PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation and the Town of Marana have completed a joint project to improve the flow of traffic at the interchange of Interstate 10 and Cortaro Road after improving the pavement and changing lane configurations near the freeway.

A new lane configuration now gives motorists on westbound Cortaro Road at I-10 two dedicated left-turn lanes and two through-lanes, rather than having one of those lanes shared for both movements. The new configuration, along with traffic signal timing changes, will help drivers move through the intersection more efficiently whether they are turning left or continuing through the intersection.

The improvements were coordinated by ADOT and Marana, as the paving and striping changes needed to occur at the same time on each agency’s respective roadway. ADOT’s improvements included paving within the agency’s right-of-way under I-10. Meanwhile, Marana completed a pavement preservation project on Cortaro Farms Road to the east of I-10 along with Cortaro Road to the west of the freeway. 

Once paving was complete, ADOT and Marana changed the lane stripe configuration on westbound Cortaro Road. ADOT has also changed some westbound Cortaro Road signs and adjusted traffic signal timing.

ADOT asks drivers to pay extra attention initially when navigating the intersection, keeping an eye out for the new lane striping, new signs and a change in traffic signal timing.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Division office in Tuba City will soon be more welcoming to customers.

ADOT is replacing Customer Service Representative workstations inside the building, which will create more interior space for customers. In order to make those and other improvements,the office will be closed to customers June 3-8.

Customers who need to complete MVD services during the closure can go online at AZMVDNow.gov or ServiceArizona.com; visit another MVD or Authorized Third Party office location; or call MVD at 602-255-0072.

In addition, MVD locations on the Navajo Nation and in the communities of Holbrook, Flagstaff, Page, and Winslow are also available during normal business hours. 

Two-thirds of all MVD services and transactions can be completed at AZMVDNow.gov. Here’s a sampling of what can be done online:

• Renew vehicle registration
• Renew driver license
• Order a replacement driver license or ID card
• Change your address
• Order specialty and personalized license plates
• Submit a sold notice

More than 2 million Arizonans have activated their accounts and are taking advantage of convenient, self-serve options to complete their business with MVD.

PHOENIX – Thinking of selling or trading in your car? After agreeing to a price, one of the most important things a seller can do is complete a “sold notice” with the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.

Wait. What’s a “sold notice” and why is it important?

A “sold notice” ensures that MVD and law enforcement have a record of the vehicle’s current owner. This can protect the seller from liability if the car is involved in a crash or crime, is ticketed, or becomes abandoned, which carries a hefty fee. There is no cost to complete a “sold notice” and it can be done online at AZMVDNow.gov.

Submitting a “sold notice” is easy. Simply, log-in to your account at AZMVDNow.gov and:

• Click on “submit a sold notice”
• Select the vehicle you’ve sold
• Enter the buyer’s information
• Enter the date the vehicle was sold

Additional steps to follow when selling or trading in a car include removing the license plate and transferring the title to the buyer.

PHOENIX – The first modern roundabout in Nogales is now open for drivers.

Located at State Route 189 and Target Range Road, the roundabout opened Tuesday morning, May 18, with a single travel lane. Construction continues on the second lane, and work on the roundabout is expected to be complete this summer.

As part of the SR 189 improvement project, the roundabout replaces stop signs facing drivers about a mile north of the Mariposa Port of Entry.

Roundabouts are considered safer and more efficient for drivers. They are safer because drivers entering the roundabout only have to look left for oncoming traffic, and crashes that may occur tend to be less severe because vehicles are traveling at slower speeds and in the same general direction. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, roundabouts reduce injury crashes by 75 percent and fatal crashes by 90 percent compared with traditional intersections. 

For more about roundabouts, please visit: /about/transportation-safety/roundabouts

The $134 million project to improve SR 189 between the international border and Grand Avenue also includes long flyover ramps connecting SR 189 with Interstate 19 that will avoid delays for international truck drivers and improve safety on one of Nogales’ busiest roads. ADOT anticipates the project will be completed by this fall.

SR 189 is a vital route for Arizona’s economy. About 80 percent of international commerce enters Arizona at Nogales and follows SR 189 and I-19 to reach markets across the country.

For more information on the SR 189 improvements, please visit azdot.gov/sr189. 

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PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing Friday, May 21, on the agency’s recommended plan for the next five years of construction projects statewide.

The virtual hearing on the 2022-2026 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program begins at 9 a.m. and can be accessed at http://aztransportationboard.gov.

The proposed annual update allocates funding to expand and improve four corridors for passenger and freight traffic through the next five years. The projects to widen highways and improve safety include:

• Adding lanes along Interstate 17 between Anthem Way and Sunset Point, with construction on the $328 million project beginning in 2022.
• Widening US 93 between Tegner Street and Wickenburg Ranch Way. The $41 million project is scheduled for 2022.
• Replacing the Gila River bridges on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande. Construction for that $83 million project is targeted for 2023.
• Constructing the first phase of the I-40/US 93 West Kingman interchange. The $70 million project is expected to begin by 2024.

Additionally, the tentative plan will invest more than $1 billion in pavement preservation projects across Arizona over five years, upgrading 581 lane miles of pavement from fair and poor condition to good condition.

The I-17 and I-10 widening projects are able to advance through ADOT’s partnership with the Maricopa Association of Governments, the regional planning agency that has committed some of the funds for those improvements.

The 2022-2026 Tentative Five-Year Program also reaches ADOT’s goal of allocating $320 million per year for preservation of bridges and roadways throughout the state highway system. Preservation projects include repaving and repairing highways, along with repairing or reconstructing bridges. The tentative plan includes $407 million over five years for projects that improve highway safety, efficiency and functionality, such as smart technology or addition of shoulders.

The public comment period for the 2022-2026 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program began March 18 and ends at 5 p.m. June 3. The State Transportation Board is expected to consider formal action on the program at its June 18 meeting.

The complete report is available at azdot.gov/tentative5year for review and comment. ADOT welcomes feedback via an online form available at azdot.gov/tentative5year, by email at [email protected], by phone at 855.712.8530, and by mail Attn: Daina Mann, ℅ ADOT Communications, 1655 W. Jackson St., Room 179, MD 126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

Public comments also may be made at public hearings and a State Transportation Board study session on June 3. All hearings will be held virtually and begin at 9 a.m. on the following dates: 

• May 21
• June 3

Meetings may be accessed through the State Board website at http://aztransportationboard.gov.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation is beginning a project to install larger, more visible wrong way signs along southern Arizona’s three interstate highways as part of an ongoing effort to get the attention of drivers who travel in the wrong direction.

The more visible signs are one of ADOT’s countermeasures to reduce the risk of serious crashes by wrong-way drivers, who are frequently impaired when entering highways in the wrong direction. 

The sign project is part of an ongoing statewide initiative to replace older signs with ones that are easier for drivers to see because they are larger and closer to the ground. The “wrong way” and “do not enter” signs will be posted at freeway exit ramps. 

Crews will begin work to install the southern Arizona signs this week, with the project continuing into early 2022. The project includes new signs along: 

• Interstate 8 in Pinal County (State Route 84 to I-10)
• I-10 in Pinal, Pima and Cochise counties (Sacaton Rest Area to the New Mexico border)
• I-19 in Pima and Santa Cruz counties (Tucson to Nogales)

The project is paid for with federal highway safety funds. ADOT will also add white pavement arrows pointing in the correct direction of travel, both at interchanges where signs will be installed and in areas where crews upgraded signs in recent years.

Most work will occur on ramp shoulders, with short delays or ramp closures possible at some locations. Freeway traffic will not be affected.

Along with installing larger signs, ADOT’s efforts to reduce wrong way crashes includes a first-in-the-nation thermal-camera wrong-way vehicle alert system along some freeway segments in the Phoenix area.

The updated red wrong way signs along exit ramps have been enlarged from 30 by 24 inches to 48 by 36 inches. At the same time, the bottom edge of the signs will be about 3 feet above the ground, rather than 7 feet, so they are closer to a driver’s line of vision.

ADOT first installed 26 of these larger signs above the left lanes of I-17 in Phoenix in 2017 in association with the first-in-the-nation thermal-camera wrong-way vehicle alert system being evaluated by the state.

PHOENIX –  Lake Havasu City residents and visitors will start experiencing a smoother flow of traffic on SR 95. Traffic signal crews with the Arizona Department of Transportation are installing updated traffic management technology on 20 signals along a 13-mile stretch of the highway 

In 2017, ADOT installed this technology along traffic signals in a 3-mile stretch of SR 69 in Prescott Valley and a 6-mile stretch of SR 69 in Prescott. The result has been an improvement in travel times by as much as 40%. It has also been implemented in Phoenix and Tucson. Using it, engineers monitor traffic conditions remotely, adjust signal timing, and diagnose and correct problems. The signals automatically adjust timing at certain times of the day based on anticipated traffic. 

Crews will be adding the remote technology from McCulloch Boulevard South to London Bridge Road. After installation, crews will monitor and make adjustments over the next month to optimize traffic flow at different times of the day.

The cost of the project is nearly $229,000.

These changes are being made through ADOT’s Transportation Systems Management & Operations Division. This division brings together traffic-engineering resources around the state to maximize resources, technology and expertise. This includes collaborating with other transportation and public safety agencies.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation and Lake Havasu City have partnered to help improve pedestrian safety by constructing a pedestrian hybrid beacon at the intersection of Pima Drive and Acoma Boulevard. The beacon will be activated on Monday, May 17.

A pedestrian hybrid beacon is a traffic control device that assists pedestrians in crossing a street or highway at a marked but unsignaled crosswalk. This special type of traffic light utilizes a system of indicator lights and signs that alerts drivers and controls vehicle traffic.

Information about how the beacon works is available at azdot.gov/phb.

The pedestrian beacon activates after a button is pushed by a pedestrian. Traffic is alerted to stop with a flashing yellow light followed by a solid yellow light and then by two solid red lights, providing motorists with an unmistakable message to stop. 

At this point, the pedestrian is signaled to walk safely across the street and the associated pedestrian countdown signal indicates how much time is left to cross the street. During this period, motorists are required to stop and remain stopped until pedestrians have finished crossing the street. 

Motorists may proceed with caution when the red lights begin to flash alternatively and the crosswalk is clear of pedestrians.

The project was administered by ADOT on behalf of the city. Lake Havasu City will retain control of the pedestrian signal going forward.

Thriving, not just surviving, is the goal of a joint effort by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix to protect an endangered species of cactus that grows only in one tiny area of Arizona. That area also happens to be where ADOT is building a replacement bridge over Pinto Creek on U.S. 60 near Globe-Miami.  

In 2018, ADOT began the project to replace the current 72 year-old structure. Before that work began, ADOT partnered with botanists from the Desert Botanical Garden to make sure endangered hedgehog cacti that grow in the construction zone were rescued. 

Project work will be completed in 2022 and the cacti replanted. 

“The location of this project is the only place in the world where these endangered Hedgehog cacti exist,” said ADOT Biology Specialist Joshua Fife. “One of our jobs at ADOT is to make sure that every project we do respects the environment. It’s not only the law, but it’s the right thing to do and protecting these endangered cacti is valuable for generations to come.”

The rescue effort required several of the members of the Desert Botanical Garden team to rappel into the canyon, carefully dig up, cover and transport the plants to the Garden complex in Phoenix where the cacti are being cared for and propagated.

“We jumped at this opportunity to work with ADOT because it is such a special plant and as an endangered species, conserving it is vital,” said Steve Blackwell, Conservations Collections Manager for Desert Botanical Garden. “They are an important part of the food chain and they are also very beautiful, especially when they bloom. The blossoms have a bright magenta color.”

“Not only will we be able to return the rescued cacti to the site once the project is done, but we will have more cacti than when we began,” he added. “Because part of this process is to hand pollinate the plants at the garden complex and we are also able to clone the mother plants. This is a great win for the environment.”

For more information on ADOT Environmental Planning: www.azdot.gov

PHOENIX – Motorists on both directions of Interstate 10 to the west of Willcox should expect a short detour the weekend of May 14-17 for a bridge deck replacement project, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. 

Both directions of I-10 will close at Exit 336, which will require drivers to detour onto the exit and entrance ramps, from 6 p.m. Friday, May 14, to 6 a.m. Monday, May 17.

Drivers should prepare to reduce their speed as they approach the work zone and exit I-10. Delays are possible.

The closure is one of several planned during the bridge deck replacement project, which is scheduled through late 2021. 

For more information, go to the project website.