News

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation, in partnership with the city of Maricopa, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Federal Highway Administration, has received federal approval for the proposed bridge project on State Route 347 over the railroad crossing, clearing the way for the project to move forward when funding is available.

On March 18, the Federal Highway Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact after reviewing the Final Environmental Assessment, the definitive decision-making document federally required for the project.

PHOENIX – The Valley’s Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, proposed by regional planners since the 1980s, has received final approval from the Federal Highway Administration, paving the way for the Arizona Department of Transportation to move the project forward.

The Record of Decision, signed March 5 by the Federal Highway Administration, grants the final approval necessary for ADOT to begin the process of acquiring right of way, complete the design and begin construction of the 22-mile-long freeway to serve the metro Phoenix region.

PHOENIX – How do you capture the past 90 years in words and pictures? It’s not an easy task to encapsulate the best of the best in a single issue of a magazine.

The Enforcement and Compliance Division of the Arizona Department of Transportation is more visibly known for its Enforcement Services, the unit that helps to ensure that commercial vehicles adhere to federal and state regulations. One of the primary goals is to improve Arizona’s ability to move people, goods and services in a safe, efficient manner through the use of education, enforcement and technology.

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation launched a new project this week to widen US 93, the primary travel route for Phoenix drivers headed to Las Vegas, and efforts continue on another ongoing widening project to further a decades-long commitment to convert the rural two-lane roadway to a modern, four-lane divided highway in northwest Arizona.

PHOENIX — Six months after extensive earthwork started on removing nearly one million cubic yards of rock material as part of the repairs of the US 89 landslide-damaged highway south of Page, the Arizona Department of Transportation is moving onto the final phase of the project to restore the highway.

The roadway suffered serious damage following a landslide on the early morning of Feb. 20, 2013 and has remained closed after a 500-foot section of roadway buckled in Echo Cliffs, two miles north of the US 89/US 89A junction near the community of Bitter Springs.

PHOENIX — When fans are making their way along Loop 101 to the NFL's Super Bowl in Glendale on Sunday, the Arizona Department of Transportation will use upgraded technology to help keep drivers informed while the agency tracks traffic conditions on the primary freeway route to University of Phoenix Stadium.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will host a public meeting at Fowler Elementary School in West Phoenix on Wednesday evening, Jan. 21, to provide community members with information and receive comments about the planned State Route 30 transportation corridor.

Four potential alignments for State Route 30, along with a “no-build option,” are being studied by ADOT on behalf of the Maricopa Association of Governments, which serves as the Phoenix area’s freeway planning agency.

PHOENIX – Based on an order from U.S. District Court, the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division will begin processing driver license and identification card applications for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on Monday, Dec. 22. Consequently, people visiting Motor Vehicle Division offices for service may experience increased time to complete their business.

PHOENIX – In a move to ensure that the Interstate 11 and Intermountain West Corridor Study continues to move forward, the State Transportation Board approved the next step in the process and the funding to make it happen.

PHOENIX – With the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration issuing an addendum – called an Errata – to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed South Mountain Freeway, the comment period has been extended to Dec. 29 for final comments before a Record of Decision is issued in 2015.

PHOENIX — In an effort to promote a healthy forest, improve commerce and protect the state’s infrastructure following the devastating Wallow Fire, the Arizona Department of Transportation has partnered with the Arizona State Forestry Division and the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization to launch the “Healthy Forest Initiative.”

PHOENIX – As part of the public review period for the South Mountain Freeway Final Environmental Impact Statement, it was noted that 10 comments submitted in 2013 on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement were inadvertently not relayed to the study team for incorporation into the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which was released Sept. 26.

PHOENIX - Clearing freeway crashes more quickly to reduce congestion and save lives is the goal of a collaborative effort among the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), Department of Public Safety (DPS), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG). The agencies will formally launched the program and discussed its advantages during a joint news conference on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

PHOENIX – Keeping safety of the public paramount, on Oct. 23 the Arizona Department of Transportation decided to remove the Trinity Industries ET-Plus Guardrail End Terminals from the department’s Approved Product List. These specific end treatments will not be installed on any ADOT guardrail until comprehensive, independent safety testing, which will be conducted at the national level, is complete.

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, has released the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the long-proposed South Mountain Freeway, the final link in the voter-approved loop system of freeways serving the Phoenix region.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement is the next step in the federally required review process, and provides the public with a final opportunity to review the preferred action as a result of the South Mountain Transportation Corridor Study.

The Arizona Department of Transportation, in close collaboration with the Maricopa Association of Governments and the Arizona Division of the Federal Highway Administration, has selected the project delivery approach that will be used to construct the South Mountain Freeway in the event that the Final Environmental Impact Statement indicates a preferred alternative rather than the no-build option.

PHOENIX —The reconstruction of US 89 between Bitter Springs and Page will begin later this month after the State Transportation Board approved a $25 million project to repair the landslide-damaged highway at Friday’s board meeting in Cottonwood, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The roadway, which suffered catastrophic damage following a landslide on the early morning of Feb. 20, 2013, has remained closed after a 500-foot section of roadway buckled in Echo Cliffs, approximately 25 miles south of Page.

PHOENIX – New steps are being taken in the Phoenix area this week in efforts to get the attention of wrong-way drivers before they enter a freeway in the wrong direction.

Although “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” signs already are in place along freeway off-ramps, new and larger versions of such signs will be installed and studied along the exit ramps at six freeway interchanges, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. In addition, signs will be placed lower on their posts to test if that could help in alerting confused or impaired wrong-way drivers.

PHOENIX – Visitors to rest areas along state highways will begin to notice recycling containers onsite since the Arizona Department of Transportation started a recycling program at three rest areas with plans to expand it statewide.

The program involves partnering with recycling vendors to install 8-cubic-yard bins and smaller blue containers at the rest areas for travelers to use for their recyclable trash. The vendor will collect the recyclables at least once a week.