Tucson Highway Project To Be A 39 Month Nightmare

   Right about now I'm pretty glad that I am not back in the Tucson desert what with the new I-10 road construction that is expected to take a little bit more than three years.

    The $122 million  will widen I-10 to four lanes for a fair stretch of interstate and will curb the highways use down to only two working lanes.

Tucson Citizen

02.10.2007

The project was originally set for three phases over 10 years, creating a potential decade-long migraine for motorists.
Instead, ADOT engineers opted for a single-phase, 39-month project that will be painful but for a much shorter period, said Teresa Wellborne, ADOT spokeswoman for the project.
To help motorists, ADOT plans a new, high-tech operations center where traffic conditions will be electronically monitored.
This will allow operators to activate message boards along the freeway to advise motorists of conditions, Wellborne said.
Also, ADOT and the Tucson Transportation Department are working to better synchronize downtown traffic signals during the project.
One critical element of the widening will be the demolition of bridges over downtown streets.
Plans are to demolish and build new bridges on one side of the freeway, routing all traffic to the other side during that work. When the first side is completed, traffic will be routed to the new half, and demolition and construction will be done on the other side, Wellborne said.
"The interstate will be built one side at a time," Wellborne said.

   My friends out in Tucson certainly have my sympathy.

 

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