Video

VIDEO: See the I-17 wrong-way alert system in action

VIDEO: See the I-17 wrong-way alert system in action

SR24-1

VIDEO: See the I-17 wrong-way alert system in action

VIDEO: See the I-17 wrong-way alert system in action

January 8, 2019

By Doug Nintzel / ADOT Communications

ADOT's wrong-way vehicle alert system, installed along 15 miles of I-17 in Phoenix, includes 90 thermal cameras that detect and track vehicles entering off-ramps or traveling on the freeway in the wrong direction.

The video above shows how this pilot system worked earlier this week when a pickup entered the freeway's northbound lanes at Camelback Road and proceeded south until state troopers, alerted by the system, stopped the vehicle. It's a chronological series of clips from thermal cameras as they detected the truck at the Camelback off-ramp and at Indian School, Thomas and McDowell roads.

Because of the instant alerts provided by thermal cameras, state troopers are able to zero in on a wrong-way vehicle's location faster than they can through 911 calls from other motorists. Meanwhile, ADOT can instantly warn other motorists through overhead message boards and have ramp meter lights in the area hold on red to alert those entering the freeway to the threat.

This $4 million system, the first of its kind in the nation, has to date recorded detections of more than 45 wrong-way vehicles within the project’s boundaries. Nearly all of the drivers in these incidents have either turned around on an off-ramp or drove on the frontage road without entering the mainline lanes of I-17.

Improvements make for smoother, safer ride on SR 88

Improvements make for smoother, safer ride on SR 88

SR24-1

Improvements make for smoother, safer ride on SR 88

Improvements make for smoother, safer ride on SR 88

November 26, 2018

By David Woodfill / ADOT Communications

Hey weekend warriors, your trips to Canyon Lake and beyond just got nicer on State Route 88, also known as Apache Trail.

We've resurfaced sections, installed rumble strips and replaced old guardrails among $6.5 million of improvements that started last fall. Check out the video above for details.

As we shared recently in announcing completion of this project just east of Apache Junction, drivers still hold the keys to safety.

Because of the terrain it travels through and the date when it was created (to help those building Roosevelt Dam a century ago), Apache Trail is winding and requires a lower speed limit. So slow down, drive alert and ALWAYS designate a sober driver.

The improvements we've made will make for a smoother and safer ride. Now we're trusting you to do your part.

VIDEO: Renovated Sacaton Rest Area reopens along Interstate 10

VIDEO: Renovated Sacaton Rest Area reopens along Interstate 10

SR24-1

VIDEO: Renovated Sacaton Rest Area reopens along Interstate 10

VIDEO: Renovated Sacaton Rest Area reopens along Interstate 10

November 15, 2018

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

ADOT rest areas are far more than places to – well, you know.

Among other things, rest areas provide opportunities to stretch legs, walk pets, have picnic lunches and safely use phones and other mobile electronic devices.

We understand it's a hardship when a rest area closes for a long renovation, and we appreciate your patience while we upgraded facilities at the I-10 Sacaton Rest Area between Phoenix and Casa Grande.

Located at about 30 miles southeast of Phoenix near State Route 387, Sacaton is the only ADOT pit stop along I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix.

Our video team was on hand as Sacaton reopened last week to show the improvements and talk with travelers. We hope you enjoy the video above as well as the many upgrades at; this well-used rest area.

In a minor crash? Move your car out of travel lanes

In a minor crash? Move your car out of travel lanes

I-17 101 traffic interchange

In a minor crash? Move your car out of travel lanes

In a minor crash? Move your car out of travel lanes

November 13, 2018

PHOENIX – If you have the misfortune to be involved in a non-injury fender bender on a freeway, do not leave your car stopped in travel lanes, while you circle the vehicle taking photos of dents and dings from dozens of angles and waiting for a forensics team to arrive and piece together the cause of the collision.

That’s not safe and they’re not coming.

If you find yourself in this situation move your vehicle to the shoulder where you can safely exchange information with the other driver, inspect your vehicle for damage and wait for law enforcement to arrive. This is called “Quick Clearance” and is a traffic incident management strategy that keeps motorists safe and traffic moving.

During National Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Awareness Week (Nov. 11-17), the Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Public Safety and other traffic-safety stakeholders are providing the traveling public with TIM tips. In addition, motorists will see TIM-related safety messages on overhead signs and on social media this week.

“Not only do TIM techniques keep traffic moving as efficiently and smoothly as possible,” said Derek Arnson, ADOT’s Traffic Management Group manager, “they make it safer for those involved in the incident, safer for those responding to the incident and safer for the motorists traveling near the incident.”

Nearly 350 vehicle crashes occur every day in Arizona and most will be visited by emergency responders, which can include law enforcement, fire departments, medical services, transportation crews and tow trucks.  Different responders have different duties on scene – some tend to victims and others gather information about the incident, while others remove damaged vehicles and clear space to make travel safer for other motorists – but all are practicing TIM techniques.

“TIM strategies are used by first responders on a daily basis to keep motorists safe on Arizona’s roadways, while reducing traffic congestion that often causes secondary collisions,” said Lt. Col. Wayde Webb of the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol Division.

While responders employ a variety of TIM strategies that keep motorists safe and traffic moving efficiently, the public plays a role, too. First, motorists can practice “Quick Clearance,” a state law that requires a driver involved in a minor crash without injuries to remove their vehicle from the roadway if it is operable and can be moved safely. In addition to moving vehicles from the roadway to increase safety, Arizona’s “Move Over” law requires motorists to move over one lane – or slow down if it’s not safe to change lanes – when approaching any vehicle with flashing lights pulled to the side of a road or highway.

Giving responders space to work can be a life-saving action, said Angela Barnett, Executive Director of the Arizona Professional Towing and Recovery Association. On average, one tow truck operator is struck and killed every six days in the United States, according to national crash statistics.

“Give us room to do our jobs,” Barnett said. “When you see an incident or flashing lights ahead, please pay attention and slow down. It’s real life out there and we all want to go home at the end of the day.”

Remember, if you are involved in a crash, the first action to take is to make sure you and occupants in your vehicle are OK. Then, if your vehicle is operable, move to the emergency shoulder, median or exit the highway and call 911. Stay out of travel lanes, be alert and watch approaching traffic. Never leave the scene of a crash.

Video: Get the 411 on the Arizona Travel ID

Video: Get the 411 on the Arizona Travel ID

SR24-1

Video: Get the 411 on the Arizona Travel ID

Video: Get the 411 on the Arizona Travel ID

October 3, 2018

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

You've probably heard of the Arizona Travel ID, but you may still be wondering if you need it, when you need it and how to get it.

Our latest video explains what the Travel ID is used for and who may want to obtain one. We'll also take you step by step through the process of getting an Arizona Travel ID. If you still have questions, you can get additional information on our website.

Video: Use eTitle for easier private vehicle sales

Video: Use eTitle for easier private vehicle sales

SR24-1

Video: Use eTitle for easier private vehicle sales

Video: Use eTitle for easier private vehicle sales

May 21, 2018

By Doug Nick /ADOT Communications

MVD is making it easier to buy and sell vehicles in private sales! For basic customer-to-customer transactions, you can now transfer titles online at ServiceArizona.com. It’s easy and only takes a few minutes. Here’s a quick video showing how it works.

Clean freaks and neatniks wanted: Help keep AZ beautiful by joining Adopt a Highway

Clean freaks and neatniks wanted: Help keep AZ beautiful by joining Adopt a Highway

SR24-1

Clean freaks and neatniks wanted: Help keep AZ beautiful by joining Adopt a Highway

Clean freaks and neatniks wanted: Help keep AZ beautiful by joining Adopt a Highway

April 9, 2018

By David Woodfill / ADOT Communications

Miles of highway cleaned: 1,500

Bags of trash collected: 14,000

Taxpayer dollars saved: 500,000

Knowing you've made Arizona more beautiful: Priceless.

Adopt a Highway volunteers are at the front lines in keeping Arizona's magnificent landscapes pristine. And as impressive as the aforementioned numbers are, we could use a little more help.

That's where you come in. Yes, you – the one reading this blog. ADOT and Adopt a Highway need your help as long as there are people who feel entitled to litter our beautiful roadways.

In the words of ADOT Director John Halikowski, “We have to continue changing the culture until everyone instinctively knows that littering is absolutely unacceptable."

Until then, more tireless and selfless volunteers are needed to continue attacking the problem of litter on Arizona's roadways.

There are two ways to chip in: Volunteering and sponsoring.

Groups can apply for two-year permits to adopt highway stretches at azdot.gov/AdoptAHighway. Highways are available throughout the state. There is no shortage of paved roadway that can use a little TLC.

Those volunteers get their own signs featuring the names of their organizations in exchange for at least three cleanups a year. ADOT will provide the reflective lime-green safety vests and trash bags, and we'll haul away the garbage.

Business owners can sponsor a highway and use ADOT-approved vendors to clean up. Those businesses can get their own signage with their company names and logos.

So, what are you waiting for? Join us and help keep Arizona beautiful!

Top five reasons to download the ADOT Alerts app

Top five reasons to download the ADOT Alerts app

SR24-1

Top five reasons to download the ADOT Alerts app

Top five reasons to download the ADOT Alerts app

November 2, 2017

By Doug Pacey / ADOT Communications

We launched our ADOT Alerts app this week, and it’s something you might rarely have the chance to use.

And that’s a good thing.

But you’ll definitely want to download ADOT Alerts, and here’s why:

  • If there’s an unplanned, major traffic impact in your area, you’ll be notified so you can choose to take an alternate route or delay your travel plans.
  • We’ll also send alerts that warn motorists of potentially dangerous situations affecting highway travel, like dust storms and wrong-way drivers.
  • Alerts will sent to targeted locations, so you might receive an alert when you’re at home, school, work or anywhere else. That way, you’ll be informed a traffic incident long before you get on the highway and can avoid driving into a backup.
  • Because alerts will be sent to targeted locations, we won’t blow up your smartphone with notifications that aren’t relevant.
  • ADOT Alerts is free – it runs on iOS and Android mobile devices.

After downloading the app, be sure to enable Location Services and Notifications. That’s it. The next time you use the app might be when it notifies you of a highway closure with enough warning to re-route and avoid getting stuck in the backup.

Oh, there’s one more reason to download ADOT Alerts: You can enter to win one of 200 $20 gift cards from Dutch Bros Arizona. Here’s how to enter:

  • Download the app.
  • Enable Notifications and Location Services.
  • Wait to get an alert that sends you a link to the contest page where you can enter. You won't receive this alert right away after downloading. We'll send these alerts a few times a week through December, so keep an eye out, and winners will be notified in January.

Follow biologists locating, and relocating, chuckwallas for South Mountain Freeway

Follow biologists locating, and relocating, chuckwallas for South Mountain Freeway

SR24-1

Follow biologists locating, and relocating, chuckwallas for South Mountain Freeway

Follow biologists locating, and relocating, chuckwallas for South Mountain Freeway

October 4, 2017

By Mike Harris and John Dougherty / ADOT Communications

Capturing chuckwallas is no easy task. We saw that ourselves recently when we followed biologists searching cracks other hiding places to locate and move these large lizards from a segment where South Mountain Freeway construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2018.

South Mountain Freeway Chuckwalla Relocation

As our news release notes, chuckwallas need a hand to relocate. Unlike most other animals, they hunker down rather than flee when facing danger.

Approximately 120 chuckwallas were captured and released several hundred feet away when biologists made several visits to the area over the summer.

The video above and photo slideshow below show the search, as well as how biologists weighed, measured and tagged chuckwallas before releasing them.

Project offers rare look at what lies beneath a highway surface

Project offers rare look at what lies beneath a highway surface

SR24-1

Project offers rare look at what lies beneath a highway surface

Project offers rare look at what lies beneath a highway surface

October 2, 2017

By Peter Corbett / ADOT Communications

A project underway on Interstate 40 just west of Williams offers a rare opportunity to see what lies beneath at least some of the seemingly endless miles of roadway in the state highway system.

Rather than milling off the top layer of pavement and installing a new surface, work occurring in eastbound lanes between mileposts 156 and 161 is rebuilding the roadway from the ground up.

This stretch, at an elevation of about 6,700 feet, has taken a beating from truck traffic and frequent freezing and thawing in winter. That led to cracking, potholes and, now, a $33.9 million improvement project.

So what lies under that road surface other than the ground?

In this case, it begins with bits of what’s being replaced. A rock crusher breaks concrete that was part of the old roadway into small pieces that serve as a base layer of aggregate 8 inches deep.

Next up is a 4-inch base of asphalt the full width of the roadway, topped by 14 inches of grooved concrete for the travel lanes. Asphalt 18 inches deep goes down for the shoulders.

The video above has much more information on the work and its benefits, as does our news release on this project and others improving I-40 west of Flagstaff.

To accommodate construction in the eastbound lanes, both directions of travel are using the westbound lanes, separated by a concrete barrier.

With the eastbound work scheduled to end by winter, crews will return in the spring to rebuild westbound lanes. While a portion of the westbound stretch will be rebuilt from the ground up, the majority will be topped with 14 inches of concrete in the travel lanes and 14 inches of asphalt on the shoulders.

“ADOT is making a huge investment to improve the roadways to make sure travel is safe and efficient, to maintain the commerce corridors and get people where they need to be,” said Brenden Foley, ADOT’s senior resident engineer in charge of the project.

What makes up a particular stretch of highway depends on local conditions. In this case, the clay soil and remote location have a lot to do with the aggregate base topped by asphalt topped in turn by concrete.

I-40 Devil Dog to Williams