News

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.

PHOENIX – A new full-time format for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Construction Academy pre-apprenticeship training program readies participants for highway construction jobs in just two weeks.

The first cohort in the Highway Construction-Jump Start program graduated in October after hands-on instruction in Camp Verde. At no cost to them, seven participants received training and certifications needed to compete for entry-level jobs on construction projects.

PHOENIX – Arizona Highways magazine, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, won 17 awards at the International Regional Magazine Association’s recent annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PHOENIX – A new technique that basically slides precast bridges into place has greatly reduced delays for the Bellemont community with an Arizona Department of Transportation project replacing spans over Interstate 40 at Transwestern Road west of Flagstaff.

Using this technique, which the contractor proposed, allowed crews to replace the bridges during a nine-day closure of Transwestern Road over I-40 rather than having the six to eight months of restrictions required for a traditional bridge replacement project.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is completing a project to install hundreds of new, more visible wrong way signs along Phoenix-area freeways as part of ongoing efforts to get the attention of often-impaired drivers who go the wrong direction on off-ramps or in travel lanes.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has received a 2019 National Roadway Safety Award for the wrong-way vehicle alert system being tested on Interstate 17 in Phoenix.

PHOENIX – Two sections of 59th Avenue along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway will soon become one-way streets as new frontage roads open.

Beginning Saturday, Oct. 19, 59th Avenue will carry only northbound traffic between Lower Buckeye and Buckeye roads. A new frontage road on the west side of the future freeway will carry southbound traffic.

PHOENIX – Connect 202 Partners, the developer building the 22-mile Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, and 10 subcontractors on the project have combined to achieve three on-the-job training goals.

Participants in the training, which is required for Arizona Department of Transportation projects that receive federal funding, are members of minority groups, women and economically disadvantaged individuals.

PHOENIX – To enhance safety and minimize disruption of traffic after crashes on Valley freeways, the Arizona Department of Transportation has established an Incident Response Unit to work alongside state troopers and other first responders.

Fourteen units, which are part of ADOT’s Traffic Systems Management and Operations Division (TSMO), patrol freeways to be ready to respond quickly to incidents. Drivers can expect to see them helping with traffic control after crashes, removing debris from freeways and doing minor maintenance.

A proposal to make improvements to Interstate 10 at the Broadway Curve – the most-heavily traveled stretch of freeway in Arizona – is now available for public review and comment.

Those taking State Route 88 (Apache Trail) between Apache Junction and Tortilla Flat should use caution with some areas at the edge of the roadway coned off while the Arizona Department of Transportation addresses flood damage.

An Arizona Department of Transportation project on US 60 east of the Phoenix area is replacing the 70-year-old bridge over Pinto Creek with a nearly 700-foot span designed to better accommodate personal and commercial travel for decades to come. 

PHOENIX – A section of State Route 88 (Apache Trail) has reopened from SR 188 to the Apache Lake marina turnoff after being closed because of flood damage.

Motorists can now access Apache Lake by taking SR 188 either from US 60 or SR 87 and taking SR 88 west. High clearance vehicles are recommended on this unpaved section of SR 88.

Motorists using SR 88 should be aware of the possibility of severe flooding and debris flows from areas affected by the Woodbury Fire, which burned 100,000 acres immediately east of and uphill from the highway.

PHOENIX – As news about an airplane crash near the runway sets off an alarm inside the operations building at the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, airport managers begin following their emergency procedures as firefighters rush to tend to victims.

This major drill that staff the Arizona Department of Transportation-operated airport completed recently is critical to being ready for the real thing. The exercise, required every three years by the Federal Aviation Administration, makes sure staff are ready to put the airport’s emergency plan into action.

PHOENIX –– Will your license fly? Don’t get grounded!

Interstate 10 is now three lanes in each direction all the way between Tucson and Casa Grande thanks to investments by the Arizona Department of Transportation.