News

PHOENIX ‒ It may not be surprising to hear that coordinating the timing of city traffic signals and those at two busy Interstate 17 interchanges will save drivers time.

But the Arizona Department of Transportation and its partners, the city of Phoenix and Maricopa Association of Governments, have taken it a step further by adding up the time saved and its dollar value for a project involving Camelback and Indian School roads.

The answer: Motorists are expected to save 350,000 hours of travel time, worth $6.2 million, per year.

YUMA – Yuma-area drivers no longer have to worry about sudden rainstorms flooding Fortuna Wash and shutting down US 95, the area’s primary north-south route.

Starting Thursday, Dec. 15, traffic will begin flowing over a new bridge connecting Yuma with Interstate 10, Quartzsite and the rest of western Arizona. The bridge is expected to open Thursday afternoon.

PHOENIX – What goes on the back of your vehicle, looks great and makes a lot of money for a worthy cause? A specialty license plate from the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division does, and more of them are on the way.

Since fiscal 2007, the total revenue generated from the sale of specialty license plates has reached $66 million. Those funds support causes including cancer awareness and research, child abuse prevention, environmental awareness, organ donation, university scholarships, veterans’ programs and quite a few more.

PHOENIX – This week, Arizona motorists will see new signage designating segments of some state highways as Safety Corridors. By the end of December, motorists may also notice an increased law enforcement presence in these Safety Corridors.

PHOENIX – The Sacaton Rest Area on westbound Interstate 10 near Casa Grande will be closed for six hours on Tuesday, Dec. 13, so Arizona Department of Transportation crews can maintain in-pavement sensors that monitor the weight of commercial vehicles.

In addition, westbound I-10 will be narrowed to one lane at milepost 185 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate the work. Drivers should slow down in the project area and heed warning signs for the safety of workers.

The eastbound Sacaton Rest Area and both lanes of eastbound I-10 will remain open.

PHOENIX – One of the benefits of the recent widening of Loop 101 in the Scottsdale area is that on-ramp meters, featuring those alternating green and red traffic signals, won’t be in use as often now.

PHOENIX – A 300-foot-long cut along the embankments of Interstate 10 near 55th Avenue is the first sign of construction in the West Valley for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.

Crews have started utility relocation work that’s needed before the Arizona Department of Transportation can start on the I-10/Loop 202 interchange at 59th Avenue, which is scheduled to begin in 2017.

The utility work includes relocating large Salt River Project (SRP) siphons carrying water under I-10.

PHOENIX – To protect workers who are blasting potentially hazardous rocks along State Route 77 south of Globe, the Arizona Department of Transportation will close the road for five hours a day, Mondays through Thursdays, for the next four months.

Beginning Monday, Dec. 12, SR 77 will be closed in both directions between mileposts 154-161 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closures will be in effect Mondays through Thursdays with no closures planned between Monday, Dec. 26, and Tuesday, Jan. 3.

With the city of Maricopa’s population and traffic increasing, the Arizona Department of Transportation has installed a wireless communication system allowing technicians in Phoenix to monitor conditions on State Route 347 and adjust signal timing accordingly.

PHOENIX – To protect crews working on an Arizona Department of Transportation project along US 60 near Superior, westbound commercial trucks will be required to stop for brake checks in the Oak Flat area beginning Tuesday, Dec. 6.

Trucks with ineffective brakes coming down the grade into Superior can pose a safety threat to workers along the road.

PHOENIX – In partnership with Sedona, the U.S. Forest Service and Coconino County, the Arizona Department of Transportation will add protective fencing over the next few weeks to Midgley Bridge along State Route 89A.

The city of Sedona sought ADOT’s help after four people committed suicide from the bridge in 2015. After working with a nonprofit organization to add signs carrying the number of a suicide-prevention hotline, ADOT worked with area partners to design fencing for the bridge, located a mile and a half north of Sedona. 

PHOENIX – A state law taking effect Jan. 1 waives some vehicle fees and taxes for survivors of military members killed in service to the United States.

The law removes the vehicle registration fee and the Vehicle License Tax for one vehicle registered to an eligible surviving spouse or dependent who’s a resident of Arizona. It applies to all types of vehicles ‒ including trailers ‒ and is renewable on an annual basis.

An Arizona Department of Transportation project is blasting rock from a limestone cliff to prevent it from falling onto State Route 77 between Winkelman and Globe.

Illustrating the need, one of the rocks dislodged early Wednesday was far larger than expected, an 18-foot-tall block that dropped onto the highway from 150 feet above and forced crews to keep the route closed four hours longer than scheduled.

PHOENIX – Expertise and facial-recognition technology employed by Arizona Department of Transportation detectives safeguard the personal information of not only Arizonans but those in other states who are targeted by identity thieves here.

Two cases brought by ADOT’s Office of Inspector General highlight these efforts:

PHOENIX ‒ State Route 67 leading to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will close for the winter on Thursday, Dec. 1.

The highway will be blocked to traffic about a half mile from its junction with US 89A at Jacob Lake. With park facilities closed for the winter, the Arizona Department of Transportation doesn’t clear snow from the highway, which leads 43 miles south from US 89A.

The North Rim averages more than 9 feet of snow annually, according to the National Weather Service.

PHOENIX – Pilot projects using technology to make highway work zones safer and commercial vehicle inspections at the border more efficient will begin in early 2017 thanks to federal grants recently awarded to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks grants, totaling $581,000, are from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

PHOENIX – With graffiti an ongoing threat to interstate freeway signs mounted on overpasses, an Arizona Department of Transportation employee invented an inexpensive metal shield that helps keep vandals and their spray paint at bay.

In ADOT’s culture of continuous improvement, this innovation by Interstate Signing Supervisor Dudley Heller is referred to as kaizen, something enhancing productivity, safety, efficiency and more.

PHOENIX – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request by Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway opponents for an emergency injunction pending appeal, a ruling that keeps the Arizona Department of Transportation project on track to begin construction of the mainline freeway early next year.

It’s the fourth time courts have rejected attempts to halt construction of this long-planned link between the East Valley and West Valley.

SURPRISE ‒ A bridge carrying Bell Road over Grand Avenue (US 60) opened Tuesday after seven-plus months of work to create a $41.9 million traffic interchange.

Opening the bridge in time for the holiday shopping season is the first reward of an accelerated construction timeline made possible by closing Bell Road on April 1. The rest of the Arizona Department of Transportation project, including completing ramps connecting Bell Road and Grand Avenue, is on track to finish before the start of spring training baseball.

PHOENIX – As the Arizona Department of Transportation seeks to identify and fund projects that will increase capacity on Interstate 17 north of Phoenix, drivers need to do their part by avoiding the poor decisions and inattention behind so many of the crashes that result in closures and backups – and worse, injuries and fatalities.

The steep, winding stretch of I-17 between Black Canyon City and Sunset Point is one of ADOT’s priorities for improvements.