between 24th Street and 17th Avenue will close in both directions from 10 p.m. Friday, July 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 17, to allow crews to widen eastbound Pecos Road for an interim roadway to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction.

During the closures, motorists may also want to consider alternate routes, such as Ray Road or Chandler Boulevard.

The South Mountain Freeway, which is scheduled to open in late 2019, will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, it will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system.

You can stay informed about the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX ‒ Cases of chilled bottled water, protective lightweight clothing, sun visors and shaded tent areas, coupled with mandatory training on dealing with extreme heat, are just some of the ways crews building the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway are prepared for temperatures forecast to surge beyond 110.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for the Valley beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 17. While everyone needs to be prepared for the heat, soaring temperatures can be especially dangerous for roadway maintenance and construction workers, in part because temperatures on asphalt or concrete are 15-20 degrees higher than the air temperature.

That’s why crews from Connect 202 Partners, the developer responsible for building the 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, are putting safety first and taking extra precautions that the public can follow as well.

ADOT, along with its construction contractors, trains employees to know that exposure to summer heat can be life-threatening if not treated properly. Highway workers are taught to monitor themselves and their co-workers for signs of heat-related stress and to use common sense when working in the sun.

“Arizona heat poses a serious challenge to our workers and heat injuries are a potential hazard for our road crews, so ADOT, its employees and contractors have to be diligent in monitoring for signs of heat-illness and use common sense,” said Julie Gadsby, ADOT assistant district engineer on the South Mountain Freeway team. “ADOT does a good job of preventing heat illnesses through a variety of ways, including keeping workers hydrated, starting the work day earlier to avoid some of the extreme temperatures, and having workers that are trained and knowledgeable to recognize heat stress symptoms early.”

More than 1,500 construction workers on the South Mountain Freeway project have completed a mandatory heat stress training class. They learn the signs and symptoms of heat injury, and to observe proper work practices that include drinking enough fluids, taking adequate rest breaks and knowing first-aid procedures when someone becomes ill from the heat.

Connect 202 Partners is providing shaded areas and cold bottled water with electrolyte powder, while certified emergency medical technicians are available. EMTs can conduct medical monitoring such as checking blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and temperature.

These strategies used by ADOT can help everyone address the effects of the heat:

• If possible, start work earlier in the day and finish before the hottest hours of the afternoon. Use a buddy system with each watching the other for early signs of heat illness.
• Stay hydrated with cool drinking water.
• Have sun protection including a hat, a light-colored and long-sleeved shirt, and sunscreen.
• Those without experience working in hot environments should acclimate over several days by taking extra time to rest and stay hydrated.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, expected to open by late 2019, 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 on the South Mountain Freeway, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – Drivers using Interstate 10 through west Phoenix should plan ahead to avoid two closures of the westbound lanes at 59th Avenue for initial work to build a flyover bridge that will eventually connect to the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

With heavy traffic and delays expected, ADOT recommends drivers allow extra travel time and consider alternate routes, such as the Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway) west of I-17, while the following closures are in place:

• Westbound I-10 closed at 59th Avenue from 10 p.m. Friday, June 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, June 26.
• Westbound I-10 closed at 59th Avenue from 10 p.m. Friday, July 7 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 10.

During the closures, westbound I-10 traffic will be detoured to the off- and on-ramps at 59th Avenue, but expect heavy traffic.

These closures are needed to set steel beams to temporarily support the concrete structure, also known as a straddle bent, for the future westbound I-10 connection to southbound Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. The straddle bent is a multicolumn pier with an extra wide column spacing to straddle the I-10 lanes directly below the pier.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, expected to open by late 2019, 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 on the South Mountain Freeway, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

Highway conditions are available via ADOT’s Traveler Information site at az511.gov or by calling 511.

PHOENIX – Less than six months after major construction began on the state’s largest single highway project ever, progress on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway has been swift.

In Ahwatukee Foothills, future interchanges are taking shape at 17th Avenue and 40th Street, with columns and abutments in place and crews scheduled to begin placing bridge girders next month. In Laveen, 72 large concrete piers form the start of two half-mile-long bridges that will carry traffic over the Salt River. In the West Valley, work continues to create an interchange with the I-10 Papago Freeway at 59th Avenue, including adding piers that will carry ramps.

This was the goal when the Arizona Department of Transportation greenlighted the state’s first highway public-private partnership to deliver a critically needed transportation project for Valley motorists in a shorter time frame.

Instead of building the final piece of the Loop 202 system as nine individual projects, as originally planned, the 22-mile corridor is being built as a single project. That will deliver the South Mountain Freeway by the end of 2019, at least three years sooner.

“This first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in Arizona will not only save taxpayers’ dollars by reducing the overall cost but enable ADOT to create a much-needed transportation link sooner,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “As a result, Valley motorists will reap the benefits when they have another option to travel between the East and West Valley, and traffic flow will improve overall on our regional transportation network.”

Under an innovative agreement announced in February 2016, Connect 202 Partners, a team consisting of Fluor Enterprises Inc., Granite Construction Co. and Ames Construction Inc., with Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. as the lead designer, is responsible for the design and construction of the freeway corridor and for 30 years of maintenance following construction.

Using this delivery method, the developer can work in several areas of the freeway corridor at once. For instance, while some areas of the freeway are still under design, the developer can work in other areas that are ready for construction.

Instead of completing small portions of the freeway and opening them individually, the South Mountain Freeway will open in its entirety when finished, unlike many other ADOT projects. This allows Connect 202 Partners to build the freeway more efficiently and ensure the project remains on budget by not having to tie up resources, personnel and equipment as long.

The only area not under construction is the Center segment, between 51st Avenue and 32nd Lane, where work is scheduled to begin in mid-2018.

The 22-mile freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to Interstate 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.

Visit SouthMountainFreeway.com to stay informed on the South Mountain Freeway project and sign up for updates and weekly traffic alerts to receive notifications of upcoming restrictions and closures.