ADOT Expands Construction And Maintenance Times

abril 10, 2020 The Border Reports

PHOENIX – With many people staying at home during the current public health situation, lighter traffic has created an opportunity for the Arizona Department of Transportation to expand the times when construction and maintenance crews can advance improvement projects.

ADOT typically does much of its major freeway work at night and on weekends to reduce the inconvenience for drivers. But with traffic lighter than normal, crews can start earlier and some projects are adding work on weekdays.

That provides a safer environment for workers and can allow some work to be completed sooner within overall project timelines, said Randy Everett, senior division administrator for ADOT’s Central District serving the Phoenix metropolitan area.

“We usually close lanes from 10 p.m. on a Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday,” Everett said. “Now we’re finding that when we put in closures at 8 p.m. or even 7:30, there’s no line of traffic. We’re able to get our work done without creating an inconvenience for drivers.”

Benefits for Projects, No Delay for Drivers

That has benefited projects across Arizona without creating delays for drivers.

On the Loop 101 Pima Freeway and Loop 101 Price Freeway projects, work is beginning earlier in the evening, allowing crews to complete tasks during safer daylight hours and making it all but certain that the day’s tasks will be finished before the scheduled 5 a.m. reopening time.
On the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, paving recently began on Thursday night and continued through the day on Friday. Paving may be extended to additional weekdays to take advantage of lighter traffic.
At Interstate 10 and Ruthrauff Road in Tucson, nighttime lane closures are beginning earlier in the evening. “We have not seen any significant impact to traffic with these changes,” said Dan Casmer, ADOT’s senior resident engineer on the project.
In Flagstaff, ADOT is accelerating a project to widen and improve the Interstate 17 bridge over McConnell Drive. With Northern Arizona University shifting to online classes, full closures of McConnell will begin Monday, April 13, instead of waiting for summer. That will allow the project to finish ahead of schedule and potentially eliminate the need for intermittent closures that were originally planned during the fall semester.

@AZDot @ArizonaDot