Winter is coming…

Maybe that’s hard to believe if you live in hotter regions of the state, but residents up north already are starting to experience chillier temperatures.

And – as ardent readers of this blog may know – when freezing, cold weather hits, many of ADOT’s northern Arizona projects go on hiatus.

Before that happens we wanted to check in on a project about 20 miles south of Flagstaff.

A little bit of background…
ADOT began construction in spring 2011 to reconstruct the bridges and ramps on I-17 at Munds Park. The first phase of the project, which included the reconstruction of the northbound I-17 bridge and ramps, was completed last year.

The second phase of the project started in March 2012 and now is winding down. This phase includes reconstructing the southbound I-17 bridge and ramps, as well as the realignment of Pinewood Boulevard (the street that runs underneath the I-17 bridges).

This project gives motorists two new bridges each measuring 100-feet long – they were just 25 feet to begin with. The increased length accommodates a wider Pinewood Blvd and a 10’ sidewalk for pedestrian traffic. The new bridges are wider, too. This will help to accommodate traffic and an eventual third lane (in each direction) planned for I-17.

The upgrade is necessary to handle increased traffic levels – the old bridges were built in 1958 and back then there wasn’t much development (and not a lot of traffic) in Munds Park.

Where we are now
Both new bridges are built and the old bridges are gone!

Northbound and southbound traffic had been sharing the northbound lanes for this phase of the project, but just last week southbound traffic was rerouted back to the southbound lanes (northbound traffic stays on the northbound lanes).

The new bridges are adorned with designs.

There is still some work to be done, so traffic is restricted to one lane in both directions during the weekdays. The restrictions are generally lifted during weekends allowing traffic to flow in two lanes each direction.

A few of the things crews currently are working on includes, guardrail, lighting, rock fall protection and finishing up the improvements to Pinewood Boulevard.

Work will continue (depending on the weather) through the middle of November … that’s when crews will shut down for the winter.

The project will be essentially finished at that time, but crews will return in summer 2013 to apply the top layer of asphalt pavement when weather conditions are ideal for that work.

Resident Engineer Adam Umholtz reminds drivers to be aware in the work zone as crews are finishing the project, especially as winter storms start rolling in.

“Be patient and observe the posted speed limits and traffic controls through the project," he said. "Winter is coming our way and we are out there trying to make it a safe road for the whole winter.”

Public involvement truly helps shape ADOT projects … just ask residents living near the San Pedro River Bridge.

Their local bridge sits on SR 90 and is slated for replacement – construction has already begun, in fact.

But, way before work got started earlier this week those residents took part in several ADOT public meetings where they were given a couple of different construction schedule alternatives.

One option called for a full closure of SR 90 at the San Pedro River…

That choice would have allowed the bridge replacement to wrap up in a six-month time frame, but it would have meant very lengthy detours for residents. The option was eliminated after comments from residents indicated a preference for a longer project schedule that would be able to keep SR 90 open through the duration.

18-month construction schedule – no extended full closure
“We’ll have a six-month construction period, six months of shut down for the summer migratory bird season in the San Pedro riparian wilderness area, which is where the bridge project is, and then six more months to finish the bridge,” says ADOT Senior Community Relations Officer C.T. Revere.

What else do drivers need to know?
This bridge, constructed in 1955, will be replaced by a new structure featuring wider traffic lanes and shoulders that meet current standards and provide adequate space for vehicles – including emergency responders, bicycles and pedestrians.

Construction on the $7 million bridge replacement project started Oct. 1 and once work is complete (by spring 2014), drivers can expect:

• A new 44-foot wide bridge that replaces the existing 26-foot wide bridge.
•  Two 12-foot traffic lanes and 10-foot shoulders in both directions.
• Improved guardrails, and roadway and bridge approaches.
• A new bridge that’s six feet higher than the existing structure (this is to comply with 100-year floodplain requirements.

Drivers also should take note of this project’s impact on traffic…

• A temporary traffic signal will guide alternating traffic through a single shared lane during construction. Wait times are expected to be 5 to 8 minutes, with delays of up to 15 minutes possible. Motorists are advised to plan ahead and allow extra travel time.
• Some overnight closures of SR 90 will be required for the safety of the public. Those scheduled closures will be announced in advance.
• ADOT intends to have one lane open in each direction with no traffic signal during the season that construction work is shut down.

“Utility relocation” is a phrase that might sound familiar if you get our traffic alerts.

A fairly self-explanatory term, it refers to the moving of underground or overhead utilities (things like cable, telephone, electricity, sewer, water or gas lines).

ADOT occasionally will announce that a portion of road temporarily needs to be restricted due to these utility relocations, but have you ever wondered why they get moved?

Utility relocation is necessary if the line (or cable, wire, etc.) is in the way of an upcoming roadway project (think new roads, widening of existing roads, realignments, etc.) or maintenance work (something like the addition of a new drainage pipe or box culvert).

Normally these relocations are done before ADOT starts on the project.

“When a project is being designed, our design team will typically designate one person as a utility coordinator,” according to Transportation Engineering Specialist Brandon DeCarlo.

It’s the job of those coordinators to work with the utility companies and identify whether or not the underground or overhead utilities will conflict with the project design.

“Our goal is to make the project run as smoothly as possible,” said DeCarlo, adding that’s the reason why it’s important to get any utility lines moved out of the way first because otherwise crews could run into delays.

A little more on utilities and ADOT
Utilities have the opportunity to apply for permission to occupy highway right-of-way. The permitting process might be a blog post topic for another day (it’s a big topic), but in the meantime you can get information on how its handled on ADOT’s Utility and Railroad Engineering section webpage.

As ADOT prepares to open a new eastbound on-ramp and westbound off-ramp at Sarival Avenue and I-10, crews have been busy adding the finishing touches…

Painting, striping and sign installation were among the final tasks completed this week, but even though the ramps are expected to open today, the work is nowhere near over. That’s because these ramps are just part of a larger, ongoing ADOT project that will build a freeway-to-freeway interchange between I-10 and Loop 303 (we blogged about the project earlier this year).

Two additional I-10 ramps are scheduled to open at Citrus Road by late August, which will set the stage for the permanent closing of the I-10 on- and off-ramps at Cotton Lane and allow crews to continue to work on the I-10/Loop 303 interchange.

More about this project:

• By early September, Cotton Lane will be closed between Van Buren Street on the south and McDowell Road on the north. Drivers will be able to use Sarival Avenue or Citrus Road as primary north-south routes in the area. Local access will be maintained along Cotton Lane between Van Buren and Garfield streets. 
• By late September, ADOT plans to close the stretch of Loop 303 between McDowell and Thomas roads and detour traffic along a new section of Cotton Lane west of the freeway construction work zone. Traffic signals will be installed at McDowell Road and the new Cotton Lane intersection.

When the $134 million Loop 303/I-10 interchange project in Goodyear is completed, I-10 access to Cotton Lane will be maintained via frontage roads stretching between Sarival Avenue and Citrus Road. ADOT is working on a series of ongoing projects that will modernize Loop 303 into a six-lane freeway between I-10 and Grand Avenue by late 2014.

We’ve followed along pretty closely as work on the Loop 303 has started to transform this two-lane freeway into a major transportation corridor for drivers in the West Valley…

First there was the 14-mile segment that opened a year ago – it stretches from Happy Valley Parkway to I-17.

Next, work started last summer on the six miles of freeway between Mountain View Boulevard and Peoria Avenue. Then, earlier this year crews began on the Loop 303/I-10 interchange.

Now we have two more projects to tell you about!

The Arizona State Transportation Board recently awarded contracts worth a total of $96.6 million for the additional sections of Loop 303 – stretching a total of five miles – between Thomas and Camelback roads and between Glendale and Peoria avenues.

That means that expansion work will soon be under way along nearly the entire length of the Loop 303 between I-10 and US 60 (Grand Avenue). We want to remind you to take precautions when driving through active work zones and prepare for a little extra travel time in case of delays.

Work on both of the new sections will begin next month. The two-mile segment between Thomas and Camelback roads is scheduled for completion by summer 2014. The three-mile stretch between Glendale and Peoria avenues will wrap up in fall 2014 and includes the construction of the Northern Parkway interchange and a one-mile section of Northern Parkway between Loop 303 and Sarival Avenue.

The sixth and final segment (between Camelback Road and Glendale Avenue) is scheduled to start this fall and be completed by fall 2014, under the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan. We will, of course, tell you all about this portion of the project when work begins!

Keep an eye on this blog for more on the Loop 303 improvement project. You also can sign up for e-mail updates and get additional traffic alerts and project details on our Phoenix Metro Projects page.

Work on a new pavement-improvement project is about to get under way in Pinal County…

Construction on SR 347 starts May 3 and will include removing the existing top-asphalt layer and repaving the roadway with new asphalt. In addition, new pavement markers and updated signage will be included in the $2.5 million project.

The work is happening along the SR 347 between Papago and Edison roads in the city of Maricopa and crews will be paving through the month of May. Construction will wrap up in early July when crews add final striping to the roadway. But, take note – the schedule is subject to change due to a variety of reasons, including weather, material availability and mechanical difficulties.

What to expect during construction

ADOT advises drivers to proceed through or near work zones with caution. Slow down and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.

• Work hours are scheduled 6 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
• Construction crews will be on-site to control traffic at either end of the work zone.
• Be sure to allow extra time if you’re traveling or commuting during work hours … delays can be expected.

Business access
Business access will be maintained whenever possible. However, it will be necessary to pave in front of business entrances along SR 347, resulting in intermittent closures. Drivers should use alternative business entrances, if possible.

The Superstition Mountains served as backdrop Tuesday when a group including contractors, ADOT and local government officials, gathered in the East Valley to mark the construction start of SR 24.

Work begins this month on the first stretch of the state route also known as the Gateway Freeway. This initial section will span one mile between Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) and Ellsworth Road in southeast Mesa. The freeway will feature an interchange with elevated ramps connecting to and from Loop 202 near Hawes Road. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2013.

Before the ceremonial groundbreaking, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith talked about how investment in infrastructure leads to economic opportunity and said SR 24 would help the nearby Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport continue to grow.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith at the event held Tuesday at the SR 24 site.

ADOT State Engineer Jennifer Toth spoke, too, and mentioned the important role freeways serve in linking communities, adding that SR 24 represents an innovative partnership between ADOT and Mesa.

SR 24 is part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan approved by county voters in 2004. The city of Mesa was able to advance the start of construction on the $71.4 million project by four years by issuing bonds.

Future phases of SR 24 are proposed to continue the freeway south into northeast Pinal County, however those additional phases will wait until the North-South Corridor Study in Pinal County advances.

When we blogged about quiet pavement back in December, we got a lot of comments…

We received plenty of questions, too, which we’ll attempt to answer here on the blog in the coming weeks – starting with one on bridge expansion joints.

But, before we get to the question let’s first take a look at what bridge expansion joints are.

Basically, expansion joints help give bridges a little “breathing” room.

Bridges made of concrete are going to expand and contract slightly for a number of reasons, including temperature changes, shrinkage of the concrete, settlement, ice and even the weight of vehicles.

Bridge expansion joints are what allow the concrete to naturally expand and contract without cracking. The rubber expansion joints are placed at the end of a bridge where it meets up with the freeway. These connectors give the concrete just enough space to move and avoid concrete cracks.

When crews are building bridges and installing the expansion joints they’re able to embed them in the concrete and make the transition flush … drivers don’t notice they’re driving over anything.

But, when asphalt rubber is placed on that bridge and the adjoining freeway, crews can’t just pave right over the joint – they need to leave a little gap to allow for the expansion joint.

In these cases, some drivers might notice a little bump. It’s a little more noticeable in the winter months as the concrete contracts and the joint expands (the opposite happens in summer). This is where our question comes in … we were asked by one of our readers if anything can be done.

To seek out the answer we turned to Tim Wolfe, ADOT’s Phoenix Maintenance District Engineer for an explanation.

He said that on smaller expansion joints crews can weld steel plates on top of the expansion joint “opening” to make for a smoother transition. In some cases ADOT crews also will mill the asphalt rubber around the gap so it “feathers” off near the expansion joint.

However, on larger bridges there are wider joints meant for taking a lot of expansion. The only option there is to remove the joint and replace it with a new one that sits a little higher. That option is a very costly fix for something that’s not a structural or safety issue. Bridge structures are inspected by ADOT and if taken at the posted speed limit bridge expansion joints should not pose any sort of safety hazard.

ADOT continues to evaluate options to improve the quality of the riding surface.

When ADOT builds a freeway, there is an essential step that surprisingly requires absolutely no construction or even heavy lifting.

We’re talking about partnering – the ADOT and construction industry process that allows everyone on the project to get together, set goals and talk about the work ahead.

Partnering not only sets a good course, but as a project progresses, the process leads the way through any conflict and helps the team evaluate and measure progress.

But wait … doesn’t this all sound a little familiar?

Maybe that’s because partnering isn’t a new topic for this blog. To get a general overview of how ADOT utilizes partnering, check out our blog post from May. We also wrote about public partnerships that month.

Today we want to focus specifically on how construction project partnerships get off the ground and how they can set the tone for the many working relationships a big freeway project requires.

ADOT builds projects in partnership with private industry, namely construction contractors, suppliers, engineers and associated industries. In fact, 80 cents of every dollar ADOT spends goes to the private sector. That creates jobs and benefits Arizona's economy.

Partnering workshops
Partnering is so essential to delivering projects that it starts before a project even begins…

Near the start of a construction project, a partnering workshop is scheduled and everyone involved with the project gets an invite. That can include city officials, representatives from various utility companies, designers, contractors and, of course, ADOT.

The workshops generally start off with introductions and a discussion of each individual's responsibility followed by a lesson on partnering and an overview of the project by engineers and contractors.

From there, they work together to develop a team charter (kind of like a mission statement) and establish project goals.

Like any relationship, though, each partnership is unique and workshops need to be designed accordingly. Some partners may want more time for team-building activities and to cover the core partnering components, while others may want less time spent on introductions and partnering basics and more time on issue identification.

Issue resolution
Issues are bound to come up throughout the duration of any project. They can range in size and scope, but the bottom line is they need to be resolved quickly and painlessly so as not to slow down the project.

Partnering sets in place a plan that can help resolve issues using communication techniques and shared working agreements.

The issue resolution process is established during the initial workshop and includes methods for identifying and resolving issues, action planning, and setting follow-up agreements.

The process also includes the provision for an Issue Escalation Ladder, or chain of command for both ADOT and the contractor to escalate issues that can’t be resolved in the field. The Issue Escalation Ladder is established during the initial workshop and basically determines what constitutes a disagreement and at what point the team members will “agree to disagree” and seek formal issue resolution.

Successful issue resolutions not only meet their primary objective (to resolve potentially disruptive issues) but they also provide teams the opportunity to discuss current project issues, make changes to improve project delivery and assess where they stand in relation to the original project goals and charter.

Closeout Workshop
Partnering doesn’t end when the construction wraps up…

At the conclusion of a project, team members are invited to attend a Closeout Workshop. These aren’t always formally facilitated, but they give the project team an opportunity to celebrate the completion of the project while assessing what worked well (and, possibly, not so well) during the course of the partnering.

There’s actually one more step in the process called the Partnering Evaluation Program, but we’ll save more on that for a future blog post!

Why it matters
Partnering not only helps create a more cooperative working environment, it also results in projects that are more consistently delivered on time and within budget! Ultimately, that benefits you - the people who pay for and use transportation.

Visit the Office of Partnering website for even more information.

The improvements to SR 143 are really coming along...

In fact, construction now is about 64 percent complete!

Another highlight to point out is that there are no restrictions or closures planned for this project through the beginning of the new year. That’s important to know during this busy holiday travel season because SR 143 (also known as the Hohokam Expressway) provides many drivers access to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

About the project

As we told you back in July this project includes the addition of two new ramps that are being constructed on the SR 143 to help commuters get directly in and out of the airport.

A third ramp will connect motorists traveling on westbound Sky Harbor Boulevard directly onto southbound SR 143, which will ease congestion at the intersection of Sky Harbor Boulevard and SR 143 by allowing drivers to bypass the intersection and gain quicker access to I-10.

There’s also an existing ramp on the east side of SR 143 that is being reconstructed along with signage improvements and landscape work.

A few construction milestones ... so far

• Just last week, crews started widening southbound SR 143 at the Salt River Bridge. When complete, this area of freeway will be expanded from three to four lanes in order to handle the traffic merging from the new west and east ramps.
• Crews used 50,000 cubic yards of dirt (yes, we’re talking about dirt again!) to form an embankment that will support the new ramp connecting eastbound Sky Harbor Boulevard directly onto southbound SR 143.
• The ramp connecting westbound Sky Harbor Boulevard with southbound SR 143 is nearly complete (see photo above) and should open to motorists by early 2012 while other construction improvements continue to be made on the rest of the project.

When construction on the entire project is complete in summer 2012, drivers are going to have improved access to and from the airport and they’ll experience better traffic flow on SR 143.