Route between Phoenix, Las Vegas gets a $155M boost from ADOT

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation announced recently that it has committed another $155 million for improvements to the future Interstate 11 over the next five years.

This is in addition to the more than half a billion dollars the department has already invested over the next 20 years to turn the primary route between Phoenix and Las Vegas into a four-lane highway.

“ADOT has spent years investing in the future Interstate 11 and laying the foundation for this border-to-border highway,” Director John Halikowski said in a statement.

“We’re putting the pieces together today for what I-11 will be in the future. These substantial and continuing investments show our commitment to a corridor that is essential for commercial and recreational travel and also to making Arizona a better place to live and work.”

The I-11 was formally designated in 2015 under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.

The highway will generally follow State Route 189 and Interstate 19 from Nogales to Tucson, Interstate 10 from Tucson to Phoenix and US 93 from Wickenburg to the Nevada state line. Signs have been in place since 2014 to designate the US 93 as the “Future I-11 Corridor.”

All but 39 miles of the 200-mile drive has been upgraded to a four-lane highway in an effort to improve traffic flow, support freight trucks and enhance safety.

The Arizona Department of Transportation is also funding and conducting an environmental study to identify a potential 2,000-foot wide corridor for I-11 between Nogales and Wickenburg. It is expected to be complete by 2020.

The department will also put $134 million to upgrade State Route 189, the 3.75-mile Nogales highway that will connect I-19 with the Mariposa Port of Entry.

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