Posted on 08/02/2021 12:40:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Starting next week, billboards, social media, television and print media will carry messages urging thousands of Valley motorists, including those in the West Valley, to prepare for four years of disruptions in their driving routines.
It’s not exactly Armageddon that the Arizona Department of Transportation will be heralding, but it certainly won’t be a walk in the park either, especially for car and truck traffic on I-10.
West Valley motorists who need to get to the other side of the county or Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport can expect significant increases in traffic as motorists try to evade the inevitable tie-ups that will be caused by the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it,” said ADOT spokeswoman Kim Noetzel, who, as an Ahwatukee resident, is bracing for the project. “It’s going to be impactful.”
Seven years in the planning, the work is ready to begin as crews scrape the asphalt along 11 miles of Interstate 10 between the junction of the San Tan and South Mountain freeways and I-17 near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Motorists will soon start feeling the impact later this year as work picks up steam on a project aimed at preventing virtually round-the-clock rush-hour gridlock on I-10 in the heart of Maricopa County.
“When the first phase of construction begins this summer, drivers should prepare for weekend closures on I-10 and U.S. 60,” ADOT spokeswoman Alexandra Albert said in a virtual briefing last week for Tempe residents. “And the reason for that is over the weekends, they’ll be closing down to remove the rubberized asphalt that exists on the roadway today on all of the travel lanes.”
(Excerpt) Read more at glendalestar.com ...
I’m loving the
303!
From San Diego to
Prescott has been
An easy ride no matter the day or time. I’m thinking I will avoid this Carnage.
I agree. I greatly prefer driving on rubberized asphalt!
Yes... Tires. It did have the ground off level old asphalt road bed as support under it. But they did lay it thick per Ca engineer standards. Probably too thick because of the words “California Engineers”. :)
But seriously it was so soft that in the summer a big rig would leave tire divots if it sat on it more than an hour. When you tried to jack up an axle for a tire repair the jack would leave a 3 inch square hole in the road because it sank in two inches.
Interesting.
Jeff Chandler, are the roads you are familiar with where it works well constructed of solid concrete with a covering of this rubberized stuff?
I have seen concrete roads that seemed to last forever, but...diving long distances on them got to be maddening...”gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...gadunk-gadunk...”
LOL, hour after hour! I would think that rubberized covering would be great for that.
That completely has the ring of truth to it (to my ear, at least)
I know you can get a pavement temp above 170F there in direct sunlight.
I have Sirius/XM radio so if I get stuck in traffic, at least I have entertainment.
Exactly.
It sounds as if there was too much tar in the mix. Just a guess.
When I was in the USN, I went on a detachment of my squadron to Yuma, Arizona at the end of July back in 1978 to take part in Air Combat Maneuvering exercises (our squadron flew A-7 Corsairs, not fighters, but I guess since they had guns and carried Sidewinders...they were allowed to take part!)
It was the first time I flew in a C-130 from Cecil Field in Florida, and there were two things I recall: First, that Texas is a really, REALLY big state. It seemed to take hours to go across it. Secondly, when we landed in Yuma and they opened the ramp, it felt like someone was blowing a giant hair dryer into the fuselage where we sat! (I know people out there who served over in Iraq and Saudi Arabia are probably rolling their eyes at this, but I didn’t have any experience with it before that. As a matter of fact, it was quite hot, but I recall thinking how easy it was to take 110 degree heat. It didn’t seem unpleasant at all.
Until I had to spend time outside in it. After a while of being out in it without a cover, I kind of understood the Hollywood movies where some guy is dragging himself through the desert dnd keeps looking up at the sun like it is a personal nemesis. After a while, that piercing heat focused on the top of my head DID feel very malignantly personified!
Anyway, the Air Combat Maneuvering exercises were fascinating- my buddy had an in (IIRC) and we go to go into this observation trailer set up to watch the computerized display of the training. It was fascinating-the dawn (I think) of computerized ACM training and analysis, and they put a telemetry unit on one of the Sidewinder rails on the participating plane that transmitted flight data to the ground where they displayed it on large screens in a small amphitheater.
At the time, I believe it was cutting edge, and for us watching, to see the wireframe terrain, and the trails of the aircraft in different colors as they maneuvered really lit a fire in my brain. Nothing like it is today, of course which I am told is extremely lifelike.
Anyway, my best friend who I had gone into the Navy with was stationed in Miramar, and when I told him I was going to Yuma, he rode his 175 cc Honda across the desert to meet me there.
We got a motel room (with Air Conditioning, of course) stocked it with beer, and just hung out on the days it was too hot to fly (I think they would fly a red flag, which mean it was more than 115 degrees, and no flying was to be done) so we had the day off.
For a few days, I just stayed in that air conditioned motel room with my buddy, drinking beer, shooting the breeze and watching television. On the second day, I wanted to get some food, so...there was a Jack In The Box across the street, and I figured I would run over and grab something.
Without putting on any shoes, I figured I could scoot over there, grab some stuff and run back, and my feet wouldn’t be any the wiser.
Like walking on coals...if you do it right...right?
Boy, how wrong was I.
I ran across that blistering road, and reached the yellow line before the nerve endings in my feet began to scream at me at the top of their little lungs that the soles of my feet were aflame! I managed to make it back, and plunged my feet into the bathtub which had ice and beer in it, and I swear I heard a sizzle of flames being extinguished. (I didn’t really, but...you get the idea!)
I look back on it now, and I see my stupid, drunk, 19 year old self choosing to run across that sizzling asphalt in 115-120 degree temperatures, and can’t even comprehend the stupidity.
But, there you have it. I survived, as did my feet.
Yeah I did many work trips to the GM Proving Ground which used to be located in Mesa. That sun is awesome in January and not so good in July.
Was good friends with the guys over at Caltrans in our little town. We used to get together at my truck repair shop and drink beer after work. One night we were partying and they started a conversation between the two of them curious about what was causing all the mysterious square holes up and down the freeway shoulder. lol
Yep. I’ve seen Phoenix on Google Maps, so I’m guessing that the Broadway Curve is properly in the East Valley. The only reason that text could be in the article is because they’re expecting the construction to back up eastbound traffic on I-10 all the way to the west of Phoenix.
JOE: Hey. I've been seeing something bizarre lately. (pensively sips beer)
BILL: Yeah? What is it?
JOE: Over near the highway. I see these...square holes or depressions in the asphalt on the shoulder. I actually pulled over to look at them. I can't figure them out. Never seen anything like them.
BILL: No shit. How big are they? Are they deep?
JOE: Eh. Maybe a foot to two feet across? They only go down a little bit, maybe a couple of inches, but there isn't any pattern to them. I see one here, one there.
CARL: Hey! I saw them too. What do you think they are?
JOE: Aliens. It has to be Aliens. (gulps beer)
CARL: I KNEW IT! That's what I was thinkin' too!
Nope. Maryland, moving to Florida in November. I’m a roadgeek, and this stuff interests me.
The newly amnestied illegals, for example, can enjoy driving drunk along the newly reconstructed 20-lane Broadway Curve.
Absolutely.
When I was getting my bearings, I took a walk around the base, and didn’t see anyone else out walking around. They probably thought I was an idiot.
I walked by the base pool, and there were probably a dozen people in the water, but only their heads were sticking out, which seemed kind of strange to me. I thought maybe at least a few people might have their torso out or something.
When I went to the pool to swim, I realized I only saw their heads because the pool was constructed in such a way that you could lay on an incline with your body pointing to the center of the pool, and only your head would stick out!
Damn, hot place. The locals knew how to live there I guess!
I remember getting gas off of I-15 in Baker, California in July 2005. I stepped out of my air conditioned vehicle and right into a damned oven. Or so it seemed.
four years of disruptions... If its anything like the Tucson bypass on Hiway 10 the agony will last ten years.
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