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.
Phoenix-area drivers are used to seeing freeway entrance-ramp meters with alternating green and red traffic lights during weekday rush hours. But some of the red lights in Interstate 17 ramp meters also play a role as part of the pilot wrong-way vehicle detection system being tested by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Roundabouts are becoming increasingly used in Arizona instead of intersections, because research has shown that they improve traffic and reduce accidents greatly. They are also fun to drive if you understand how they work!
