PHOENIX ‒ Honeycutt Road immediately east of State Route 347 in Maricopa will close for several months to allow work to continue on an overpass spanning the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

During the closure, which is scheduled to begin Thursday, Dec. 6, just north of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, Arizona Department of Transportation crews will add new sidewalk, curbs and gutters to the south side of Honeycutt Road. They also will begin rebuilding a segment of Honeycutt Road that will connect with a realigned section of SR 347 once the overpass is built.

Drivers will be able to access Honeycutt Road from Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway and Plainview Street, which was recently built just west of the Maricopa Unified School District offices.

There will be no impact on SR 347, the primary north-south road in the community. Honeycutt Road will remain open except for the short distance between Pershing Street and SR 347. Access will be maintained to all businesses along Honeycutt Road.

The restriction is expected to remain in place until summer 2019.

The new overpass will carry SR 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The $55 million project will improve traffic flow and driver safety by eliminating the need for drivers to cross the railroad tracks and ending the need for drivers to wait for trains more than 40 times a day. Completion is scheduled for late 2019.

The new alignment of SR 347 will veer to the east just north of Alterra Parkway and reconnect with the current alignment south of Hathaway Road. The current alignment of SR 347 will see the addition of three cul-de-sacs: north and south of the railroad tracks, and just north of Alterra Parkway. Honeycutt Avenue near Maricopa High School will be extended to connect with the new alignment of SR 347.

Photo courtesy of EPS Group.

PHOENIX ‒ Work is about to get underway on a State Route 347 bridge spanning railroad tracks in the city of Maricopa.

On Monday, March 26, Arizona Department of Transportation crews are scheduled to begin clearing vacant homes acquired for the project along Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. While no major traffic restrictions are planned, drivers should proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down, and watch for workers and equipment.

ADOT is building a $55 million bridge that will carry SR 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, just south of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, where trains stop traffic as many as 60 times a day. The bridge will remove those delays for drivers and first responders, and create a safer trip through the heart of one of Arizona’s fastest-growing cities.

SR 347 is Maricopa's main transportation corridor and serves as a regional connector to major employment and recreation areas. Traffic averages more than 31,000 vehicles per day and is expected to reach 60,000 vehicles per day in 2040.

SR 347 will have a new alignment just east of the current highway, a move that will allow most of the work to be accomplished without restricting highway traffic. The new alignment will require minor changes to Honeycutt Road and a few other roads in the immediate area.

The project is on track to finish as scheduled by late 2019.

A $15 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant will cover a portion of the cost, with Maricopa contributing about $14 million.

Both Maricopa and ADOT are providing area residents with online tools to keep up with progress on the project. The city has created Overpass Tracker to share local news and information related to the project. The city also has an Overpass Tracker Hotline: 520.316.6910.

MARICOPA ‒ A project that will free Maricopa commuters from long waits as trains cross busy State Route 347 in the central part of the city is about the get underway.

Arizona Department of Transportation crews are preparing to begin work on a bridge on State Route 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks just south of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The two-year project also includes an overpass connecting southbound SR 347 to Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, and a new route for northbound drivers on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

The $55 million project is designed to enhance safety and alleviate traffic backups at the railroad crossing in Maricopa. ADOT received a $15 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to cover a portion of the cost, and the city of Maricopa is contributing nearly $14 million.

“By enhancing mobility and safety, this project and the partnership that made it a reality will improve the quality of life in Maricopa and the region,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said.

Maricopa is one of the fastest-growing communities in Arizona, and SR 347 is the primary route for commuters who work in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Drivers from the southern part of the city are often stopped behind one of the more than 60 trains that cross SR 347 daily – a number that is expected to grow to more than 100 by 2040. Traffic in the area is expecting to double by 2040 to at least 60,000 vehicles per day.

Maricopa officials are planning a groundbreaking event for 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 20, at SR 347 and Honeycutt Road.

“This marks the culmination of 14 years of work and fiscal prudence,” Maricopa Mayor Christian Price said. “This crucial infrastructure project has been one of our biggest hurdles to growth and safety. We now begin a new chapter and look forward to working with ADOT to build our overpass.”

The bridge will be constructed east of the current SR 347 alignment beginning at Desert Cedars Drive and connecting with the current alignment north of Honeycutt Road. Northbound drivers on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway will travel north on an alignment near the current Fourth Street and turn west at Honeycutt before connecting with SR 347.

Animations showing the interchange configuration are available at youtu.be/JjdkQqQpVug and youtu.be/VAmCiWfUlLc.

MARICOPA – Cameras the Arizona Department of Transportation uses to monitor State Route 347 traffic between the city of Maricopa and Interstate 10 now allow drivers to view conditions themselves via az511.gov.

Nine high-definition cameras mounted on traffic signals are available through the Arizona Traveler Information site, showing intersections such as Riggs and Casa Blanca roads and extending as far south as Farrell Road.

“ADOT is always looking to improve traffic flow and safety,” ADOT traffic engineer Mark Poppe said. “Giving everyone access to the Maricopa cameras allows motorists to see traffic along SR 347 firsthand and make more-informed travel decisions.”

In 2016, ADOT installed a wireless communication system that monitors conditions on SR 347 and allows technicians in Phoenix to adjust signal timing accordingly. The system includes a series of infrared and video cameras, and the latter are now available to the public online.

Besides showing road conditions, traffic cameras are used to quickly spot crashes, allowing first responders to respond faster and allocate appropriate resources. By doing this, secondary crashes are reduced, along with traffic congestion.

ADOT maintains more than 300 traffic cameras across the state and continues adding them to az511.gov. In addition to the SR 347 cameras, the Arizona Traveler Information site recently added views from new cameras along the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in Chandler and Gilbert.

MARICOPA – While Lt. Mike Campbell hopes Maricopa Police Department officers never need to enter a home to remove a barricaded suspect, a partnership with the Arizona Department of Transportation has helped them prepare, just in case.

With ADOT preparing to build a bridge carrying State Route 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad, officers have been able to train twice in a house acquired on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The home eventually will be demolished to make way for a new alignment of Plainview Street that will connect Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway to Honeycutt Road and SR 347.

Campbell said the partnership ensures that the department’s Special Response Team has the opportunity to train for potentially life-or-death situations. That included practicing how to enter a home with a dangerous suspect inside, breaking down doors and methodically working their way through the building.

“There are very few opportunities for us to train for these rare but dangerous situations,” Campbell said. “Every time our officers can experience the challenges that come with entering a building in a hostile situation means we can do a better job if this kind of situation arises. This makes our officers better at their jobs and it makes Maricopa a safer place for our residents.”

ADOT has a 25-year tradition of working with first responders to provide real-world training opportunities in the controlled environment of vacant buildings. Training collaborations like the one that took place this month in Maricopa date back to construction of State Route 51 in the early 1990s.

Just last summer, ADOT-acquired properties along the route of the South Mountain Freeway were used to train fire and law enforcement officers from more than a dozen agencies. That included SWAT teams using homes to practice responding to hostage situations and the Phoenix Fire Department, which trained 48 ladder companies and scores of new recruits.

ADOT works side-by-side with emergency responders every day, said Brian Rockwell, ADOT assistant chief right of way agent.

“Police officers willingly put themselves in harm’s way to protect all of us in dangerous situations,” Rockwell said. “When we have the opportunity to help them train, as we did here, we’re not only happy to do that but we consider it part of our service to the community.”

Construction of the SR 347 bridge begins this fall. The two-year, $55 million project will carry traffic over the railroad tracks on a path just east of the current SR 347. It will alleviate congestion on a road that is expected to see traffic double to more than 60,000 vehicles a day by 2040 and save drivers the time of waiting for trains to cross the highway. The area now sees 40-60 trains a day, a number that is expected to reach 100 daily in the next 20 years.