Loop 303 closure scheduled this weekend as project reaches a major milestone

During the closure, drivers can use
Reems Road from Grand Avenue
 to Glendale Avenue. Officers will
be on site to help guide traffic
through any four-way stops along
Reems Road. Most east-west streets
in the area will remain open.

Those of you who drive Loop 303 in the Surprise area are in for a big switch…

Starting next week you’ll be traveling on the newly-constructed northbound side of the freeway between Peoria Avenue and Mountain View Boulevard. The traffic switch is necessary so crews can start building the future southbound lanes as part of the ongoing project that’s transforming Loop 303 from a two-lane roadway into a modern urban freeway. This is a big milestone for the project and marks the completion of Phase I and a move into Phase II.

In order to switch traffic from one side of the freeway over to the newly-completed portion, ADOT is scheduled to close Loop 303 between Grand and Glendale avenues from 10 p.m. tonight (Oct. 26) to 6 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 28). Traffic will be detoured along Reems Road while Loop 303 is closed. Most east-west streets in the area will remain open.

The closure will give crews time to finalize paving and striping as well as set up barriers, signals and signage – all necessary for the new traffic configuration.

After the weekend closure…
When the switch is complete, Loop 303 traffic will use one lane in each direction on the new northbound pavement that starts just north of Peoria Avenue and the off- and on-ramps at the interchanges at Cactus, Waddell, Greenway and Bell roads. Temporary traffic signals will allow the two-way traffic to move through those intersections.

The $128.7 million project to upgrade Loop 303 between Peoria Avenue and Mountain View Boulevard, south of Grand Avenue, is scheduled for completion in fall 2013. Check out yesterday’s blog post for a look at the progress so far …

This isn’t the only project under way on the Loop 303. The entire freeway (which stretches from I-10 in Goodyear to I-17 in Phoenix) is getting updated in several areas. For a detailed overview of all those projects, visit azdot.gov/Loop303.

Portion of Loop 303 project now 60 percent complete

Driven the Loop 303 lately?

If you have, you know things are looking very different than they did about a year ago…

That’s when work got under way on a project designed to transform the two-lane roadway into a modern urban freeway.*

Right now construction on the segment from Peoria Avenue to Mountain View Boulevard is 60 percent complete and crews are getting ready to switch traffic over to the newly completed northbound lanes so work can continue on the southbound lanes – more on that tomorrow.

Today we’re focused on how far the project has come!

It was just April when the project was at the 30 percent mark. Back then, work was wrapping up on the bridges being built at Waddell and Greenway roads.

Now crews are working on the Cactus Road bridge … they’re also working on finishing touches for those northbound lanes – things like curbs and gutters, retaining walls, signage and striping (see photos above).

After the big traffic switch (again, more on that tomorrow!), crews will immediately get started on building the southbound lanes. So, commuters who regularly drive the 303 can expect to see a lot of the work they’ve been seeing for the past year – just on the other side of the freeway.

More on the project

This portion of the Loop 303 Improvement Project is scheduled to wrap up by fall 2013. When complete, this six mile stretch of Loop 303 will include three lanes in each direction with a median, auxiliary lanes and signalized traffic interchanges at Bell, Greenway, Waddell and Cactus Roads.

* Today we’re just talking about a six-mile stretch of the Loop 303 between Mountain View Boulevard and Peoria Avenue. The entire freeway stretches from I-10 in Goodyear to I-17 in Phoenix and a few different projects are under way along the 39-mile span. For a detailed overview of all those projects, click HERE.