News

PHOENIX – This week’s winter storms will have many desert dwellers heading to the high country to toss snowballs, make snow angels, sled, etc., etc. Have a great time if you’re among them, but leave prepared to spend extended time in frigid conditions and pack a fully charged cellphone and other safety essentials.  

PHOENIX – After spending time in temporary nurseries, more than 1,000 saguaro cactuses, palo verde trees and other native plants removed from the path of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway are now being used to grace the 22-mile corridor.

Other plants salvaged and being replanted for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s largest-ever highway project include ironwood and mesquite trees, as well as ocotillo and barrel cactuses

PHOENIX – The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway is open to traffic, providing a much needed alternative to Interstate 10 through downtown Phoenix while improving the quality of life in a fast-growing region.

The freeway opened Saturday, Dec. 21, three days after a grand opening ceremony that featured Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski and other Valley leaders.

PHOENIX – To promote safe driving, the Arizona Department of Transportation has added more electronic speed feedback signs along busy stretches of state highways.

Showing vehicle speeds on digital displays next to posted speed limits, the signs are designed to help drivers avoid speeding, which is a factor in many crashes on all roadways.

PHOENIX – An alignment for the planned State Route 30 south of Interstate 10 in the southwest Valley has gained approval with the completion of an environmental study conducted by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The new year will usher in a new way for Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division customers to get license plates, registration tabs and many documents such as vehicle titles.

Beginning in January, customers will receive these items through the U.S. Mail and will no longer be able to obtain them at an MVD or Authorized Third Party office. Customers should make sure their address is current and complete with the U.S. Postal Service and MVD. 

More potential teen drivers are choosing to take the learner’s permit test online than ever before. For the first time since the Permit Test @ Home was introduced in March, 2018, more tests are being taken online than at MVD offices.

Data for the month of November show that slightly more than 50 percent of all permit tests were taken using the Permit Test @ Home as opposed to just over 49 percent of tests taken at an MVD office. By comparison, in November, 2018, office tests outpaced online testing by approximately 57 percent to 43 percent.

PHOENIX - Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division customers in the Flagstaff region will soon be able to do business in a state-of-the-art office as ADOT opens a new facility in the former Harkins Theatres building at 1959 S. Woodlands Village Blvd. on Monday, December 23.

PHOENIX – Because of the incoming winter storm, the Arizona Department of Transportation is closing State Route 67 to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

During the winter, ADOT closes and doesn’t clear snow from SR 67, a 43-mile highway between US 89A at Jacob Lake and the park, since North Rim visitor accommodations are shut down. After closing on Dec. 1 – or earlier when weather warrants, as in this case – SR 67 reopens each spring, usually around mid-May.

PHOENIX – If you see Arizona Department of Transportation employees at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix beginning this holiday travel season, don’t be surprised. They’re raising awareness about the AZ Travel ID.

The AZ Travel ID is the driver license or ID card that meets the new federal ID requirements that the U.S. Transportation and Security Administration will impose at all airport security checkpoints beginning October 1, 2020.

PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Transportation snowplows will operate around the clock when winter storms hamper travel on state highways. For Interstate 40 between Flagstaff and Williams, the highest freeway stretch in Arizona, an innovation known as the TowPlow helps give ADOT an edge by allowing just one driver to clear snow and ice from two lanes.

The TowPlow is a steerable trailer with a 26-foot blade that attaches to the back of a snowplow. Two TowPlows are assigned to I-40 west of Flagstaff, an area that often sees intense snowfall.

PHOENIX – The deadline is approaching for public comment on a Draft Environmental Assessment on improvements proposed for 11 miles of Interstate 10 between the Interstate 17 “Split” interchange and the Loop 202 Santan Freeway.

The Draft Environmental Assessment, which was published on Oct. 4, is available for review at i10broadwaycurve.com. The deadline for comments to be included in the Final Environmental Assessment is Monday, Nov. 18.

PHOENIX – For those building the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, it’s obvious which vehicles belong in the 22-mile work zone. Many are very large. Smaller vehicles have flashing lights, and some have brightly colored flags waving high in the air to let others know they are in the area.

PHOENIX – The term “Traffic Incident Management” might sound technical. Maybe even a bit boring. And, in practice, TIM is both of those things, which is great for motorists.

TIM is a planned and coordinated process to detect, respond to and remove traffic incidents, like crashes, and restore traffic capacity as safely and quickly as possible. That means TIM techniques and strategies will keep you safer if you’re involved in a crash; protect the professionals responding to crashes; and reduce congestion near incidents that can lead to secondary collisions.

PHOENIX – When blowing dust reduces visibility along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Eloy and Picacho Peak, a detection and warning system developed by the Arizona Department of Transportation will quickly tell drivers to reduce speed for safety.

PHOENIX – More Arizonans are getting the AZ Travel ID than ever before.

Data released by the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division show that the number of the federally-compliant AZ Travel IDs issued at MVD and Authorized Third Party offices has jumped considerably, from less than 20 percent in January to 65 percent now.

“An increase of 45 percent in less than a year is a testament to customer service professionals doing an excellent job,” said MVD Director Eric Jorgensen. “But our message is still, ‘Will your license fly?’”

PHOENIX – A study to improve Interstate 10 and State Route 210 – and to connect the two important highways for enhanced access to downtown Tucson – is now available for public review and comment.

PHOENIX – Motorists who travel on US 60 between Miami and Superior should plan ahead for about six weeks of twice-a-week daytime closures starting Thursday, Nov. 7, as rock blasting begins for the Pinto Creek Bridge replacement project.

PHOENIX – In addition to widening 4 miles of Interstate 10 and adding a first-of-its-kind dust detection and warning system, an Arizona Department of Transportation project nearing completion at Eloy has created a modern State Route 87 interchange able to handle traffic demands for decades to come.

Along with a new SR 87 bridge spanning the Union Pacific Railroad tracks just to the north, a bridge over I-10 features two lanes in each direction plus turn lanes and traffic signals, a step up from one lane in each direction offered by the former interchange.

PHOENIX – Arizona consumers should be on the alert for a phony email scam that has been spotted in the Yuma region.

Yuma-area media have reported that some area residents have received an email purportedly from the “Department of Motor Vehicles” demanding that the recipient pay for a civil traffic violation within 48 hours or face arrest.