State Route 51 construction to bring weeks of around-the-clock delays

Drivers on northbound State Route 51 should be ready for several weeks of lane restrictions and delays beginning next Monday.

Starting the morning of July 27, Arizona Department of Transportation crews will narrow the northbound route from four lanes down to two.

The traffic squeeze will last about seven weeks while crews replace roughly 700 feet of damaged pavement and make related repairs to the freeway’s drainage system. The around-the-clock restrictions will be in place between Highland Avenue and Camelback Road.

ADOT is urging drivers to find alternative routes to get around the construction, including northbound Interstate 17.

Crews will remove a section of concrete pavement, repair a damaged stormwater pipe and pour a new concrete surface.

The work is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate pavement along a 9.5-mile stretch of SR 51 between Interstate 10 and Shea Boulevard. Crews have already removed the outdated, rough pavement and are using diamond grinding, a process that relies on machines with diamond-tipped blades, to smooth the concrete surface.

The project began in March, and until now, was limited to weekend work. Crews are about 50% complete with the overarching project.

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