News

PHOENIX – With a large Navajo Nation farming operation facing an emergency due to a broken water pipeline, the Arizona Department of Transportation has arranged for two oversize loads carrying 17-foot-wide pipes to travel through the state from southwest to northeast early Saturday.

SURPRISE ‒ From adding curb to what will be the northwest-bound lanes of Grand Avenue (US 60) to capping columns that will carry Bell Road across the railroad tracks, work on a $41.9 million overpass and interchange is moving along steadily.

These aerial videos from April and the past week show how far the Arizona Department of Transportation has come toward reopening Bell Road by November. Closing Bell between 134th Drive and West Point Parkway is allowing faster completion.

PHOENIX – Preparing for construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, Arizona Department of Transportation crews with drills and backhoes will begin assessing the condition of soil and rock as well as the depth of groundwater along the freeway alignment.

The work, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday and continue for several months, will help engineers plan the freeway’s pavement, bridges, walls and drainage structures.

PHOENIX – Just in time for the Memorial Day weekend, the San Simon rest areas near the New Mexico state line on eastbound and westbound Interstate 10 have reopened.

The rest areas, which serve more than 430,000 drivers each year, had been closed since March 2015 for much-needed repairs, including the drilling of a new well.

PHOENIX – As Arizonans venture out for Memorial Day weekend, state transportation officials remind drivers to avoid all distractions while on the road – getting out and about and home safely – and make use of Arizona’s “Safe Phone Zones.”

Through a 2014 sponsorship with GEICO Insurance, Arizona has designated 14 rest area locations as “Safe Phone Zones,” where drivers can safely and conveniently use their phones and other mobile devices for calling, texting, navigating and accessing mobile apps.

PHOENIX – With six public meetings scheduled in June and an opportunity for the public to contribute in other ways, Arizonans can help shape the next step in planning for the proposed Interstate 11 as the Arizona Department of Transportation moves ahead on a three-year environmental study for a corridor stretching from Nogales to Wickenburg.

Planned as much more than a highway, I-11 is envisioned as a multimodal corridor connecting Arizona with regional and international markets while opening up new opportunities for mobility, trade, job growth and economic competitiveness.

PHOENIX – Those using US 60 to make an early start to, or a late return from, the eastern Arizona mountains over the holiday weekend can make travel plans without worrying about scheduled road closures.

Arizona Department of Transportation crews won’t close the roadway east of Superior for blasting on Thursday, May 26, or Tuesday, May 31.

Blasting to make room for a westbound passing lane from Devil’s Canyon to Oak Flat and other improvements will resume on Thursday, June 2, and continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays through June.

PHOENIX – Along the 22-mile corridor where the South Mountain Freeway will be built over the next few years, archaeologists are working to gather and recover items and information from the past that may have cultural or historic significance.

At one point along the freeway footprint, archaeologists are systematically digging 5-foot-deep trenches looking for signs that ancient people lived or farmed there. At other sites, archaeologists have found pottery pieces and 19th-century shotgun shells, among other items, and also documented historic petroglyphs.

PHOENIX ‒ When a section of freeway settles a bit, taking a high-tech approach to the repair work allows the Arizona Department of Transportation to give the roadway a lift without digging up the pavement.

PHOENIX – Nearly 8,000 more trucks, 400,000 more passenger vehicles and 900,000 more people entering the U.S. in 2015 through Arizona’s international ports of entry speak to numbers critical to this state’s economy: 

PHOENIX – The first public information workshop for the master plan study for the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, owned and operated by the Arizona Department of Transportation, will take place on May 25 in Tusayan.

The public will be able to review data collected by the study team regarding aviation forecasts and how it relates to current airport facility capabilities. Members of the community will also be able to provide comments and input on the study.

The meeting will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at Tusayan Town Hall, 845 Mustang Drive.

SURPRISE ‒ As a $41.9 million overpass and interchange rises at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60), Bell Road  traffic on the east side of the project area is shifting to the south lanes as crews start work on a new intersection and road at 134th Avenue.

PHOENIX ‒ Drivers on northbound Interstate 17 north of Camp Verde should expect to see delays through Monday (May 23) as crews complete work on the Verde River bridge.

Only one lane will be open to traffic at the Verde River Bridge between mileposts 287 and 288, just north of the State Route 260 interchange. Construction on the bridge and paving are expected to be completed by 6 p.m. Monday.

The on-ramp from SR 260 to northbound I-17 will be closed from 8 a.m. to noon on Monday.

PHOENIX – In the not-so-distant past, someone retaking a road test at an Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division office had to stand in line – not to retake the test but to re-verify the application, a process that required spending several minutes at a window after taking a number and waiting to be called.

Today, that returning individual will retake the test first. Once he or she passes, a customer service representative will then process the rest of the application.

SURPRISE ‒ Things are coming together at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60) as crews pour concrete platforms connecting columns for girders that will support a $41.9 million overpass and interchange.

Once rows of columns are completed on both sides of Grand Avenue, crews install wood forms for these concrete platforms, or caps. Later, girders will be placed on them to carry Bell Road over Grand Avenue and the BNSF Railway tracks.

PHOENIX – Now is the time to comment on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s recommended plan for the next five years of construction projects.

ADOT is getting ready to hold its third and final public hearing next week on the 2017-2021 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program. Everyone is welcome to submit comments online as well through May 30.

PHOENIX ‒ State Route 67, the winding 40-mile highway from Jacob Lake to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, will reopen for the summer this Sunday, May 15.

The road, which connects with US 89A, has been closed since Dec. 1. The Arizona Department of Transportation doesn’t clear snow from SR 67 during the winter because visitor accommodations at the North Rim are closed.

PHOENIX – To make the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars and provide more consistent and reliable customer service, the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division is examining all aspects of its operations, including whether to consolidate certain offices, to better serve Arizonans.

PHOENIX – Don’t let a mortarboard be the last hat your young driver wears.

If historical trends hold, the square covers tossed in the air at commencement ceremonies could be the last caps worn by some recent graduates.

That’s because alcohol-related crashes involving drivers ages 16-24 spike in May, making it one of the most dangerous months for young drivers. Since 2010, during the month of May there have been 50 alcohol-related fatal crashes involving young drivers on Arizona roadways, according to data collected by the Arizona Department of Transportation.

PHOENIX – With trucks spraying water, first responders standing by to close Interstate 10 when conditions warrant, and air quality and agriculture representatives advising the land owner, state agencies are working to reduce the risk from dust blowing off recently plowed farmland in southeastern Arizona.