We have good news for drivers up north – work on the new roundabout at US 89 and Haul Road in Page is complete!

This project not only included construction of the roundabout, but it added a new raised median, too. Crews also installed a new right-turn bay in the southeast section of the intersection, new sidewalks, ramps, signs and lighting. Roadway drainage improvements were also part of the work, which started in early summer.

About that roundabout
If you drive the new roundabout, one thing you might notice is its size – it measures about 200 feet in diameter.

The large roundabout design was chosen for the intersection to help accommodate a variety of vehicles that frequently travel in the area, including oversized houseboats.

A traditional signalized intersection was investigated as a possible option; however traditional traffic signals would hang too low, limiting the size and height of the vehicles that could travel through the intersection.

By building a roundabout, a variety of vehicles can be accommodated.

More on roundabouts
Modern roundabouts are designed to reduce crashes and improve traffic flow. You can learn more about why we build them in this blog post from last month.

And, if you need a refresher on how to drive a roundabout, check out this video on maneuvering modern roundabouts.

If you’re still looking for more, you can visit the roundabout page on our website for all the details, including information on yielding to pedestrians, choosing the proper lane and what to do if you encounter an emergency vehicle in a roundabout.

The last time we checked in on US 89 it was to tell you that the stretch of highway, about 25 miles south of Page, was open again after a 2013 landslide called for major repairs...

Today, we’ve got another US 89 project to tell you about and while it might not be as dramatic as the landslide fix, it’s definitely going to bring about an improved driving experience for motorists in the area.

Right now, crews are working on improvements to an eight-mile segment of US 89, about 30 miles south of Page (milepost 510 to 517).

The project includes construction of new passing lanes for both north- and southbound travel (milepost 514 to 515), shoulder widening, resurfacing the pavement and reinforcing bank protection at Tanner Wash.

Select image to view larger version.

The project will extend the life expectancy of the roadway and improve traffic flow. Work is expected to wrap up by the end of this year.

What drivers need to know
Both north- and southbound lanes will be open for travel during the project, except when crews are resurfacing the pavement.

While roadway resurfacing is underway, one lane of travel will be closed. Travel for both north- and southbound travel will be accommodated with a pilot car escort through the project area; delays can be expected during this part of project construction.

By Doug Pacey
ADOT Office of Public Information

Something didn’t seem right to Thelma Begay.

Peering south toward the Glen Canyon Bridge from the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Equipment Services shop as a thunderstorm pummeled Page Friday afternoon, the account technician saw a line of traffic in both directions stopped on the bridge. She called over Shop Supervisor Scott Kennedy to take a look.

Kennedy, a 23-year resident of Page, knew something was wrong.

“Cars stopping on the bridge like that never happens, so I told her let’s drive down and see what’s going on,” Kennedy said. “Best case, it’s nothing. Worst case, we’ll see what we can do to help.”

That decision sent Page’s Equipment Services shop on a wet and muddy adventure that saved motorists from potential headaches and kept weekend getaway plans on schedule.

Kennedy and Begay hopped in one truck, while Equipment Repair Lead Technician Dustin Allen and Equipment Repair Technician Elias Tsinigine rode in another. When the two trucks made the three-quarter-mile jaunt down the hill on US 89 to the bridge, they encountered a river of mud and bowling ball-size rocks flowing across the highway at the entrance to the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Center. Traffic heading in both directions was stop and go, and a Department of Public Safety officer was in the middle of the mudflow, directing vehicles.

Kennedy spoke to the officer and asked if ADOT had been notified. The officer said he had called in the incident, but ADOT’s Page Maintenance crews had not yet arrived to begin clearing the highway or take over traffic control.

“I told him we’d get the ball rolling,” Kennedy said.

He quickly learned that Page Maintenance crews were responding, but they were coming from the other side of the bridge and were stuck in the backup they’d been called on to clear. At ADOT, maintenance crews respond to traffic incidents for a variety of reasons, including when roadways need to be cleared of debris, when immediate roadway repairs are necessary and when DPS requests traffic control. Equipment Services is responsible for maintaining ADOT’s fleet of vehicles and its workers are rarely asked to report to an incident scene.

“The shops know when to look out for one another,” said Devin Darlek, equipment services administrator. “There have been many instances where the maintenance crews help out our shop personnel. To see it live, it’s like watching a great team playing on the field.”

By now, it was close to 1 p.m. and Kennedy knew something had to be done quickly.

“It’s a Friday afternoon,” he explained. “Everyone is coming to Lake Powell, people are towing boats, motorhomes are out there, lots of foreign tourists. It was going to be a mess.”

To Kennedy, the only option was for Equipment Services, which maintains and repairs ADOT vehicles, to step out of its comfort zone and clear US 89. On the foursome’s mind was the recent 25-month closure of US 89 south of Page because of a massive landslide.

“All four of us are cognizant of what it means to have the major route in or out of town cut off,” said Kennedy. “This was smaller, but we were definitely thinking about that.”

So, Kennedy directed Allen to drive a front-loader to the scene and clear large debris, while he and Tsinigine helped direct traffic to ensure Allen had enough space to operate. Begay stayed in a truck because the crew did not have enough orange safety vests for all to be working on the highway. The cleanup effort took about 20 minutes and traffic began flowing at a steady pace in both directions almost immediately.

“Dusty got the majority of the debris cleared,” Kennedy said. “It quit raining hard and that slowed the debris flow. Maintenance showed up and thanked us and they took over doing the dirty work of cleaning up all the muck.”

By 3:20 p.m., the highway had fully reopened, providing travelers easy passage to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and points beyond.

Kennedy praised his co-workers for reacting quickly to a situation that called for action beyond their job descriptions, calling it a “whole team effort.”

“It was just common sense,” Kennedy said. “Felt to me like the right thing to do.”

We’ve been following the US 89 Cameron roadway improvement project pretty closely here on the blog.

You might remember our last post described how crews were just beginning to remove the Cameron Truss Bridge, a 57-year-old structure that spans the Little Colorado River. Rather, we should say used to span the Little Colorado River because, as you can see from the newest project photos at right, the bridge is now gone.

Since this was a steel arch bridge, things went down a little differently than some of the other demolitions we’ve covered. Crews actually had to “cut” the bridge into pieces to disassemble it. Right now, those pieces are in the process of being hauled off site.

Just to give you an idea of how big a task this is, here’s an excerpt from Arizona’s Historic Bridge Inventory, explaining the bridge’s size (plus a revealing look at what things cost back in the 50s):

“In August 1957 Arizona Highway Department awarded a contract for the bridge's construction to the Vinson Construction Company of Phoenix. The contractors started work on the bridge that summer, completing it the following year for a cost of over $500,000. The Cameron Bridge was massive, consuming over 2,500 cubic yards of concrete and 1.2 million pounds of structural steel.”

Removing the bridge (and replacing it with two new bridges) is just part of the project...

Work started in March 2014 to expand US 89 from two lanes to four lanes through the community of Cameron between State Route 64 and the Little Colorado River (mileposts 464-467). Additional improvements include constructing a roundabout at the existing intersection of US 89 and SR 64, new sidewalks, streetlights and four pedestrian/livestock underpasses.

Crews have already completed the new northbound bridge and pedestrian walkway. The new bridge is being used by north- and southbound traffic.

Right now, northbound construction is pretty much complete including the curb, gutter, sidewalks and lighting along the northbound stretch.

Southbound roadway construction is underway and work on the southbound bridge is expected to start at the end of the month. Crews will begin by drilling foundations and working up from there.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on the progress! If you’d like more on the project, please revisit some of our previous posts.

Yes, the US 89 landslide repair project is complete, but that doesn’t mean we’re done blogging about it!

Today, we want to share three new time-lapse videos that squeeze about nine months of the repair into an amazing two minutes. You’ll notice the video up top shows an alternating view from two cameras. The videos at right show the shots from each camera separately.

Looking back
Since we’re revisiting the project today, let us point out some of the milestones from along the way. You might remember that prior to starting the US 89 landslide repair in summer 2014, ADOT had to clear several significant hurdles to keep the project moving forward…

In the two years since the Feb. 20, 2013 landslide:

• There was an extensive geotechnical assessment that was performed at the site.
• Crews paved US 89T (Navajo Route 20) so that it could serve as a short-term detour.
• Environmental reviews were conducted.
• The repair project itself, which started last summer and called for the removal of about one million cubic yards of rock material to realign the roadway and construct a downslope rock buttress to stabilize wrapped up last month and the road was opened to traffic on March 31.

After you’re done watching the new videos, you can learn even more about the project by revisiting our previous blog posts. And, to see some really great visuals from the project, be sure to check out our Flickr album and our US 89 YouTube playlist for a look at the repairs from start to finish.

As you might know by now, the stretch of US 89 that had been closed following a 2013 landslide, is open to traffic...

ADOT reopened the road last week and the first vehicle to drive on it was a school bus from the Page Unified School District!

As you’ll see in the video above, the project was a unique one for ADOT. It’s also one that has had a big impact on community members, who have been using alternative routes, including the Temporary US 89 route that was opened in August 2013, to get to and from the Page and Lake Powell areas.

“The road is open,” says Bitter Springs resident Eulinda in the video. “It means a lot to us who live here.”

For a look at the project’s progress over the past two years, you can revisit these blog posts and check out the many videos that have focused on the US 89 repair.