Ongoing construction of the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway won’t be the only major project the Arizona Department of Transportation will be busy building in the Phoenix area in 2019. A $185 million widening of Loop 101 in north Phoenix and Scottsdale is set to start in February.

The Loop 101 improvement project stretching 13 miles between Interstate 17 and Pima Road in north Scottsdale will add one new general purpose lane in each direction while also reconstructing several on- and off-ramps to match the wider freeway. New merge lanes also will be built in each direction between Seventh Street and Cave Creek Road.

The Loop 101 project is scheduled for completion by early 2021. Crews also will add or reconstruct several noise or retaining walls along Loop 101 where warranted. Before work concludes, crews will add a new layer of smooth rubberized asphalt.

Work will move into high gear this year on the Interstate 17 interchange reconstruction project at Happy Valley and Pinnacle Peak roads, which launched in November. As a major part of this $50 million project, crews are rebuilding both of the interchanges. They will add a diverging diamond design with additional lanes to carry Happy Valley Road over I-17. The project also means the roundabouts currently in use at Happy Valley Road will be removed.

An expanded diamond interchange will be built at Pinnacle Peak Road and new right lanes are being added along I-17 in the area. The entire project is scheduled for completion by fall 2020.

A new interchange is coming to Interstate 10 in the West Valley. As part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan approved by voters in 2004, the interchange will be built at Fairway Drive, midway between the interchanges at Avondale Boulevard and Dysart Road. The $21 million project will start this spring and is scheduled for completion in summer 2020. The on- and off-ramps at this interchange will allow traffic to connect to and from Fairway Drive south of I-10.

A long-awaited Interstate 17 drainage improvement project is set to start this spring between Peoria Avenue and Greenway Road in north Phoenix. Major work will include construction of a new gravity-driven drainage system and the removal of older pump stations near the I-17 traffic interchanges at Greenway, Thunderbird and Cactus roads and Peoria Avenue.

Crews have also started work this month (January) on ADOT’s $10 million I-10 improvement project west of I-17, including the addition of a new westbound lane to improve traffic flow between 35th and 43rd avenues. The project includes improvements to signals and ramps at cross street-level pedestrian crosswalks along the I-10 corridor. Work is scheduled for completion by fall 2019.

ADOT plans and constructs new freeways, additional lanes and other improvements as part of the Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Transportation Plan for the Maricopa County region. The primary funding source for regional freeway improvements is a half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2004. More information about ADOT projects and the regional plan is available at azdot.gov/projects.