News

PHOENIX – Arizona’s specialty license plates come in many different colors, but one color they have in common is green – as in dollars.

In the most recent fiscal year ending June 30, sales of these plates generated more than $9.8 million for charitable causes and public programs. In the previous fiscal year, that figure totaled just under $9.4 million.

PHOENIX – With the city of Phoenix set to open its Chandler Boulevard extension between 27th and 19th avenues at 8:30 a.m. Friday, July 28, Pecos Road west of 17th Avenue will close permanently for construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

Westbound Pecos Road traffic will divert north at 17th Avenue, and the Chandler Boulevard extension will provide access to and from the Foothills Reserve Community, which motorists now reach via Pecos Road.

PHOENIX ‒ The Mohawk Rest Area has reopened on Interstate 8, giving drivers a new place to stop and rest, stretch their legs and exercise their pets on the drive across the desert between Yuma and Gila Bend.

The Arizona Department of Transportation rest area, located near the Mohawk Pass at milepost 56, includes all new facilities, including new restrooms as well as new plumbing, electrical systems and parking areas. The $4.6 million project also included making the rest area compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is part of every rest area renovation.

PHOENIX – To construct Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway in the Ahwatukee Foothills, crews have been using heavy equipment since April to excavate a hillside near Desert Foothills Parkway.

FLAGSTAFF – To address the beating a section of Interstate 40 just west of Williams has taken over many winters, the Arizona Department of Transportation will begin reconstructing five miles of roadway in both directions on Monday, July 24.

The $34 million project, which will start with the eastbound direction between mileposts 156 and 161, will literally rebuild the roadway from the ground up, including laying a new foundation.

PHOENIX – Just a year after beginning a study to determine how to improve efficiency and consistency at Arizona’s three primary international ports of entry, Arizona Department of Transportation officials already are seeing improvements that make the state a more attractive route for commercial carriers.

PHOENIX – Drivers should budget extra time and consider an alternate route between the Phoenix area and Rim Country, especially on the weekends, with State Route 87 reduced to one lane in each direction south of Payson for a critically needed project that is repairing a section of highway and stabilizing the terrain around it.

PHOENIX – With Pecos Road shifted to make room for the next phase of construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona Department of Transportation is reminding motorists that a reduced 40 mph speed limit is in place through the entire segment of this local roadway in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

Last weekend, Pecos Road traffic between 17th Avenue and 24th Street shifted to an alignment that maintains two travel lanes in each direction while ensuring there’s a safe work zone to construct the freeway. 

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation is proposing a diverging diamond interchange to replace roundabouts at the Interstate 17/Happy Valley Road interchange as a way to provide efficient and safe traffic flow for a growing area of north Phoenix.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division has released the updated Arizona Driver License Manual on the ADOT website. In addition to providing basic information essential to safe driving, the newest version of the manual also includes language to educate motorists on handling law enforcement traffic stops.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, in partnership with local law enforcement agencies, created the language that outlines best practices for motorists who are pulled over.

PHOENIX – Pecos Road between 17th Avenue and 24th Street is shifting to an interim alignment for Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway construction.

During a weekend closure ending in time for the morning commute on Monday, July 17, the current eastbound lanes of Pecos Road will be widened and restriped to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction along this nearly four-mile-long stretch in the Ahwatukee Foothills. 

TUCSON – Work to allow drivers to begin using the new Ajo Way bridge over Interstate 19 will mean travel restrictions beginning this week and continuing into late August.

Crews are preparing access roads and installing traffic signals that will allow traffic to begin using the new bridge, which is six feet higher and just south of the existing Ajo Way (State Route 86) bridge.

Beginning this week, I-19 will be reduced to one lane in each direction, from one mile north of Ajo Way to one mile south.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has turned to a space-age technique to repair and strengthen girders on two Interstate 17 bridges in Phoenix. As a result, one of those bridges is no longer listed as structurally deficient.

It’s the first time ADOT has used carbon fiber strips that are coated and strengthened with a reinforcing polymer to fix girders on state highway bridges, which in these two cases had been struck by over-height vehicles.

PHOENIX – The Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway continues taking shape with the installation of bridge girders, together weighing more than two Boeing 747 jets, at the future interchange with 17th Avenue in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

The girders are the first placed for the Arizona Department of Transportation’s South Mountain Freeway project, which will require a total of nearly 1,100 girders on 40 bridge structures throughout the 22-mile-long corridor.

PHOENIX – Beginning this Wednesday, July 12, Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division offices in the Phoenix and Tucson areas will open at noon on the second Wednesday of each month to accommodate expanded employee training.

MVD continues to improve its technical infrastructure, and added continuing education and other staff training is designed so employees have the tools and knowledge needed to implement these improvements on an ongoing basis.

PHOENIX – Drivers who use State Route 87 between the Phoenix area and Payson should plan on extra travel time starting Tuesday, July 11, when the next phase of an improvement project focusing on roadway repair and erosion control gets underway.

When the SR 87 work zone is set up in the Slate Creek area about 25 miles south of Payson, the highway will be narrowed to one lane in each direction between mileposts 223 and 226, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

PHOENIX – Late-night motorists traveling on westbound Interstate 10 (Papago Freeway) at 59th Avenue should prepare for overnight closures early next week and lane restrictions the remainder of the month as crews work on the flyover bridge structures that will eventually connect to the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

PHOENIX ‒ A bright idea by Arizona Department of Transportation employees delivers clearer messages on overhead electronic signs along state highways, while saving taxpayer dollars.

PHOENIX – A man who eluded authorities for 40 years after a sexual assault conviction has been returned to New York state to serve his sentence after an investigation and arrest by Arizona Department of Transportation detectives.

Acting on a tip from the Social Security Administration, ADOT’s Office of Inspector General determined that Todd Matus, now 62, used the identity of a deceased Massachusetts resident, including name, date of birth and Social Security number, to obtain an Arizona driver license and a vehicle title and registration.

PHOENIX – While State Route 69 has reopened between Interstate 17 and State Route 169 near Prescott, drivers need to use caution as crews in the area continue fighting the Goodwin Fire, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Those using SR 69 through the affected area should slow down and watch out for vehicles and equipment entering and exiting the highway. In addition, windblown smoke can reduce visibility.