PHOENIX –
Workers have laid the first pavement for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway,
pouring and finishing concrete to widen eastbound Pecos Road where it connects
with the Loop 202 Santan Freeway at Interstate 10.
This
work, part of preliminary construction that began in September, adds to the
shoulder of a half-mile stretch where crews are extending high-occupancy
vehicle lanes between the Loop 202 Santan Freeway and 48th Street.
Next
month, this work will move to the median.
“This
is just the first of what will be many milestones for the South Mountain
Freeway,” said Rob Samour, the Arizona Department of Transportation’s senior
deputy state engineer for major projects. “The sooner we can deliver this
project, the sooner we can bring traffic relief to motorists traveling between
East Valley and West Valley.”
Using
a concrete paving machine, workers poured and finished the concrete last week
along the eastbound Pecos Road shoulder. Once the concrete cures, the stretch
will get new curb and gutters and place a concrete barrier wall along the
embankment.
Completing
this first phase of work in early 2017 will allow crews to start widening the
existing eastbound Pecos Road lanes to maintain two-way traffic flow along the
entire Pecos corridor during all phases of construction.
Motorists
will be able to travel on the 22-mile-long freeway corridor by late 2019.
For
more information, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.
|