Governor Doug Ducey today announced significant improvements to Interstate 17 north of Phoenix. The governor was joined by the directors of the Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona Office of Tourism along with business leaders, local elected officials and transportation stakeholders.
The Arizona Department of Transportation advises drivers who use State Route 89 in Prescott to plan for overnight road closures while contractors are paving the roadway.
Roundabouts are becoming increasingly used in Arizona instead of intersections. There is a project finishing up in Prescott that has widened and added roundabouts to 89 highway along the stretch that connects Prescott to Chino Valley. Research has shown that they improve traffic and reduce accidents greatly.
With planned Interstate 17 flex lanes between Black Canyon City and Sunset Point set for construction starting by 2021, the state budget approved by state lawmakers and signed by Governor Doug Ducey provides the additional funding needed to also complete widening I-17 south of where the flex system will be built.
The Arizona Department of Transportation is advancing a $3.7 million project to construct a first-in-the-nation wrong-way driver thermal detection system along a 15-mile stretch of Interstate 17 in Phoenix. The system is designed to detect wrong-way vehicles and alert the other drivers and law enforcement of them on I-17.
The new Highway Public Safety Fee, implemented state-wide by ADOT, will be added to vehicle registration. According to ADOT, “The fee was established by state law to support public safety and Highway Patrol operations.
