By Ryan Harding / ADOT Communications

It didn't happen quite as rapidly as it might seem from the time-lapse video above, but as bridge projects go this job in northwestern Arizona was lightning fast.

After four days of around-the-clock work, the Arizona Department of Transportation installed Arizona’s first prefabricated bridge along Oatman Highway, also known as old Route 66, with the help of Mohave County and the Federal Highway Administration.

This innovative approach, in which the 110-foot bridge was manufactured in Phoenix and then transported in sections to the site in northwestern Arizona, saved a lot of time and cost in detours for local traffic and visitors.

In this case, the road was closed for only four days instead of weeks or months. Mohave County also estimated this approach saved $2.6 million in impacts to travelers and businesses, including work zone delays and detours.

The bridge lifts Oatman Highway over Sacramento Wash, a mile north of Interstate 40 in Topock, and will help prevent future flooding of the road.

Mohave County received a $1 million Federal Highway Administration grant toward the $1.8 million project, which ADOT administered.

You can see lots of photos from the project in the slideshow below.

By Dustin Krugel / ADOT Communications

Motorists won’t be able to drive the South Mountain Freeway until late 2019, but now you can visualize that trip using the simulation above that launched today at SouthMountainFreeway.com.

It includes some key additions since we shared a popular simulation in 2013:

• aesthetic and landscaping treatments along the 22-mile freeway corridor
• direct HOV lane access to and from downtown Phoenix at the freeway’s western end
• a six-mile shared-use path along Pecos Road
• interchange reconfigurations, including diverging diamond interchanges at Desert Foothills Parkway and 17th Avenue. 

You’ll find much more at SouthMountainFreeway.com, including traffic alerts, a way to sign up for project news, renderings showing aesthetics and construction photos.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

We just received this slideshow from Wednesday's demolition of the eastbound Interstate 10 bridge at Ina Road in Marana. It documents a big step forward for a $120 million project creating a modern traffic interchange in a busy area northwest of Tucson.

Please note that while Ina Road is closed at I-10, ADOT is maintaining access to area businesses throughout.

By early 2019, motorists, residents and businesses will benefit from a bridge carrying Ina Road over I-10 and railroad tracks and offering ramps to and from the interstate. 

By Doug Nintzel / ADOT Communications

Before I look ahead to progress on Phoenix-area freeways during our new year, I don’t want to let 2016 disappear too far in the rearview mirror. So check your blind spots while I take one more quick glance back at the accomplishments of the ADOT project crews who delivered some big results last year. Among the improvements you and I are now experiencing are the new Loop 101 lanes south of Shea Boulevard in the Scottsdale area, the Loop 202 widening project all the way out to Broadway Road in east Mesa and, not to be left out, the dramatically improved stretch of Loop 303 from north of Bell Road to Happy Valley Parkway in the northwest Valley. And let’s not forget the opening of the new Bell Road bridge over Grand Avenue. Each of these projects has made a difference for drivers across our large metro region.

The good news is that we’ll have a lot more to talk about in 2017.  As you might imagine, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway will receive its share of attention. In the coming months, Connect 202 Partners, the private development consortium building the freeway in partnership with ADOT, will set foundations for some of the 40 bridges that will be part of the project. I-10 drivers near 59th Avenue west of I-17 are now seeing work on access roads near where the South Mountain Freeway will connect with the Papago Freeway. It’ll take a lot of work and a lot of construction material before the much anticipated Loop 202 link between the East Valley and West Valley opens to traffic by late 2019.

The new year will see the opening of additional elevated ramps at the “south half” of the large freeway-to-freeway interchange connecting Interstate 10 with Loop 303 in Goodyear (the photo above shows recent work there). To refresh your memory, the north half of the interchange opened in 2014 and has made a big difference in allowing West Valley drivers to make the direct I-10 connection to or from Loop 303 north of the interstate. By the end of 2017, Loop 303 will be extended south to Van Buren Street, and the remaining ramps at the interchange, including some tall flyover structures, will allow traffic to make a seamless connection to or from Cotton Lane. As with those ramps, things are looking up for the movement of people and products across the Valley. In some areas, it’ll be out with the old and in with the new. That includes a busy stretch of I-17 in Phoenix that will be resurfaced with a new top layer of smooth, durable rubberized asphalt. In order to replace the old, worn pavement, ADOT will schedule a series of weekend closures along I-17 in sections anywhere from 19th Avenue near the Durango Curve north to near Peoria Avenue. The spring months provide the required weather and temperature range to resurface with the rubberized asphalt. We’ll be putting a lot of effort into advising drivers to consider alternate routes like State Route 51 or another roadway where they’re less likely to encounter heavy traffic. Stay tuned for updates on that important improvement work along the Black Canyon Freeway.

Before I head out for an interview, here’s my pitch for using extreme caution in highway work zones. You can be a lifesaver if you slow down, buckle up, avoid distractions and pay attention when approaching and traveling through work zones. Please think of that highway worker as one of your neighbors or maybe even be your brother or sister, uncle or a best friend’s relative. Give them a brake and observe our state’s Move Over Law. When you see those emergency lights, even from an ordinary passenger car, move over at least one lane or slow down to boost the level of safety out there on the freeway.

Have a great and safe 2017.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Our project to create a $41.9 million traffic interchange at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60) is about to take a big step forward. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Bell Road is scheduled to reopen after being closed since April 1.

That closure has made it possible to get the majority of the work done without interfering with spring training baseball or the holiday shopping season. As of next week, area drivers will be able to shop on both sides of Grand Avenue using the new Bell Road bridge.

The slideshow above allows you to follow the progress even before construction began, starting with community involvement that helped create a project and timeline that supported businesses and residents. You can find dozens of additional photos on ADOT's Flickr page.

There are more Bell/Grand updates to come, as the entire project, including ramps to and from Grand Avenue, is scheduled for completion before spring training.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

If you think the photos above suggest that the overpass under construction at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60) is just about ready for traffic, you're right.

Barring an unforeseen event such as extreme weather, we're planning to reopen Bell Road across Grand Avenue on Tuesday, Nov. 22, in time for the start of the holiday shopping season.

The slideshow above shows a Bell Road bridge lacking only final touches. Crews are pouring concrete to form the base for asphalt pavement and completing the bridge fence, among other work.

While ADOT has maintained access to area businesses through a convenient detour route, reopening Bell Road as scheduled is a big step forward for this project and for Surprise.

After the Bell Road bridge opens, the final phase of work will include completing ramps to and from Grand Avenue and completing new eastbound lanes of Grand Avenue. That's scheduled to be done before the start of baseball spring training.

A full closure of Bell Road is allowing crews to complete this $41.9 million project faster and without affecting spring training or the holiday shopping season. With the end in sight, West Valley motorists are set to begin reaping the rewards from having a modern traffic interchange in the heart of fast-growing Surprise.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Thanks to the city of Surprise for sharing this aerial video of the overpass and interchange under construction at Bell Road and Grand Avenue (US 60).

It offers an excellent view of the project's focus leading up to reopening Bell Road in November. The deck is nearing completion in the sections supported by girders, and stabilized earth that will carry the roadway is rising behind retaining walls at each end of the Bell Road bridge.

So what about that space at the center of the bridge? Crews are now building retaining walls that will hold stabilized earth to create ramps to and from Grand Avenue and support the center section of the bridge. You can see these walls rising to the left of the Grand Avenue lanes that both directions of traffic are sharing for now and to the right of what will be the eastbound lanes of Grand Avenue.

This $41.9 million project remains on track to reopen Bell Road for the start of the holiday shopping season. All work is scheduled for completion in the spring.

For now, a convenient detour via Dysart, Greenway and Litchfield roads is providing access to area businesses.

By Doug Nintzel / ADOT Communications

What a difference seven years can make, especially with a freeway like Loop 303 in the west and north Valley regions.

ADOT this summer is wrapping up final work on the last in a recent series of projects to upgrade Loop 303 from a four-lane highway still controlled by traffic lights or stop signs to a modern, access-controlled freeway stretching some 35 miles from Interstate 17 in north Phoenix to Interstate 10 in Goodyear.

The latest advancement is the combined widening of Loop 303 from north of Bell Road in Surprise to Happy Valley Parkway in Peoria, upgrades providing a new bridge and ramps at the Loop 303/Grand Avenue interchange and an entirely new interchange connecting Loop 303 and El Mirage Road.

That is now. But in fact, it was back in 2009 that ADOT broke ground on twin projects that would provide drivers with the entirely new 14-mile stretch of Loop 303 extending from I-17 to Happy Valley Parkway in Peoria.

Aerial view of Loop 303

The stretch now includes the Lake Pleasant Parkway interchange that many weekend travelers choose to use for trips to and from the lake, one of the northwest Valley’s top recreation destinations.

When construction started, crews traveled dirt roads that had been created for the sole purpose of access to the freeway work sites, since this part of Loop 303 had been laid out on parcels of undeveloped state trust land.

Heading out to a bridge construction site in the middle of open desert land east of Lake Pleasant Parkway left one with a feeling of arriving at a "Star Wars" movie set. It was a sight that only a relatively few number of people – mostly the construction crews – actually experienced since the work took place in an area that had been mostly reserved for coyotes and rattlesnakes.

Traveling along Loop 303 in that area west of I-17 provides drivers with one of the most scenic freeway drives in the Phoenix area – since development next to the roadway is still something left for the future.

Construction Work

Elsewhere along the Loop 303 corridor, where the old north-south part of the highway had carried traffic along one or two lanes in each direction north of Interstate 10 near Cotton Lane, another series of projects kicked off in 2011. The results are now stunning, especially for drivers who remember the old highway.

Mile by mile and stage by stage, the wider freeway was created between Interstate 10 and Bell Road by shifting traffic to one side of the corridor while crews advanced the construction on other side. The crowning achievement was the 2014 completion of the large north half of the freeway-to-freeway interchange connecting Loop 303 with I-10 in Goodyear.

Those who now make those connections and use the much-improved Loop 303 might remember the challenge and frustration involved in traveling on the old highway, when you of course wound up behind one or two large commercial trucks.

Safety is a top factor in advancing a freeway like Loop 303. There’s more capacity for traffic, ramps that provide access on or off the freeway at major interchanges and an end to the “at ground level” intersections.

But please remember that all of us, as drivers, hold the keys to safety. Please do your best to stay alert while driving and pay attention to signs and speed limits while not pushing the safety envelope. We’ve appreciated the patience of drivers while the work has taken place to provide you with the improved Loop 303, a freeway that truly is ahead of the curve.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

In a little more than a month you’ll be able to drive along the new bridge on Interstate 15 through the scenic Virgin River Gorge in northwest Arizona. We thought you might want to see what you’ll be driving on.

This time-lapse video was shot as crews worked in difficult conditions from November through late February to build a southbound span at Virgin River Bridge No. 6. You can see traffic passing in both directions on the northbound span, which was completed last year. Meanwhile, the slideshow below offers stunning images of this project.

Here’s what it takes: Dozens of steel girders, moved into place by huge cranes. Layer after layer of base to support the roadway. Pouring the bridge deck. Adding the surface and the striping. And something you don’t see: Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers keeping drivers safe on the temporarily divided northbound lanes.

Two years of work is just about to come to an end. For most drivers, the bridge may look like just a simple structure. Watching the video, you can see that building a bridge, especially in an environment like the Virgin River Gorge, is anything but.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, we hope you enjoy our occasional From the Archives posts using historic ADOT photos to show how things have changed through the years. This post serves the same purpose, but the time period involves just one month at Grand Avenue (US 60) and Bell Road in Surprise.

The slideshow above is from this week, and the photos at right are from April.

The $41.9 million overpass and interchange under construction at Bell and Grand will relieve traffic congestion by carrying Bell Road over the BNSF Railway tracks and Grand Avenue. Closing Bell at Grand is allowing faster construction so Bell can reopen by November.

We hope you'll explore the photos to see the clear progress we are making. For example, the columns that were rising in April are now being connected by support beams, known as caps, that will hold girders. While columns in the April pictures were on the east side of Grand, the latest photos show columns rising on the west side.

This is an exciting project to watch. It's going to make a big difference in a growing area, and, as we noted in a recent post, it demonstrates how ADOT and the community are working together to create a project and timeline that support businesses and progress.

We are maintaining access to area businesses throughout the project, and there's a convenient detour around the project area.