The Arizona Department of Transportation completed the Interstate 10 widening project between Ruthrauff and Prince roads after traffic was recently moved back onto the eastbound I-10 exit ramp at Prince Road and the frontage road between Commerce Drive and Prince Road.
After breaking ground in September 2011, ADOT is now more than two-thirds completed with the $76.4 million project, which will upgrade a two-mile section of I-10 by increasing capacity, reducing congestion and improving traffic flow on this highly traveled corridor in Tucson.
Major improvements on the project include:
- Widening the I-10 freeway to four lanes in each direction to accommodate increasing traffic
- Reconstructing the Prince Road traffic interchange so that Prince Road will pass over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and I-10 and minimize delays for motorists
- Updating the entrance and exit ramps to provide better connections and improved access for motorists
The eastbound frontage road was closed and made into a two-way road in order to reconfigure the Prince Road bridge, entrance and exit ramps, and work on the underground utility.
During the frontage road closure, traffic was detoured at Commerce Drive to Fort Lowell Road and back onto the eastbound frontage road, north of Miracle Mile. Businesses along this section worked closely with ADOT to provide customers with signs directing them through the detour.
This week, businesses were able to remove their detour signs and direct their customers to use the frontage road once more. “It’s a beautiful new road and we are happy to have it!” commented Barbara Jackson, owner of Vaquero Feed and Livestock Supply.
The eastbound I-10 entrance ramp at Prince Road will remain closed for the duration of the project, which is expected to wrap up this winter. Once complete, ADOT will have built six-and-a-half miles of continuous four-lane highway in each direction, the only stretch of its kind in Tucson, after previously widening Prince Road to 29th Street in 2010.