News

SURPRISE – Work to install girders for a Bell Road overpass at Grand Avenue (US 60) resumed Tuesday.

The installation had been on hold since June 9, when a large, steel-reinforced concrete girder fell moments after it had been lifted into place by cranes. An employee of a contractor working on the project was seriously injured but is recovering.

PHOENIX ‒ With the Texas Canyon Rest Area along Interstate 10 reopening Thursday after a six-month renovation, the Arizona Department of Transportation is moving past the halfway point in a decade-long effort to improve rest areas statewide.

Texas Canyon, between Benson and Willcox in southeastern Arizona, will be the ninth of ADOT’s 17 rest areas to be improved since 2013. The San Simon Rest Area near the New Mexico line on I-10 reopened in May.

PHOENIX – Arizona’s interstate highways are key commerce corridors serving not only as the backbone of our transportation system but providing businesses and their customers with food, fuel and other essentials.

With the U.S. marking the 60th anniversary of the national interstate highway system that President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched in 1956, John Halikowski, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, said this essential infrastructure requires adequate and sustained investment.

PHOENIX ‒ The new State Route 89 bridge at Hell Canyon is longer, wider and better able to accommodate commercial traffic between Prescott and Interstate 40 than the 62-year-old span it replaces.

The Arizona Department of Transportation opened the $14.4 million bridge to traffic Thursday, June 23, after 13 months of work.

PHOENIX ‒ The State Transportation Board’s approval of funding for State Route 189 in Nogales reflects the Arizona Department of Transportation’s strong commitment to improving the flow of commercial traffic between the Mariposa Port of Entry and Interstate 19.

PHOENIX – US 60 has reopened between Show Low and State Route 73 on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The highway had been closed between mileposts 318 and 337 because of the Cedar Creek Fire. Drivers should use extra caution in the area because of ongoing firefighting operations.

SURPRISE – As work proceeds on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s $41.9 million project to build a new interchange connecting Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60), an overnight lane restriction has been scheduled on Monday, June 27.

Eastbound Grand Avenue will be narrowed to one lane between Towne Center and Bell Grande drives from 8 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday, June 28, for concrete work near Bell Road. Westbound Bell Road traffic will not be affected.

PHOENIX – After beginning work along the southern alignment of the future Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, crews next week will start assessing soil conditions and the depth of groundwater along the western alignment.

On Monday, June 27, workers using drills will start on the embankment slope along eastbound Interstate 10 from the 59th Avenue on-ramp to the 51st Avenue off-ramp.

PHOENIX – Drivers in the northwest Valley are using a wider stretch of freeway this morning after the Arizona Department of Transportation on Thursday opened new lanes along Loop 303 between Grand Avenue in Surprise and Happy Valley Parkway in Peoria.

In less than two years, this seven-mile stretch of Loop 303 has been improved from a four-lane highway to a safer freeway, with three travel lanes in each direction. The wider freeway is part of $96 million in projects that also added new Loop 303 interchanges at Grand Avenue and El Mirage Road.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation is holding three public meetings this week in southern Arizona as part of a three-year environmental study for the proposed Interstate 11.

The meetings in Nogales, Tucson and Marana are part of the public scoping process for a corridor stretching from Nogales to Wickenburg.

Participants will be able to meet and talk with members of the study team to ask questions, provide comments and stay involved. They’ll also be able to view maps of the corridor study area and mark up those maps with their ideas and comments.

SURPRISE – Work is proceeding on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s $41.9 million project to build a new interchange connecting Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60) and reopen Bell Road to traffic by November.

Crews are focusing on paving the widened westbound portion of Grand Avenue near Bell Road. The work to pave the roadway and add temporary lane markings along that section of US 60 is scheduled for completion by July. Grand Avenue traffic currently is shifted to the eastbound section of the roadway between Bell Grande and Towne Center drives.

PHOENIX ‒ Steep, rugged terrain and high winds have added challenges for crews working to create room for an additional lane on US 60 between Globe and Superior. Because of that, the project will continue through the summer, including twice-weekly closures for blasting work.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation’s five-year construction program for state highways promotes commerce through investments in major freight and travel corridors, supports Greater Arizona through key projects and highlights the agency’s commitment to not only maintaining but improving the quality of pavement, bridges and other infrastructure.

PHOENIX – Loop 303 will remain closed west of Interstate 17 through 3 a.m. Saturday as production of a motion picture continues.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is allowing Paramount Pictures additional time to film “Transformers 5: The Last Knight” between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway in the north Valley. Traffic through this area is detouring east- and westbound on State Route 74.

While Loop 303 is closed between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway:

PHOENIX – As Arizona’s summer travel season begins, residents and visitors will take to the outdoors and, with a little research and a keen eye, catch glimpses of the wildlife that calls this state home.

PHOENIX – In the past 10 days, two people working on state highways have been hit and killed by vehicles. These unnecessary and avoidable tragedies illustrate the need for drivers to pay attention in work zones and to give a safe margin of space to vehicles with flashing lights, such as tow trucks and emergency responders.

To remind drivers of the importance of paying attention to their surroundings, ADOT will display the following message this week on overhead signs statewide:

PHOENIX – Towering haboobs, dense dust storms, flash flooding and blinding dust channels. These are some of the dangers Arizona drivers face during monsoon season.

The Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Public Safety, National Weather Service and other agencies are reminding drivers during Monsoon Awareness Week how to stay safe on roadways when dust storms arrive.

PHOENIX – The West Phoenix Motor Vehicle Division office is often a noisy scene when a customer lines up to check in and then takes a seat to wait for an automated system to call his or her number.

On this day, however, it’s unusually quiet and no numbers are being called. After checking in, customers line up along a path through the lobby marked by yellow tape. While one MVD employee walks down the line to make sure customers have what they need to complete their transactions, another directs people to the next available customer service window.

Arizona is proud to welcome this production to our state. The state, our citizens and our economy benefit significantly from appearing on the big screen, both in terms of dollars spent during filming and the exposure that films give the state. The film now in production along Loop 303 in the north Valley has already had 300 people at locations in Arizona for two weeks, boosting the economy through meals, lodging, fuel purchases and more. It has hired local companies for a variety of services.

PHOENIX ‒ A girder being installed for an overpass under construction at Grand Avenue (US 60) and Bell Road in Surprise fell Thursday just after 10 a.m. while being placed above the railroad line running parallel to Grand Avenue. Two employees of the contractor working on this project were injured.

The Arizona Department of Transportation’s first concern is for the injured and for ensuring the safety of those at this work site. We are grateful to Surprise police and fire personnel for their rapid response and care for the injured.