News

PHOENIX - O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

You just fell off my SUV

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

I lost you on Loop 303

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

What will I tell my family?

Don’t be the unlucky Christmas tree buyer whose tree falls off a vehicle only moments after strapping it to your vehicle’s roof. Set aside the embarrassment or wasted expense, because Christmas trees that fall off vehicles are a serious safety hazard that drivers should plan to avoid before bringing their trees home this holiday season.

FLAGSTAFF – With the winter months rapidly approaching, the Arizona Department of Transportation has closed State Route 67 between Jacob Lake (US 89A) and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

ADOT closes a number of highways every year  as part of the agency’s winter shutdown schedule due to significant amounts of snowfall these regions typically receive.

In addition to the SR 67 closure, highways such as state routes 261 and 273 in the White Mountains will close by Dec. 31, though they could close sooner depending on the weather.

TUCSON - All lanes of the Houghton Road interchange at Interstate 10 are now open as the Arizona Department of Transportation has completed a new kind of interchange for southern Arizona.

The $24.4 million project features a diverging diamond interchange, an innovative design that will improve safety and traffic flow in a rapidly growing part of southeast Tucson.

FLAGSTAFF – The Meteor Crater Rest Area on Interstate 40 east of Flagstaff has reopened to travelers in time for holiday travel after the Arizona Department of Transportation completed a renovation of the facility.

The rest area, which was closed in January of this year, received upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improvements to the water/wastewater system, as well as architectural, electrical, mechanical rehabilitation and resurfacing of the parking lot.

PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns specialty license plate has a new look and it’s a slam dunk for fans of the NBA Western Conference champions.

The Phoenix Suns specialty plate can be ordered at azmvdnow.gov, which is the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division’s primary online self-service portal.

PHOENIX – The Record of Decision and Final Preliminary Section 4(f) Evaluation for the 280-mile Interstate 11 study corridor – stretching from Nogales to Wickenburg – has been completed and published. After more than five years of study, technical analysis and input from communities and stakeholders, the publication of this decision document marks a major milestone as the final step in the Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement process for this proposed highway corridor.

Cooler temperatures are around the corner and that means snow in Arizona’s high country. To help travelers this winter, the Arizona Department of Transportation has partnered with the National Weather Service to create graphics that use their color code for storm severity to better inform drivers of what to expect from winter storms.

FLAGSTAFF – As winter season approaches, the Arizona Department of Transportation is shoring up its northern Arizona projects in anticipation of cooler temperatures and snow.

Two projects in the Flagstaff area that will shut down by Monday, Nov. 15, are the bridge replacement project on I-40 over Business 40 in west Flagstaff and the I-40 paving project from I-17 to Walnut Canyon Road. Crews are working to ensure that both lanes on I-40 in both directions will be open through the winter season.

PHOENIX – Give yourself the gift of travel this holiday season and upgrade your driver license to the Arizona Travel ID.

Now is a great time to get the Arizona Travel ID because, historically, Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division offices see fewer customers during the holiday season than other times of the year. 

SHOW LOW – Did you know that about 60% of all roadway fatalities in Arizona are the result of vehicles leaving the road? That’s why the Arizona Department of Transportation has started a new project along US 60 west of Show Low to create a space for those vehicles to safely stop and recover.

On US 60 west of Show Low, there have been 11 fatal and 34 serious injury crashes over the last 10 years between mileposts 292 and 340. Many of these crashes involved leaving the roadway.

PHOENIX –  In the past two years since the Arizona Department of Transportation started the Incident Response Unit sponsored by State Farm, pickup of litter and dangerous roadway debris has been far faster and more efficient than before.

The Arizona Department of Transportation and the city of Willcox are asking for the public’s feedback through the end of November on two potential traffic circulation changes to reduce the impact of freight traffic while improving safety in downtown Willcox.

BENSON - Motorists who use the Interstate 10/Pomerene Road interchange on the east side of Benson should plan for a full closure of Business 10/4th Street starting 6 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, as the Arizona Department of Transportation begins a $6.1 million bridge replacement project.

B-10/4th Street will close between Pomerene Road to the south of I-10 and the Cochise County maintenance yard through August 2022 while construction crews replace a bridge over the San Pedro River.

TUCSON - All ramps and frontage roads linking Interstate 10 to Ruthrauff Road/El Camino del Cerro are now fully open to traffic as the Arizona Department of Transportation has completed a major interchange reconstruction project in northwest Tucson.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has signed an agreement with the developer team that will design, build, operate and maintain the Interstate 17 Improvement Project from Anthem Way to Sunset Point. 

The total project cost is $445,940,000, which includes the construction cost by the developer team, along with ADOT’s cost to administer the project. 

PHOENIX – More than 2.5 million Arizonans have discovered that the fastest, easiest and most convenient way to do business with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division is to go online at azmvdnow.gov.

azmvdnow.gov is the MVD’s primary self-serve online website and recently surpassed 2.5 million account activations. That means the MVD is able to get millions of Arizonans out of the line and safely on the road.

CAMP VERDE – An Arizona Department of Transportation project to improve the Verde River bridges on I-17 near Camp Verde is underway to add capping to the bridge footings in the river bed to prevent erosion, protecting vital infrastructure on the primary route between Phoenix and Flagstaff. 

The work utilizes a method to channel river flow through the work zone by constructing a temporary “earthen bypass channel” to contain the river flow so crews can safely work outside of the area placing concrete caps over the footings of the Verde River bridges.

PHOENIX – Beginning Feb. 7, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will require new commercial driver license (CDL) applicants and those seeking to upgrade their CDL to receive training from a certified organization on the national registry of Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) providers.

GLOBE  – US 60 will close between Superior and Miami between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 25, while crews continue work to remove the old Pinto Creek Bridge.

During the closure, US 60 traffic will be detoured to SR 177 in Superior and SR 77 in Globe. The detour includes a 10% grade and will significantly increase travel time. Traffic will not be allowed to queue at the closure locations.