Interstate 10 tunnel near downtown Phoenix dedicated to late ADOT engineer
May 8, 2024, 8:00 PM
PHOENIX — The Interstate 10 Deck Park Tunnel near downtown Phoenix was dedicated on Tuesday to a late Arizona Department of Transportation civil engineer tasked with managing its development, officials said.
The dedication for Dean Lindsey took place above the I-10 tunnel at Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix, with ADOT officials, former colleagues and Lindsey’s family in attendance.
As part of the dedication, signs that read “Dean Lindsey Memorial Tunnel” were placed outside each tunnel entrance, as well as through a plaque in the park.
“Dean Lindsey had a reputation for bringing people together during the design work that allowed I-10 and Hance Park to become realities in the downtown Phoenix area more than 30 years ago,” ADOT Director Jennifer Toth said in a press release.
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“He was a key architect of the early Valley freeway program, and I’m sure he’d want to share this dedication with those who worked beside him.”
Here’s more of what Lindsey did for the Interstate 10 tunnel in Phoenix
Lindsey oversaw the development of I-10’s downtown-area segments in the 1970s and ’80s. The Deck Park Tunnel opened for public use in August 1990.
The late engineer, who started working for ADOT in 1974, retired in 2006 and died in 2023.
“You can’t overstate the work that Dean put into the Papago Freeway,” Mickelson said in the release.
“There were times he was working seven days a week. He was wonderful with people, which was important at a time when planning that section of I-10 was politically charged. He was the right man to lead the planning and design processes for the tunnel project, the I-17 Stack interchange and the I-10 connections with State Route 51.”
Lindsey’s daughter Laura Felten said her father loved his work at ADOT and was often proud as he looked back in his career.
“He had many stories about the accomplishments, the camaraderie with coworkers and the problem solving required to deliver projects,” Felten said. “Whenever our family drives through the Deck Park Tunnel, we call it ‘PaPa’s Tunnel.’ We are so honored that it now bears his name.”
The naming of the tunnel was approved by the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names.
