Who else is feed up with I-17?

[whereveriroam]

This to me is very under reported by the local news idiots and I may be venting a little bit but how often is either the northbound or southbound lanes of I-17 between Phoenix and the Sunset Point rest area closed due to accidents? Yes once again, actually twice in the past 24 hours (or did I miss another closure) that part of the highway has been shut down. 2 weeks ago on a backpack to Sedona we lucked out and got into a parking lot just as the accident got cleared. On the way back we saw another parking lot formed going northbound at the same place (Black Canyon City- Sunset Point). You think with all the highway projects and sometimes appearantly useless road work going on that they'd spend the $$$ and add a 3rd lane. AZ 87 and the death road AZ 93 (Wickenberg- I-40) were re-done recently. How about 17?

[CatValet]

I know it's a bummer. ADOT plans to add two more lanes from SR 101L to Table Mesa TI north of Anthem. But.....you can add four more lanes, when an accident closes the road in a direction, there is still no alternative. Since both sides of the corridor are National Forest or National Monument from there to SR 69 on the west and SR 260 on the east, there will never ever be new east/west routes from I-17 as escape routes.

Back in Indiana where I grew up, there was always a county road every few miles. There was no wilderness, no public lands and no place real to hike. That's one of the prices we pay to live here. With 87% of the state in public lands of one sort or another, we lack the myriad of alternatives more developed areas have.

BTW, SR 93 from Wickenburg to Kingman and Las Vegas is far, far from done. There is still about $850m worth of four laning to do, plus a new bridge south of Hoover Dam. That roadway, plus SR 85 between I-10 and Gila Bend (another $250m worth of widening over the next 10 years) are the most dangerous in the state.

Arizona's gasoline TAX is in the lowest 25% in the nation-in spite of the highest gas prices. Even New Mexico gets 6 cents per gallon more than Arizona. That is one of the reasons why Arizona's road building budget is about a billion a year underfunded.

By the way, I see little "apparently useless roadwork" being done; and I'm a professional in the field. Some people do not appreciate the expense behind rubberized asphalt. Those of us who live within a half mile of a freeway or drive long distances daily (that's me on both counts) really appreciate being able to hear the stereo in the car over the road roar, and not hear the road road through their bedroom window. Most of the cosmetic upgrades (like art of the walls) to the freeways, is paid by local cities who want a more upscale roadway in upscale areas. There are more than 600,000 approved, platted, but not yet constructed homes in Maricopa County. Most of these are in areas where the freeways are planned but not yet built. -R

[Tom Treks]

[GTG]

That CatValet really irks me sometimes. He's always posting something pretty intelligent sounding and makes me feel like I should have known it all along.

Keep up the great posts y'all.

GTG
_________________
Good things come to those who walk.

[Leva]

My personal record for being stuck on I-17 is seven hours. I hit a traffic jam just about a quarter mile past the bloody basin turnoff. Seems someone flipped an army truck full of ammo over. Traffic wasn't going anywhere. I had a cooler half full of sodas left from a camping trip; ended up sitting in the back of my jeep with the tailgate up, yacking with the other people who were stuck.

What's scary is the people who have coolers full of beer and who get stuck ...

Leva

[whereveriroam]

I should of put in my post that I think the addition of another lane would greatly reduce the number of accidents on I-17. I bet a good number of these accidents are caused by a slow vehicle trying to pass a slower vehicle by jumping into the fast lane. What the slow driver who's trying to pass the slower driver fails to do is look in their rearview mirror and judge how fast Mario Andretti is flying along and then... I've almost got pasted a couple of times on I-17 and I don't drive faster than 80mph, 5 MPH over the posted speed limit. I find the drive southbound out of Camp Verde is pretty bad too but there doesn't seem to be as much traffic.

[bzachar]

[sherileeaz]

Having grown up in Indiana also, I agree with CatValet's post regarding the road closures and lack of other access roads in Arizona vs Indiana. I'd much rather sit in traffic in Arizona and look at the beautiful mountain and desert views then in Indiana with the pollution. But I do hope they make I-17 wider, with the growth in the Phoenix area and more people on the move, we need more lanes or at least an easier, faster escape from the Valley at times .

Sherileeaz

[CatValet]

Bill: ALL Freeways will be rubberized. I'll check the schedule. -R

[outside1]

Here is an older link for the rubberizing of the freeways but the data is for 2003 - 2006. http://www.dot.state.az.us/ROADS/rfs/Images/RAmap7-03.pdf
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Tony

[Daryl]

My $.02: when there is an accident, #1 priority is, of course, tend to any wounded and make the scene safe. #2 priority should be to get traffic flowing again. There is rarely any reason to keep the road closed for more then an hour after crews arrive. Tend to the wounded, get the wreckage out of the road and get traffic flowing.
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[CatValet]

Here ya go:

SR 101L Pima-Price late spring 2004 (underway now) except for section between Superstition and 202- fall of 2004

SR 101L Agua Fria south of Union Hills- spring 2005

I-10 67th Ave to SR 202L-fall 2004

I-10 Baseline to Ray-fall 2004

Balance of SR 202L Red Mountain and San Tan, as built, 2004-2007

See also www.quietroads.com -R

[Daddee]

Nice link Randy - and this was a great topic. Lots of good information from our members on this one.
_________________
"Only small minds want always to be right."
- Louis XIV

"...haven't you lived long enough to know that two men may honestly differ about a question and both be right?"
- Abraham Lincoln

[bzachar]

Tony, Randy,

Thanks for the info.

Do you have any knowledge regarding
-the segment of I-10 west of 56th Ave
-Loop 202 between Alma School and Van Buren?

Those sections are conspicuous by their absence.

Bill

[sherileeaz]