Following the construction of 40 bridges over the span of two years, crews have placed the final girder along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, the Arizona DOT's (ADOT) single largest freeway construction project.
According to ADOT, crews with Connect 202 Partners lowered the 91-ft, 77,000-lb girder into place recently at the interchange under construction at Desert Foothills Parkway in Ahwatukee. This work will be followed by pouring the concrete deck for the overpass later this month.
More than 1,000 girders, all of them manufactured locally, have been installed for the 22-mile freeway, which will connect with I-10 at the Loop 202 Santan Freeway in Chandler and 59th Avenue in west Phoenix.
Along with the South Mountain Freeway interchange under construction at 17th Avenue, Desert Foothills Parkway will have a diverging diamond configuration. Both interchanges will be partial diverging diamonds because neither Desert Foothills Parkway nor 17th Avenue continues to the south. A typical diverging diamond interchange accommodates local traffic approaching from both directions.
The largest freeway construction project in Arizona history, the South Mountain Freeway will provide a long-planned direct link between the East Valley and West Valley and a much-needed alternative to I-10 through downtown Phoenix. Approved by Maricopa County voters in 1985 and again in 2004 as part of a comprehensive regional transportation plan, the South Mountain Freeway will complete the Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system in the Valley.
The South Mountain Freeway is expected to open to traffic before the end of 2019, with work continuing into 2020.
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NEWS & IMAGE SOURCE: Arizona DOT
