News

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has added large “Wrong Way” signs on Interstate 17 bridges and other structures between the Interstate 10 “Stack” interchange and Loop 101, facing in the direction of potential wrong-way drivers.

That’s the same 15-mile stretch where ADOT is installing a first-in-the-nation wrong-way detection and warning prototype that uses thermal cameras.

Placing these “Wrong Way” signs, each measuring 8 feet by 5 feet, is another way ADOT is testing countermeasures to get the attention of wrong-way drivers on I-17.

PHOENIX – A grant from the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety is helping the Arizona Department of Transportation collect fuller and more accurate vehicle crash data that, in turn, will help transportation engineers, law enforcement and researchers examine trends and causes of fatalities and serious injuries.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation is seeking input from community members on a bridge rehabilitation project along Interstate 15 in the Virgin River Gorge with a public hearing on Nov. 29 in Littlefield.

Those attending the hearing, to be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Beaver Dam Lodge, 452 Old Highway 91 North, can review and comment on the draft environmental assessment for the bridge project. A formal presentation is scheduled from 6 to 6:30 p.m.

MARICOPA ‒ A project that will free Maricopa commuters from long waits as trains cross busy State Route 347 in the central part of the city is about the get underway.

Arizona Department of Transportation crews are preparing to begin work on a bridge on State Route 347 over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks just south of Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. The two-year project also includes an overpass connecting southbound SR 347 to Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, and a new route for northbound drivers on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

PHOENIX – A new website will help make traffic incident response more efficient and vehicle travel safer for motorists in Arizona.

Created by the Arizona Department of Transportation and Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Arizona Traffic Incident Management website – tim.az.gov – debuts this week with the goal of being the go-to resource for Arizona TIM responder training.

PHOENIX – Another critical step in building the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway will start Monday, Nov. 27, as construction begins on the Southern Avenue interchange, work that will require an extended full closure of Southern at 59th Avenue.

The closure, scheduled to last through March, will allow crews to build the southern half of one of the South Mountain Freeway’s 13 interchanges, including moving more than 450,000 cubic yards of dirt. Sixteen concrete piers have already been planted to support a bridge over Southern Avenue.

PHOENIX – As the North-South Corridor environmental study progresses with some changes to the proposed corridor alternatives, the Arizona Department of Transportation, in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration, is now seeking comments on the options from the public and agencies.

PHOENIX – With winter on the horizon, the Arizona Department of Transportation has spent months preparing for snow and ice that storms will dump on the state’s higher elevations.

ADOT has 375 certified snowplow operators ready to operate the agency’s nearly 200 snowplows, which are stationed around the state to keep people and commerce moving when snow falls on highways.

PHOENIX – November 1997. Elton John again topped the charts with “Candle in the Wind.” Parents forked over $40 for a “Power Rangers Megazord” for the holidays, and “Harry Potter” was introduced to the world.

But Harry wasn’t alone in making his debut. The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division online service portal, ServiceArizona.com, opened for business 20 years ago this week.

PHOENIX – From minor incidents on high-volume freeways to serious collisions on lightly-traveled rural roads and everything in between, Traffic Incident Management keeps the traveling public moving and safe after incidents occur.

This week, the Arizona Department of Transportation and Arizona Department of Public Safety join other states and municipalities across the country in recognizing Traffic Incident Response Week.

PHOENIX ‒ State Route 473 leading to Hawley Lake in the White Mountains will close for the winter on Thursday, Nov. 16, at its junction with State Route 260, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The 10-mile-long highway east of Pinetop-Lakeside will remain closed until at least April 15.

Other high-country state highways that will close over the next six weeks include SR 67 leading to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. That route, traveling 43 miles south from US 89A, will close Friday, Dec. 1, unless a major snowstorm occurs before then.

PHOENIX – An ongoing Interstate 10 pavement-improvement project between State Route 587 (Casa Blanca Road) and the Gila River bridge south of Chandler will require overnight lane restrictions next week, Nov. 13-17, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Drivers should allow extra travel time and consider alternate routes if possible while the following restrictions are in place:

PHOENIX – Arizona residents who buy cars out of state now have a much easier way to pay the city and state use taxes.

Working with the Arizona Department of Revenue, the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division is now able to accept these payments when the buyer registers his or her vehicle at an MVD or Authorized Third Party office.

PHOENIX – A public meeting on the selection of a recommended alignment for a 14-mile segment of State Route 30 in the West Valley is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, Nov. 16.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is hosting the meeting so the public can learn more and provide comments about the recommended alignment, or “build alternative,” for State Route 30 between the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (at 59th Avenue) in west Phoenix and Sarival Avenue in Goodyear.

PHOENIX – When the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway opens to traffic in late 2019, sound walls lining one or both sides along 11 of its 22 miles will reduce noise near neighborhoods and incorporate designs specific to various segments.

As the corridor looks more and more like the freeway it will become, crews have started building sound walls between 40th and 48th streets in Ahwatukee and near the Interstate 10 interchange at 59th Avenue in west Phoenix.

PHOENIX – Sections of Interstate 17 in Phoenix will be narrowed to one lane during overnight hours this week for overhead sign work, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Drivers should allow extra travel time and be prepared to slow down and use caution when approaching and traveling through the following work zones:

PHOENIX – After two years of research and analysis, the public now has the opportunity to comment on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s draft long-range plan, outlining strategies for meetings the state’s highway and bridge needs over the next 25 years.

ADOT’s Tentative Long-Range Transportation Plan, which is required to be updated every five years, is available for comment through Dec. 21. The CiviComment online tool, which is also available on the project website, allows users to comment on the full report or comment on individual pages pulled from the document.

NOGALES – The Federal Highway Administration has cleared the way for the Arizona Department of Transportation to begin design and construction of vital improvements to State Route 189, the 3.75-mile roadway connecting the Mariposa Port of Entry with Interstate 19 in Nogales.

MARANA – Over the next three months, drivers in northwestern Pima County will see important advances as the two-year Interstate 10/Ina Road traffic interchange project moves on schedule toward the halfway point.

With pavement now in place for what will become the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 at Ina Road, crews will begin steps to move traffic to those new lanes so work can begin on the westbound lanes of I-10.

PHOENIX ‒ The Sacaton Rest Area on Interstate 10 south of the Phoenix area will reopen Monday, Nov. 6, with a six-month renovation now scheduled to begin in January, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Septic tanks the contractor has custom-ordered for the $3 million project are scheduled to take more time to arrive than originally anticipated, and ADOT decided to open the rest area through the busy holiday travel season. The move doesn’t affect the project’s cost.