ADOT updates progress on I-17 Improvement Project
Jun 3, 2023, 2:00 PM
PHOENIX — Crews continue to alter the look of 23 miles of freeway between Anthem and Sunset Point as part of the I-17 Improvement Project that will be completed in 2025, the Arizona Department of Transportation said.
Drivers heading from the Valley to northern Arizona this summer will see the progress made on the project that started last year, including grading in between the existing northbound and southbound lanes at the southern end of the stretch under construction.
Crews are preparing to add one general purpose lane in both directions, as 15 miles between Anthem Way and Black Canyon City will expand to three lanes on each side.
The project calls for eight miles of flex lanes to control congestion next to the existing southbound lanes from Black Canyon City to Sunset Point, which require rock blasting throughout much of the rest of 2023.
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“The earthwork and excavation are impressive. It’s an operation where 1.7 million cubic yards of material will be removed from the mountainsides, then hauled to another area where it’s prepared and crushed,” Annette Riley, ADOT’s project manager for the I-17 Improvement Project, said in a press release.
“All the material that is blasted and excavated will go back into the project to construct the new lanes. We’re using everything that we remove.”
Bridges are also under construction at New River Road, New River Wash and Moores Gulch.
Along all 23 miles, ADOT reduced the speed limit to 65 mph, while the Arizona Department of Public Safety is increasing its patrols throughout the work zone.
“Please obey the reduced speed limit and watch for construction workers, vehicles and equipment,” Riley said. “We want everyone to get to their destinations safely, and we also want all of our highway workers to get safely home.”
No weekend lane closures will be scheduled for construction to control traffic, with closures primarily limited to overnights on weekdays from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to ADOT.
Most construction occurs during the day in the median or on the side of the freeway.
