PHOENIX – With Valley drivers benefiting from several freeway improvement projects completed during 2016, including the widening of Loop 101 between Shea Boulevard and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) in the Scottsdale area, the Arizona Department of Transportation is poised to start or complete several Phoenix-area projects in the coming year.

ADOT’s highlights for the regional freeway system in 2017 include:

·         Beginning construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. Work scheduled for the first half of 2017 includes setting foundations for some of the 40 bridges planned, widening eastbound lanes of Pecos Road to accommodate two-way traffic during construction, creating access roads near the freeway’s future interchange with Interstate 10 in west Phoenix and creating drainage structures. This 22-mile direct link between the East Valley and West Valley will open by late 2019.

·         Opening the south half of the Interstate 10/Loop 303 interchange in Goodyear by fall. The $63 million project, launched last February, will complete freeway-to-freeway ramps and extend Loop 303 south to Van Buren Street. Loop 303 traffic will then have direct connections to and from Cotton Lane south of I-10. The north half of the I-10/Loop 303 interchange opened to traffic in August 2014.

·         Resurfacing an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 17 between 19th and Peoria avenues in Phoenix in spring 2017. Crews will add a new layer of smooth, durable rubberized asphalt along the Black Canyon Freeway when warmer spring weather provides the best conditions for the resurfacing work. Rubberized asphalt, which has been used on Valley freeways for several years, includes rubber from shredded recycled tires as part of the pavement’s mixture.

·         Completion of the new Bell Road/Grand Avenue interchange in Surprise by spring 2017. The $42 million project started last February. Crews opened the new bridge carrying Bell Road over Grand Avenue and the parallel BNSF Railway tracks on Nov. 22. New ramps connecting Grand Avenue to and from the Bell Road bridge are scheduled for completion in time for the Cactus League baseball season in late February.

·         Installing Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) traffic-management technology between Ray and Broadway roads in Mesa. The project, scheduled to start by summer 2017, will add several overhead message signs, closed-circuit traffic cameras and traffic-flow sensors along the Santan Freeway. The technology allows ADOT to provide travelers with updated freeway conditions. A current ADOT Freeway Management System project along Loop 202 between Dobson and Ray roads is scheduled for completion in spring 2017.

ADOT’s 2016 Valley freeway construction accomplishments include:

·         Completing $109 million in Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) improvements between Loop 101 and Broadway Road, adding new travel lanes between Loop 101 and Gilbert Road, extending HOV lanes by 11 miles between Gilbert and Broadway Roads and resurfacing the roadway with rubberized asphalt.

·         Completing $74 million in Loop 101 (Pima Freeway) improvements between Shea Boulevard and Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) in the Scottsdale area, a project that added new right lanes and paved 11 miles of roadway with rubberized asphalt.

·         Widening Loop 303 to three lanes in each direction between Grand Avenue (US 60) and Happy Valley Parkway in the northwest Valley, a $30 million project that wrapped up in 2016 with rubberized asphalt paving.

·         Performing preliminary construction for the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.  Work began in September with improvements to the I-10/Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange in the Ahwatukee area.

·         Opening State Route 51 ramps to and from Black Mountain Boulevard at the Loop 101 (Pima Freeway) interchange. ADOT teamed with the city of Phoenix on this $17.8 million project to improve access in the Desert Ridge area of northeast Phoenix.

ADOT works with the Maricopa Association of Governments, the Phoenix area’s metropolitan planning organization, to schedule and deliver projects as part of the 20-year Regional Transportation Plan approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. Funding sources include a countywide half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements as well as the Phoenix region’s share of state and federal transportation funds.