PHOENIX – Motorists using Pecos Road will see a new configuration starting early Monday, April 3, as construction continues on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

When the new Pecos Road alignment between 24th and 40th streets is open to traffic Monday morning, the current eastbound lanes will be widened to carry two directions of traffic. This will allow for freeway construction to proceed where the current westbound lanes are located.

Pecos Road motorists should be aware of the following changes when the new configuration opens at 5 a.m., Monday, April 3:

• The speed limit will be reduced to 40 mph to accommodate two-way traffic.
• A double-yellow line will separate directions of travel, and there will be no shoulders.
• Left turns won’t be available in both directions of Pecos Road at 32nd Street, and Pecos Storage access will be maintained from 32nd Street or by making a right turn from eastbound Pecos Road.

The following lane closures and restrictions will be in place from 9 p.m. Friday, March 31, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 3, as crews remove the existing traffic signals and install temporary signals and place barricades:

• Pecos Road eastbound and westbound closed between 24th Street and Interstate 10, with Chandler Boulevard and Ray Road as alternate routes
• All I-10 ramps to and from Pecos Road closed
• Loop 202 Santan Freeway westbound closed at I-10

Lane restrictions and periodic closures of the new Pecos Road alignment will be necessary at times during freeway construction. Motorists may also want to consider alternate routes, such as Ray Road or Chandler Boulevard.

Once freeway construction is complete in the Pecos segment, traffic will move to the new freeway lanes in the final stages of construction. 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 – Pecos Road traffic between 24th and 40th streets is scheduled to shift early Monday, April 3, to an alignment designed to maintain Ahwatukee Foothills traffic during Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway construction.

The current eastbound lanes of Pecos Road in this stretch will be widened and restriped over the next two weeks to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction. This shift creates a safe work zone for construction of the mainline freeway as the westbound lanes will be permanently removed because they are located within the freeway footprint.

Recently, crews have cleared and graded the median and area of the new Pecos Road alignment to create a level surface that allowed paving to start this week.

To shift to the new alignment on April 3, the following lane closures and restrictions will be in place from 9 p.m. Friday, March 24, to 5 a.m. Monday, March 27, and 9 p.m. Friday, March 31, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 3, to remove existing traffic signals and install temporary signals, restripe the roadway and place barricades:

• Eastbound Pecos Road closed between 24th and 40th streets, with Chandler Boulevard as alternate route
• Westbound Pecos Road narrowed to one lane between 24th and 40th streets

Access to Pecos Storage will be maintained at 32nd Street during this work.

In addition, left-hand turn movements from eastbound and westbound Pecos Road at 32nd Street will be prohibited after the left-hand turn lanes are removed permanently prior to the April 3 traffic shift to accommodate freeway construction.

Lane restrictions and periodic closures of the new Pecos Road alignment will be necessary at times during freeway construction.  Motorists may also want to consider alternate routes, such as Ray Road or Chandler Boulevard.

Once freeway construction is complete in the Pecos segment, traffic will move to the new freeway lanes in the final stages of construction. 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 – As the Loop South Mountain Freeway moves toward completion in late 2019, a new flyover animation reflects updated plans for the 22-mile-long corridor.

The six-and-a-half minute virtual tour of the South Mountain Freeway, the largest single freeway project in state history, is available at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

It updates a 2013 video completed in conjunction with the publication of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement by the Arizona Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, and before much of the final design work had been completed.

Some of the key design modifications and additions highlighted in the latest video include:

• Aesthetic and landscaping treatments reflecting neighboring communities
• Direct HOV lane access near 59th Avenue from the South Mountain Freeway to and from downtown Phoenix
• A six-mile-long shared-used path in Ahwatukee, located south of the freeway between 40th Street and 17th Avenue
• Changes to the alignment that reduce the amount of right-of-way required
• Interchange reconfigurations, including diverging diamond interchanges at Desert Foothills Parkway and 17th Avenue, moving the interchange at 51st Avenue to Estrella Drive, and realigning the freeway at 59th Avenue south of Elliot Road
• Locations of sound walls to mitigate freeway noise
• A city of Phoenix pedestrian bridge north of Broadway Road to connect the Rio del Rey neighborhoods in Phoenix.

The updated video doesn’t reflect design changes made after January. As a design-build project, construction can start in some areas of the project while design is still being finalized elsewhere. This innovative contracting method pairs the design and construction teams to deliver a project from beginning to end. This approach is intended to save time and money by overlapping the design and construction phases.

With the launch of the new video, the project webpage at SouthMountainFreeway.com has other new content, including aesthetic renderings and construction photos.

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 as it runs east and west along Pecos Road and then north and south between 55th and 63rd avenues, connecting with I-10 on each end.

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.

PHOENIX – Looking a bit like a colorful Stonehenge or large-scale modern art, a series of concrete columns and walls at a west Phoenix intersection may be a little puzzling to passers-by. They’re actually mock-ups the Arizona Department of Transportation is using to test aesthetics, including paint colors, for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

Set along the southwest corner of 59th Avenue and Washington Street, just south of where the South Mountain Freeway will connect with Interstate 10, these sample bridge piers and sound walls provide a full-scale view of the layers, depths, shapes and paint colors planned for the 22-mile-long freeway corridor.

“Creating mocks-ups, like these Stonehenge-like structures, is an important part of the overall design process in building an aesthetically pleasing freeway,” said Joseph Salazar, ADOT’s roadside development, project landscape and architecture coordinator. “By testing these different colors, patterns and shapes in advance of freeway construction, we have a better idea of what the final product will look like.” 

The South Mountain Freeway will feature five distinctive aesthetic character areas to complement its surroundings, help tell an area’s story and create a more appealing environment for drivers. Some patterns will evoke the area’s agricultural heritage, while others will feature desert plants and simple shapes based on native cholla and ocotillo cactuses.

The South Mountain Freeway, 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, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.

For more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – The work may not scream “bridge construction” just yet, but that’s exactly what’s starting at several sites along the 22-mile-long South Mountain Freeway corridor.

Crews from Connect 202 Partners, developer of the South Mountain Freeway project, are constructing foundations for bridges at future Loop 202 interchanges with 17th Avenue, 24th Street and 40th Street along the freeway segment following Pecos Road and where the freeway will cross the Salt River south of Broadway Road in Laveen.

These are the first of 40 bridges planned along the freeway’s path.

This initial work is creating bridge piers, starting with equipment standing more than 40 feet high drilling shafts at the sites. Next, rebar cages are lifted with a crane and securely planted in the shafts. At a later date, concrete will be added to complete the bridge piers.

 Prior to the start of bridge construction, grading work provided a level surface at the sites. This work recently wrapped up at 40th Street in advance of starting on bridge piers there.

Most of this initial bridge work doesn’t require traffic restrictions, although sidewalks and bike lanes may be restricted in some areas to ensure a safe work zone.

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, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.

For more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – Good news for drivers using Interstate 10 west of downtown Phoenix: The westbound closure between 51st and 75th avenues has been lifted ahead of schedule.

One westbound lane of I-10 has reopened going into 51st Avenue , and crews are in the process of removing traffic barricades to reopen all lanes.

Westbound I-10 closed Friday night so crews could create a widened median work zone for construction of an interchange with the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. The westbound restrictions, which also closed on-ramps at 35th and 43rd avenues, had been scheduled to last until 5 a.m. Monday.

Next weekend, eastbound I-10 (toward downtown Phoenix) will be closed between 75th and 51st avenues from 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, to 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 20, for similar work. Eastbound I-10 on-ramps at 91st, 83rd and 79th avenues will also be closed.

Construction will begin at a later date on a Loop 202/I-10 interchange at 59th Avenue.

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

PHOENIX – Information is power for those whose commutes and daily routines intersect with construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has made it easy to get email and text alerts that will help you save time. Just visit SouthMountainFreeway.com and click the orange button that reads “Sign up for traffic alerts now!” Each week, you’ll receive a list of lane restrictions and closures in the works so you can plan accordingly.

You’ll be in good company: More than 10,000 people have already signed up for traffic alerts that will help them save time.

The South Mountain Freeway, which will run north and south between 55th and 63rd avenues and then east and west along Pecos Road, connecting with Interstate 10 at each end, is expected to open by late 2019.

For more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – Construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway remains on track with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the Gila River Indian Community’s motion for an injunction pending appeal.

The order, released Friday, means work can proceed on the South Mountain Freeway while an appeal by freeway opponents is pending before the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. It’s the fifth time courts have rejected attempts to halt construction of this long-planned link between the East Valley and West Valley.

“The Arizona Department of Transportation and its partners are moving forward with construction of a freeway that will improve the quality of life in this region, connecting people with employment centers and providing a much-needed alternative to a strained Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said.

In November 2016, the 9th Circuit denied a separate request for an emergency injunction by a different group of freeway opponents.

In October 2016, the U.S. District Court in Phoenix denied the plaintiffs’ motion for an injunction, saying, in part, that they are unlikely to prevail on appeal. That followed the court’s August ruling granting the motions for summary judgment by the Federal Highway Administration and ADOT, concluding that the agencies complied with federal law in moving forward with the project.

In July 2015, the court rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction that would have halted all work leading up to the start of construction.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley by connecting Interstate 10 at the Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange and the I-10 Papago Freeway near 59th Avenue.

Construction began in September with improvements to the I-10/Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange that include extending Loop 202 HOV lanes and widening the shoulders to Pecos Road near 48th Street. Construction of the mainline freeway is scheduled to begin this month.

For more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.