ADOT nearing milestones on I-10 widening

Drivers on Interstate 10 will continue to see construction in the future, but the Arizona Department of Transportation said it's nearing several milestones in the widening project.

By the end of the year, ADOT expects the concrete paving of two lanes being built in the median of the freeway from Loop 101 to Sarival Avenue to be completed.

"Once we get all the white paving done, we'll go through and put rubberized asphalt onto it," said Lars Jacoby, an ADOT spokesman.

After adding the rubberized asphalt, ADOT will reroute traffic from the two existing lanes onto the two new ones. By early next year, workers will begin to demolish the old lanes, built in the 1960s, and rebuild them to current ADOT standards.

The modern standards call for more than a foot of concrete beneath a few inches of asphalt to create a stronger road, Jacoby said. Older roads are mostly asphalt.

"There's such heavy traffic coming through here," he said. "It just allows for easier maintenance."

This new part of the project will mean more ramp restrictions, which could last up to 30 days.

"There will be ramp closures," Jacoby said. "We're hoping it doesn't take that long."

Expansion of five of the project's seven interchange bridges is also completed, leaving only the crossroads of 99th Avenue and 107th Avenue beneath the bridges restricted.

"They're a little bit ahead of schedule," Jacoby said.

Since the project began, the crossroads beneath the bridges have been closed as a safety measure when work is being done overhead. The closures, which lasted about a week at a time, are mostly over. Some overnight closures are still ahead, however.

Jacoby said ADOT worked with the cities along the freeway to schedule the closures at the slowest traffic times. In Avondale, ADOT worked to ensure the crossroads near Phoenix International Raceway would be open for the NASCAR race in early November.

When making its plans, ADOT has tried to reconcile the needs of residents with contractors, Jacoby said.

"We're trying to work with them and make it as palatable as possible," he said.

David Carranza manages Ramiro's Mexican Food, on the northwestern corner of North Litchfield Road and Van Buren Street. Over the past several months, Litchfield Road has been closed underneath I-10 for about three weeks.

On days when the road was closed, he said his restaurant saw about a 20 percent loss in sales. On a typical day, sales total about $1,200, but with the road closed, sales were closer to $900.

"When they're closed, it really slows down," he said.

A few doors down, Ken Osborne, owner of Osborne Jewelers, is busy helping customers. When Litchfield Road was closed, he said he saw his business slow, but the road reopened on weekends, his busiest days.

"The way they did it was honestly very good," he said. "At least they got it done before the holidays."

Goodyear Mayor Jim Cavanaugh said the construction is necessary as the Southwest Valley grows, and most residents want the extra lanes.

"From the standpoint of our citizens, it's probably categorized as a near-term nuisance with a long-term gain," he said.

Collaboration between the cities and ADOT has made the construction and closures less of a nuisance, he added.

In addition to working together to schedule the closures, Goodyear has provided contractors the use of a concrete plant near the construction to make moving supplies more efficient.

"We need it built," Cavanaugh said. "We're just going to have to put up with some inconveniences while it is."

Once the lanes inside the median from Loop 101 to Sarival Avenue are completed, construction will begin on another lane in each direction outside the existing freeway from Dysart Road to Sarival Avenue. The new lanes, bringing the total to five in both directions, will be open to drivers in 2010. Construction will also begin to add one lane in each direction in the median from Sarival Avenue to Verrado Way early next year.

Carpenter Donato Ovando works on Interstate 10 near 99th Avenue in Tolleson.