By Doug Nick / ADOT Communications

It’s stylish… good-looking… useful… and very, very popular.

“It” is the Route 66 specialty license plate that’s been available since December 2016 and has really found a place in the hearts – not to mention on the rear bumpers – of a lot of Arizona motorists.

Thousands of these plates have flown off the shelves, and the best part of that is more than $51,000 has been raised already for Route 66 preservation efforts.

In case you didn’t know, Route 66 isn’t a federal highway any more. It was officially de-commissioned in the 1980s when I-40 was completed. But many parts of the roadway are not only usable, they’re vital to their communities. Flagstaff, Kingman, Holbrook and other cities and towns rely on Route 66 for more than nostalgia; plenty of thriving businesses have a Route 66 address.

But if it’s nostalgia that puts air in your tires, Route 66 fills that role. So that specialty plate money, which will only continue to grow as the years go by and more plates are sold, comes in handy to make sure people are reminded about the countless lives that have been touched in some way by the “Mother Road.”

Now, did we say the plate itself is stylish? Yes, we did, but you don’t have to take our word for it. The plate just won a national award as “Best New License Plate” in the U.S.

That honor came courtesy of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association. Not too long ago they dropped by to share the award. You can take a look at the video above.

If MVD was a roadside diner, this plate would be today’s special. If we’ve whetted your appetite, you can order one here: azdot.gov/mvd.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

ADOT is on track with a two-year project to rebuild the Ina Road at I-10 into a traffic interchange that will improve traffic flow and safety. As the video above shows, the job site is buzzing with activity.

Right now, we’re preparing for new bridges over the Santa Cruz River, building pillars that will carry Ina Road over I-10 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. We’re also preparing to add a lane in each direction along both eastbound I-10 and along Ina west of I-10.

When we’re done, Marana and northern Pima County will have a modern, efficient interchange very much like the one at Prince Road. We’re on schedule to reopen Ina Road in early 2019. You can access neighboring businesses throughout the project.

By Doug Nintzel / ADOT Communications

You’ve heard the saying that you don’t want to know how hot dogs are made.

Well, that’s not true of rubberized asphalt. In fact, some ADOT staffers recently took a tour of a couple of the Valley businesses involved in the process of creating the smooth, durable asphalt that features rubber from recycled tires as a key ingredient.

Since an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 17 in Phoenix is being resurfaced this spring, we wanted to take a look at how they make that pavement.

We started at the Crumb Rubber Manufacturers plant in east Mesa. This facility takes mountains of old tires and turns them into tiny granules of rubber that eventually go into the mix for rubberized asphalt.

First stop: The plant’s large back lot, featuring those big tire piles. It’s here that workers place tire after tire on conveyor belts that feed them through a series of machines that chew them up while spitting out smaller and smaller pieces. The screeching and stretching sound of a tire giving up its original life to become part of a freeway’s pavement is something to behold.

Along the way at this rubberized version of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, the steel in the tires is removed along with fibers and other similar material. There are magnets that help collect it. What we couldn’t see inside the plant involves a freezing process that’s included in reducing the tire rubber down to the consistency of ground coffee. It’s all placed in large white storage bags.

From there, large containers of the crumb rubber are trucked out, destined for another company that starts the process of blending those tire particles with the liquid asphalt.

The rubberized asphalt being used on the current project to resurface Interstate 17 in Phoenix is manufactured at a Vulcan Materials Co. plant near Broadway Road and 43rd Avenue. The large dirt lot where the plant operates is dotted with various mounds of aggregate – the rock material used in asphalt pavement.

Our ADOT crew was provided with great access to see how the asphalt is made. Safety comes first as you keep an eye out for vehicles that are coming and going, including a front loader hauling aggregate to bins that will feed the small rocks onto a conveyor belt.

Nearby, the liquid asphalt and melted crumb rubber blend flows from special heat tanks. The key ingredients are mixed in rotating drums that also keep the rubberized asphalt hot before it is shipped along one more conveyor system into tall silos for storage.

Those silos are mounted on top of an open steel platform, which large dump trucks are able to pull under. Each driver pulls in beneath the correct silo. Hatch doors then open, allowing the rubberized asphalt to drop into the truck’s bed.

From there the still hot asphalt is delivered to the freeway job site, ready to be paved into a one-inch thick overlay that by the end of any one weekend, thousands of I-17 drivers will be traveling on.

Enjoy the ride. Remember: Thousands of tires went into making it a smooth one.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

Three months after closing Ina Road at I-10 for construction of a modern traffic interchange, ADOT is on track to complete work in early 2019. The slideshows above and below show how work is progressing at Ina Road and I-10, and just to the west at bridges where Ina Road crosses the Santa Cruz River.

With the bridge that carried eastbound I-10 over Ina Road already removed, crews are working to rebuild a four-lane Ina Road west of the freeway and are digging holes for pillars that will support a bridge to carry Ina over I-10 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The result will be a smoother traffic flow without regular interruptions for trains passing through.

About a half mile to the west, pillars are in place to carry a two-lane bridge over the Santa Cruz River for traffic moving toward I-10. Once that bridge is in place ADOT crews will replace the existing bridge with a new structure, giving drivers an additional lane in each direction.

Current traffic patterns in the area will remain in place until early next year, when crews will remove the westbound I-10 bridge and finish the job. We're maintaining access to area businesses throughout this important project.

By Peter Corbett / ADOT Communications

An ADOT video crew recently drove scenic State Route 67 between Jacob Lake and the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. You can enjoy footage from that trip above.

As of Monday, May 15, with park facilities reopening, you'll be able to do the same through SR 67's winding path through alpine meadows and forest.

The highway’s winter-season closure started Dec. 1. When park facilities shut down for the winter, and with an average of nine feet of snow falling each year, ADOT blocks the 40-plus-mile-long highway just south of US 89A rather than plowing it.

The North Rim accommodations, which are open from mid-May to mid-October, attract a fraction of Grand Canyon National Park’s 5 million visitors each year. The area's remote setting, more than 200 miles and a four-plus-hour drive from the South Rim, which is accessible throughout the year via SR 64, is among its attractions.

If you're interested in taking SR 67 to the North Rim after the route reopens next week, you need to get to US 89A either from the east (off US 89 south of Page) or from the west, often through Fredonia. Then head south from Jacob Lake and enjoy the view.

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

ADOT strives to create and maintain a safe, efficient highway system. Our Enforcement and Compliance Division (ECD) is a key part of making that happen.

ECD employs certified peace officers who concentrate on commercial vehicle safety. These officers check commercial vehicle driver credentials, weigh vehicles, check registration and insurance, and perform safety inspections.

The video above shows ECD officers at work and explains more about their role in improving highway safety for all motorists.

Check out additional ECD blogs for more information on commercial vehicle inspections and permits.

By Laura Douglas / ADOT Communications

Ever think about the future? Of course you do – and you probably made a resolution or two at the beginning of the year.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is constantly looking ahead and planning for the future through transportation studies. One of our major efforts is the Interstate 11 environmental study that focuses on the area from Nogales to Wickenburg. ADOT is now in its second year of that three-year study with lots of information coming your way, along with opportunities to get involved and provide your comments.

As we move through the study process, we created this video to underscore the importance of Interstate 11 and how it fits into our transportation and economic visions for the state of Arizona. Our global competitiveness, along with good jobs, our quality of life and our connections to major markets, depends directly on our ability to move people, products and services quickly and efficiently throughout our state and beyond.

Here's where you come in. As the Interstate 11 environmental study progresses and new proposed corridor alternatives have taken shape, ADOT needs the public and agencies to comment on the work that's been done. The public comment period began on April 28 and runs through June 2.

The latest study and meeting materials are posted to the Interstate 11 website at i11study.com and an online mapping and comment tool is available. Below is the schedule for the six public meetings. All meetings, which will have an open house format, run from 5 to 7 p.m.

Tuesday, May 2

Arizona Riverpark Inn
777 W. Cushing St.
Tucson 

Wednesday, May 3

Marana Middle School – cafeteria
11285 W. Grier Road
Marana

Thursday, May 4

Nogales High School – cafeteria
1905 N. Apache Blvd.
Nogales

Wednesday, May 10

Dorothy Powell Senior Adult Center – dining room
405 E. Sixth St.
Casa Grande

Thursday, May 11

Wickenburg Community Center
160 N. Valentine St.
Wickenburg

Tuesday, May 16

Buckeye Community Center – multipurpose room
201 E. Centre Ave.
Buckeye

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

As commercial trucks from Mexico enter Arizona at Douglas, Nogales and San Luis, drivers are required to stop for a safety inspection by officers from ADOT’s Enforcement and Compliance Division. For some, that requires little more than a weigh-in and a check of their paperwork. Others get a closer look at such things as tires, brake lights and the straps holding their loads in place.

But if there is any indication – from the driver, the truck or the trailer – that there may be a safety concern, inspectors send the drivers to a Level One inspection. In a building built specifically for that purpose, inspectors conduct a 37-point inspection of everything from brakes to hoses to wiring – including walking under the truck to get a closer look at the truck and trailer. If anything is unsafe, the truck is pulled out of service until the repairs are made.

ADOT’s Border Liaison Unit has been conducting training sessions in Arizona at Douglas, Nogales and San Luis to help commercial trucking companies, drivers and mechanics understand what to expect during safety inspections. As we shared today, this week BLU instructors crossed the international border to meet with commercial trucking interests in San Luis Río Colorado. To get a closer look at how these sessions play out, please take a few minutes to view the video above.