PHOENIX – Two years after construction began on an interchange connecting Interstate 10 and the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, crews have placed the final bridge girders needed for this huge Arizona Department of Transportation project in west Phoenix.

The milestone occurred over the weekend when Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, placed 21 concrete support beams, measuring up to 128 feet long and weighing 115,000 pounds apiece, for a flyover ramp that will carry HOV lanes.

To create the interchange’s five flyover ramps, large cranes have set 186 bridge girders above I-10 during weekend closures. These ramps, which will carry traffic seamlessly between the freeways, range in length from 115 feet (westbound Loop 202 to eastbound I-10) to 1,565 feet (westbound Loop 202 to westbound I-10).

Building the 22-mile South Mountain Freeway requires placing approximately 1,000 girders, all of which have been manufactured locally.

While the final girders are in place for the interchange in west Phoenix, several overnight and weekend I-10 closures and traffic restrictions are still needed to complete some of the remaining work, including pouring bridge decks and installing barrier wall.

The South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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, please visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – As the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway moves closer to completion, another section will open to local traffic in a temporary configuration so crews can finish the 40th Street traffic interchange in Ahwatukee.

Shifting traffic onto the freeway’s future westbound lanes between 32nd Street and the Interstate 10/Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange, scheduled for 5 a.m. Monday, May 13, will require closing the 40th Street/Pecos Road intersection for approximately four months. In order to set up the traffic shift, 40th Street will be closed north of Pecos Road beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 12.

This newly paved 2-mile stretch of the South Mountain Freeway will remain two lanes in each direction, and the speed limit will be 40 mph through the work zone.

In September, 40th Street at the freeway is expected to reopen to traffic once the interchange on- and off-ramps, cross-street improvements and traffic signals are completed, along with additional grading and drainage work.

The Arizona Department of Transportation and Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, scheduled this phase of work during the summer to minimize impacts to schools and to special event and visitor traffic to Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino and the Phoenix Premium Outlets.

Once traffic is moved onto the South Mountain Freeway, Pecos Road will be permanently closed to traffic east of 32nd Street. Traffic will remain on this section through the completion of the freeway.

Access to the 40th Street/Pecos Park-and-Ride will be maintained during the closure, but the facility will only be accessible to local traffic via 40th Street north of Cottonwood Lane. Alternate north-south routes include I-10 and 24th/32nd streets.

Those traveling to Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino and the Phoenix Premium Outlets should use I-10 to Wild Horse Pass Boulevard.

This is the second shift of Pecos Road traffic onto the South Mountain Freeway. In February, Pecos Road traffic moved onto the freeway’s future eastbound lanes between 17th Avenue and Desert Foothills Parkway.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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, please visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.

PHOENIX – A westbound Interstate 10 access road created to complement a Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway interchange will close temporarily between 59th and 67th avenues starting Monday, April 1, to allow for final construction.

During the closure, which extends to May, crews will complete the access road connections to 59th and 67th avenues and make other improvements including new drainage, curb and gutter, sidewalks and traffic signals. A temporary road surface near 59th Avenue will be removed and replaced with permanent pavement.

Motorists should consider alternate routes, including local streets, to reach destinations near 59th and 67th avenues.

In 2018, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, opened new eastbound and westbound I-10 access roads between 51st and 67th avenues to restore access to 59th Avenue. South Mountain Freeway construction required permanently removing I-10 on- and off-ramps at 59th Avenue to make room for the freeway-to-freeway interchange.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

PHOENIX – Good news for motorists who rely on 59th Avenue: A section of Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway frontage road is complete and accommodating two-way traffic between Van Buren Street and Buckeye Road in west Phoenix, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

This restores access to 59th Avenue after a two-month closure, with traffic temporarily using a newly paved southbound frontage road with one lane in each direction. Construction of the northbound frontage road will occur later this year.

The mile-long section of 59th Avenue had been closed since mid-January to allow crews with Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, to demolish and remove the old pavement to make room for the frontage roads.

During the closure, crews also installed underground utilities, built retaining walls and completed a South Mountain Freeway bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

This is the area’s second stretch of new road to open to local traffic. Last year, ADOT and Connect 202 Partners opened I-10 access roads in both directions between 51st and 67th avenues to improve traffic flow and connect with 59th Avenue.

In Ahwatukee, local traffic is using the future eastbound lanes of the Loop 202 between 17th Avenue and Desert Foothills Parkway as part of a traffic shift that started in February.

The South Mountain Freeway project includes 2.5-mile frontage roads to maintain northbound and southbound access to businesses and residences between Roosevelt Street and Lower Buckeye Road. These one-way frontage roads will have two travel lanes in each direction and will have traffic signals at each major intersection.

During construction, motorists should slow down, obey the speed limit and allow extra travel time.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

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

PHOENIX – Both directions of Interstate 10 will be narrowed to one lane overnight in west Phoenix this week for bridge work at the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway interchange.

Drivers should allow extra travel time, use caution and consider alternate routes while I-10 is restricted, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The restrictions are scheduled as follows:

• Westbound I-10 narrowed to one lane overnight between 35th and 59th avenues from 9 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday (Feb. 26).
• Eastbound I-10 narrowed to one lane overnight three consecutive nights between 75th and 59th avenues from 8 p.m. Tuesday through 4 a.m. Friday (March 1).

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

For a complete list of highway and freeway restrictions in the Phoenix area and around the state, visit ADOT’s Travel Information site at az511.gov or call 511. Another great way to get more information about ADOT's projects and programs to improve Arizona’s transportation system is the ADOT Blog at azdot.gov/blog.

 

PHOENIX – Nearly two years after the first girder was set on Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the last support beam has been installed for the Dobbins Road interchange, marking the final girder placed on the Salt River segment of the freeway in the Laveen area.

A total of 459 steel-reinforced concrete girders, which serve as the main horizontal support for any bridge structure, have been placed throughout Salt River segment of the South Mountain Freeway, running from Lower Buckeye Road and extending south to 51st Avenue.

This month construction crews with Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, set the remaining 32 girders for the Dobbins Road interchange, one of 15 interchanges on the project. Last month, they placed 30 girders for the Baseline Road interchange.

Approximately 1,000 girders are needed for entire 22-mile freeway corridor, which also includes the I-10 Papago, Center and Pecos segments. The first girders on the South Mountain Freeway project were installed in July 2017.

The girders have ranged from 48 feet long and weighing 46,000 pounds at the 51st Avenue crossing to some of the massive Salt River bridge girders that measured 174 feet long and 170,000 pounds each –  the largest of their kind used for an ADOT project.

Two-hundred and ninety-two girders were needed to build the two half-mile-long bridges over the Salt River. These bridges will provide a much-needed local crossing to and from Laveen, especially when the river flows, while also reducing congestion at current crossings. The city of Phoenix’s 51st Avenue bridge is currently the lone all-weather Salt River crossing between 35th Avenue and Avondale Boulevard.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

PHOENIX – A portion of Pecos Road and the new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway lanes in Ahwatukee will close nightly, beginning Sunday, Feb. 24, through late April, to allow crews building the South Mountain Freeway to haul large amounts rock remaining from controlled rock blasting near Desert Foothills Parkway.

Pecos Road, including the recently opened temporary configuration that has traffic traveling on the newly paved eastbound Loop 202 lanes, will be closed nightly from 17th Avenue to 24th Street in Ahwatukee from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Friday.

Motorists should consider using Chandler Boulevard as an alternate route. 

By scheduling most of the work during overnight hours, Connect 202 Partners, the developer of South Mountain Freeway, will avoid having large trucks slowing local traffic during the day.

The rocks, which need to be moved to build the Desert Foothills Parkway interchange, will be used as fill material for the South Mountain Freeway as construction progresses west of 17th Avenue.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up to date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov or call 511.

PHOENIX – In another sign of progress on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, local Ahwatukee traffic is now using a 2-mile stretch of the future freeway between Desert Foothills Parkway and 17th Avenue. To advance construction on this Arizona Department of Transportation project, crews working over the weekend shifted Pecos Road traffic onto the freeway’s newly paved eastbound lanes.

Traffic has been reduced to one lane in each direction, connecting with 17th Avenue using what will become the westbound Loop 202 off-ramp and with Desert Foothills Parkway using the westbound Loop 202 on-ramp. 

Even though traffic has moved onto what will be the freeway mainline, motorists need to keep in mind that this interim configuration is not a completed freeway.

Motorists should slow down, pay attention and obey the 40 mph speed limit as well as a reduced speed limit on the connecting ramps.

Construction equipment will be using westbound lanes, and a concrete barrier separates the eastbound and westbound lanes.

In another change for motorists, the Desert Foothills Parkway intersection has been moved temporarily about 1,500 feet to the west so construction can advance on that traffic interchange, the last to be built on the project.

This is the first of several planned shifts onto newly paved lanes that will allow Connect 202 Partners, the developer of the South Mountain Freeway, to advance construction.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway is scheduled for full completion in 2020, although traffic is expected to be using the freeway earlier. It 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.

PHOENIX – For the first time, motorists will use a stretch of the future Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, in this case through a temporary configuration that will allow work to progress on the 17th Avenue and Desert Foothills Parkway interchanges in Ahwatukee.

In a shift scheduled to occur by 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11, both directions of Pecos Road traffic between 17th Avenue and an area west of Desert Foothills Parkway will begin using a temporary alignment on the freeway’s future eastbound lanes. This 2-mile stretch will be reduced to one lane in each direction, connecting with 17th Avenue using what will become the westbound Loop 202 off-ramp and with Desert Foothills Parkway using the westbound Loop 202 on-ramp. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation has scheduled a closure of Pecos Road this weekend between 17th Avenue and 24th Street to set up the traffic shift. The closure will start at 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8.

By moving traffic to this temporary configuration, crews can finalize construction of the 17th Avenue interchange without requiring extended weekend and nightly closures of the Pecos Road intersection.

In addition, the traffic shift will allow crews to begin building the Desert Foothills Parkway interchange, the only South Mountain Freeway interchange where construction has yet to start. To accommodate this work, a temporary Desert Foothills Parkway intersection will be located west of the current intersection.

This shift of Pecos Road traffic onto the future South Mountain Freeway is the first of several that will allow Connect 202 Partners, the freeway developer, to advance construction.

Once all traffic is shifted onto the freeway, Pecos Road will be permanently closed and re-purposed into a 6-mile shared-use path south of the freeway between 17th Avenue and 40th Street.

Final construction planned for the 17th Avenue interchange includes completing ramps, barrier and sound wall installation, final paving and striping, and crossroad improvements.

In order to create additional room for construction, 17th Avenue traffic south of Cottonwood Lane will be reduced to one lane in each direction and shifted to the east side of the roadway, using the current northbound lanes.

This phase of work is expected to be complete this spring. Local traffic will continue using this temporary configuration until a second shift is needed to complete the rest of the 17th Avenue interchange. Desert Foothills Parkway interchange construction is expected to be completed in summer.

The speed limit through the work zone will be reduced in some areas.

The 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, which is slated to open as early as 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.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but there is a possibility that unscheduled closures or restrictions may occur. Weather can also affect a project schedule. To stay up to date with the latest highway conditions around the state, visit ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov or call 511.