News

GOODYEAR – Major work on the freeway interchange connecting Interstate 10 and Loop 303 in the West Valley has been completed.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has now opened all four of the new ramps that allow drivers to make direct connections between I-10 and Loop 303. Three ramps were opened to traffic Sunday night, Oct. 8. Construction crews on Monday opened the fourth ramp, which connects westbound I-10 to southbound Loop 303.

A new section of Loop 303 traveling under I-10 between Thomas Road and Van Buren Street in Goodyear also is open to traffic.

PHOENIX – Whether it’s communicating with travelers during a freeway closure or pointing out that a chair obstructing travel lanes looks like it belonged to Archie Bunker, the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Twitter account is there for motorists night and day, 365 days a year.

Since @ArizonaDOT launched in 2008, more and more Arizonans have turned there to get answers and to share information, making it the most-followed state government Twitter handle in Arizona.

PHOENIX – On several hot summer mornings, biologists dressed in hiking gear searched crannies along ridges in the southwest corner of the South Mountain Park/Preserve. Their mission: finding and then relocating the elusive chuckwalla.

These large lizards, which are common in the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico, include the orange-tailed males that are unique to the South Mountain Park/Preserve. While most animals flee when threatened, chuckwallas wedge themselves deep in cracks between rocks.

PHOENIX – While lane restrictions on southbound State Route 87 have been lifted, drivers headed to Payson and the Mogollon Rim area should continue to budget extra travel time as the northbound lane restriction continues near Slate Creek while crews continue to rebuild the right lane.

This critical Arizona Department of Transportation safety project is expected to be completed this fall.

PHOENIX – A criminal investigation by the Arizona Department of Transportation led to the arrest of the owner of a former Authorized Third Party business in the Valley who fraudulently used vehicle titles to obtain loans from banks and other institutions.

PHOENIX – Crews will be removing concrete barriers on southbound State Route 87 tomorrow near Slate Creek after completing repairs, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The removal of the barriers will require the closure of the southbound lanes for 20-minute intervals between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Drivers headed to the Valley from the Mogollon Rim area should budget extra travel time and be prepared for delays.

Northbound restrictions will remain in place while crews finish rebuilding the right lane.

PHOENIX ‒ Thanks to some creative thinking several years ago at the Arizona Department of Transportation, those blue logo signs along state highways are doing much more than helping you find a restaurant, gas station or hotel. They’re helping fund highway improvements while offering businesses a cost-effective way to promote themselves.

PHOENIX – To improve safety and reduce the chance for rockfalls, the Arizona Department of Transportation will be starting a rock removal project on State Route 87 7 miles north of the State Route 260 junction on Monday, Sept. 25.

Drivers should budget extra travel time for moving through the 2-mile project area between mileposts 285 and 287. A pilot car will be in place to guide traffic through the work zone. Drivers should prepare for 20-minute delays.

PHOENIX – Arizona sometimes likes to do things differently – like having a Motor Vehicle Division instead of a Department of Motor Vehicles.

But what might seem like a simple name difference can lead the unsuspecting to unauthorized websites and scams when they’re simply searching for ways to do business online with the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.

That’s because many people may reflexively do a web search for the “Arizona DMV” or something similar, and that can lead them to websites that aren’t affiliated with the MVD.

TUCSON – Twenty-seven members of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe earned their certification to work as flaggers on tribal construction projects through a free Construction Academy sponsored by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

After completing a series of weekend courses, participants in the Pascua Yaqui Reservation Tribal Employment Rights Organization Construction Academy are now qualified to work on road projects on the reservation, located in the southwest Tucson area.

PHOENIX – State Route 366 has reopened on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona after a six-week closure due to the danger of flooding and debris flows after the Frye Fire, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The road, also known as Swift Trail, connects with US 191 about 20 miles south of Safford. It had been closed at Ladybug Saddle near milepost 131, but as of Thursday, Sept. 14, it’s open again to Columbine at milepost 143.

PHOENIX – After hurricanes that caused widespread flooding in Texas and Florida, Arizonans in the market for used cars have even more reason to pay close attention to a vehicle’s condition and history, especially in private sales.

As happened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, vehicles damaged by floodwater are likely to find their way to Arizona and other states and offered to unsuspecting buyers.

If a vehicle is flood-damaged, the title should say “salvage” or “flood damage.” But scammers can and do fraudulently remove flood history from vehicle titles.

PHOENIX – An Arizona Department of Transportation safety training program for commercial vehicle drivers using international ports of entry is proving so popular with trucking companies and government officials in Mexico that ADOT has doubled the number of training sessions planned for this fall.

PHOENIX – Thermal cameras now being tested for detecting wrong-way vehicles on freeway off-ramps in the Phoenix area successfully alerted authorities to two recent overnight incidents along Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway) in the northwest Valley.

PHOENIX – With strong monsoon storms forecast in much of Arizona going into the weekend, be ready to pull aside and wait out extreme weather.

Please heed this advice: Get off the highways when facing a dust storm. In almost no time, blowing dust can drop visibility to zero, especially where small dust channels afford drivers little or no opportunity to avoid this hazard.

PHOENIX – The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, already the largest single highway project in Arizona history, now has the longest bridge girders of their type in the state.

As long as a 17-story building and each weighing as much as 14 elephants, 94 extra-long single span girders have already been placed on two bridge structures (northbound and southbound) that will carry traffic over the Salt River when the South Mountain Freeway opens by late 2019.

PHOENIX – Pecos Road traffic between 17th Avenue and 24th Street in the Ahwatukee Foothills will be briefly detoured to Chandler Boulevard when controlled rock blasting for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway project begins Tuesday, Sept. 12.

YUMA – The Yuma area’s first modern roundabout for a freeway interchange has opened at the Giss Parkway ramps connecting with Interstate 8.

Some work remains on the $2.5 million project to replace a T intersection for the on- and off-ramps from westbound I-8, the last exit before drivers reach the Colorado River. The project also includes improved lighting, signage and drainage, as well as accommodations for cyclists.

Work began in March and will be completed this fall.

MARICOPA – Cameras the Arizona Department of Transportation uses to monitor State Route 347 traffic between the city of Maricopa and Interstate 10 now allow drivers to view conditions themselves via az511.gov.

Nine high-definition cameras mounted on traffic signals are available through the Arizona Traveler Information site, showing intersections such as Riggs and Casa Blanca roads and extending as far south as Farrell Road.

PHOENIX – As Arizona residents prepare for travel during Labor Day weekend, Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski encourages motorists to avoid distracted driving by utilizing the state's “Safe Phone Zones” sponsored by GEICO.

Fourteen ADOT rest areas were designated as “Safe Phone Zones” in 2014. These locations provide a place where drivers can safely and conveniently use their phones and other mobile devices for calling, texting, navigating and accessing mobile apps.