Recent winter storm kept snowplow operators very busy

Just a couple days before the official start of spring, our state experienced a severe winter storm that left up to 36 inches of snow in some spots.

Needless to say, that much snow meant ADOT’s snowplow drivers were kept very busy through the weekend.

How busy? To answer that, we rounded up stats from some of our maintenance districts. The crews working in these teams are among the nearly 400 ADOT employees trained to drive a snowplow. 

When the weather gets like it did the weekend of March 17, snowplow operators will typically work 12-hour shifts to make sure the freeways are clear and drivable…

ADOT's hosts its version of a garage sale this Saturday

These new snowplows are NOT the ones being
auctioned on Saturday, but there are some older,
used models headed to the block. The complete
item list shows what's for sale.

If you’re in the market for a snowplow, Saturday might just end up being your lucky day...

That’s when Equipment Services will hold a public auction (basically ADOT’s version of a garage sale) and there’s a long list of items up for purchase, including that snowplow.

Also on the block: assorted sedans, a few dozen trucks, some shop manuals, warning lights, a diode tester, an attenuator truck, message boards, front end loaders, dozers and even a highway debris pickup machine! You can check out the complete item list online. 

These auctions serve as a way for ADOT to dispose of its surplus vehicles and equipment, but before one is scheduled, surplus items are offered for sale at fair market value to other state agencies, local government agencies, school districts and eligible nonprofit institutions.

All items not sold to other agencies are then rolled over to the general public auction.

Familiar look of SR 143 will stay in place

ADOT's Landscape Architectural Designer, left, evaluates a location.

The SR 143 has undergone some reconstruction and work still continues, but that doesn’t mean the indigenous images and symbols that have long been a part of its landscape will go away.

Motorists driving to and from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport have become accustomed to the landform graphics, dancers, birds and pottery designs all inspired by the Hopi and Hohokam cultures.

ADOT’s Project Landscape Architectural Designer Joseph Salazar says he and his team are preserving some of that original design and adding to it.

Keep your pets safe and out of the roadway

Photo courtesy of Arizona Humane Society

Peyton, an adorable cocker spaniel pup, is one of
thousands of pets who strayed onto an Arizona
highway this year but among the few who survived.

By Kimberly Noetzel
Senior Community Relations Officer

It goes without saying that pets and highways are a dangerous combination.

Still, thousands of dogs and cats end up on Arizona’s highways every year often suffering serious or fatal injuries and contributing to motor vehicle crashes. 

That’s why we’re reminding pet owners always to keep dogs, cats and other animals safely contained at home or properly secured inside your vehicle while traveling. 

It’s an important message year-round. With the onset of the spring breeding season, however, dogs and cats who are not “fixed” (spayed or neutered) are more prone to stray from home this time of year. 

At ADOT, we receive more than 50 calls a month to remove deceased dogs and cats from Valley freeways in the greater Phoenix area. Statewide, the number exceeds 250 calls a month – that’s about 3,000 pets a year! That number doesn’t include pets struck on local streets and roads, pets no one calls about for removal, livestock or wildlife.

ADOT offers easy way to access vehicle tax details

Tax time is here again and if you’re in the midst of preparing your 2011 income tax return, you might want to check out an online tool from ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division.

It’s called the EZ Vehicle Fee Recap and offers a free, easy way for you to access your vehicle tax details. Arizona vehicle owners can view their own report of registration fees and taxes paid in the prior calendar year.

While vehicle owners are advised to consult with a tax-preparation professional or seek guidance from the Internal Revenue Service or Arizona Department of Revenue, the EZ Vehicle Fee Recap Program provides a simple report of registration fees that can be viewed or printed.

To begin the easy process, the user just has to enter their name, Arizona license or customer identification number and then follow the screen prompts.

The report will contain fees paid for vehicle license tax; registration (personal and commercial), air quality, air quality compliance, emission in lieu, weight, motor carrier, use, postage and handling, penalty, serial number, specialty plate, transfer, processing, diesel, or Department of Revenue/sales tax. And, take note – information is transmitted securely using encryption technology.

To try it out for yourself, visit the website at servicearizona.com/webapp/feeRecap/.

Building a Freeway: Soffit Fills and Waste Slabs

When you’re building bridges, there’s more than one way to get the job done...

We told you a few months ago about a method that utilizes false work and sand jacks. Today, we’re going to fill you in on a different approach … the key terms to remember are soffit fills and waste slabs.

If you recall, false work is what secures the bridge structure as it is being built and until it can stand on its own.

A soffit fill (basically a big pile of dirt) acts much in the same way.

After the bridge piers and abutments are cast, the area in between is filled with dirt. That dirt is piled right up to the height of where the bridge deck eventually will sit … this soffit fill will act as the false work, providing a strong foundation to build the bridge on top of.

With the dirt in place, a thin concrete slab – the waste slab – is poured on top (see video above). The flat, smooth surface is what crews will build upon, but the waste slab won’t be a part of the finished bridge. No, the job of a waste slab is to simply give crews a form on which to pour more concrete.

Maybe a little analogy right about now might help you get the picture. Take a second and think about making a pie (trust us!).

ADOT adopts national road signage standards

A sample of what the new sign standards look
like at southbound I-17 near Thomas Road.
(Click photo for larger view) 

Bigger, easier-to-read signs are coming to a freeway near you!

That’s because at the beginning of the year, ADOT adopted the latest edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), along with the Arizona supplemental modifications, as a standard for traffic control devices for use on the streets and highways of the state of Arizona.

The MUTCD is the national standard for all traffic control measures, including traffic signs, pavement markings, signals and any other devices used to regulate, warn or guide traffic. Ensuring uniformity of traffic control devices across the nation – from their messages and placement to their sizes, shapes and colors – helps to reduce traffic congestion and crashes.

Green dirt has nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day

This dirt isn't green for St. Patrick's Day ...
but there is a good reason for its hue! 

We won’t blame you if you see this green slope at the Loop 303 and US 60 (Grand Avenue) and think it's part of a St. Patrick’s Day stunt, but we promise this is no gimmick!

The mound of dirt is green for good reason, albeit one that has nothing to do with tomorrow’s holiday …

ADOT crews just seeded it with a wonderful mix of desert flowers and groundcover plant material. 

The seed mixture is actually sprayed on and has an all-natural green dye in it. This dye helps whoever is doing the spraying make sure they get full coverage. In time, the dye will fade, so the slope won’t be green forever!

If we get some nice spring rains, we should see things blooming and growing on the slope in about 45 days. 

About now, you might be wondering what this dirt mound is doing ... just sitting there. Maybe you're also asking why ADOT goes to the trouble of seeding slopes like this one.

Well, as part of the Loop 303 Improvement Project, crews had to excavate and haul about 150,000 cubic yards of dirt away from the roadway alignment south of US 60 so bridges could be built at Waddell and Cactus roads.

They hauled the dirt to this location just for the time being.

In the future when it comes time to build the interim traffic interchange at US 60 and Loop 303, this dirt will be used during construction.

But, by seeding it now ADOT is able to control dust. The vegetation that grows will cover the soil and prevent dust (landform graphics work in a similar manner). Seeding also helps prevent erosion.

So, even though there’s no St. Patrick’s Day connection, we’ll take this chance to wish you a little luck of the Irish anyway!

Bridge work progresses at Loop 303/Waddell Road

A view of the dirt soffit that works to support
the Waddell Road bridge structure during construction. 

Last week we were asked on Facebook to provide an update on the Loop 303 project – specifically the bridge construction at Waddell Road.

We’re happy to oblige! We also are glad to report that the bridge construction is progressing as planned.

Crews are scheduled to pour the southbound stem walls this week and the northbound stem walls in early April. By the way, stem walls are supporting structures that join the foundation with the vertical walls built on the foundation.

With stem walls in place, crews will move onto deck work.

Interestingly, they’ll be forming “lost decks,” so named because the materials ADOT uses in the formwork will remain inside the bridge structure for the lifespan of the bridge.

Looking ahead, the schedule calls for deck pours in late April and, by May, drivers should see crews excavating the dirt mound that sits out there today.

Centennial video captures a day in ADOT history

When Arizona turned 100 last month, we celebrated by documenting everything ADOT does across the state in a single day.

And, oh what a day it was!

Our team was up early – out on the road, covering everything from construction projects and maintenance work to planning meetings and the MVD.

If you followed along with us back on Feb. 14, you saw our photos, kept up through social media and probably recall that we promised a mini-documentary detailing the day.

Well, that video is ready and we’re very proud to announce its premiere!

The video speaks for itself … so, we won’t say much more, except that we hope you’ll sit back, relax and enjoy what our team has put together!

STEM studies are at the forefront of upcoming transportation event

ADOT State Engineer Jennifer Toth, left, and

ADOT Human Resources Administrator Nancy Gomez 

both were recognized recently by the WTS Tucson Chapter. 

Toth is headed to Washington DC next for the WTS
Transportation YOU program.

Something kind of cool came across our desk and we wanted to share …

The Metropolitan Phoenix Chapter of WTS – an organization aimed at advancing women in transportation – sent out a news release that says two Arizona students and their mentors are headed to Washington DC to meet federal officials and take part in some key transportation-related events, including the DC Youth Summit.

Britton Hammit, a recent graduate from Prescott’s Tri City College Prep High School, will be accompanied by her mentor, ADOT State Engineer Jennifer Toth. 

Joining them will be North High School student, Erika Banuelos, and her mentor, METRO Light Rail Public Information Officer Hillary Foose. 

According to the news release, the WTS Metropolitan Phoenix Chapter is one of the few chapters in the U.S. to be sending two mentor/mentee pairs to this prestigious event and is one of many chapters to establish the organization’s Transportation YOU program, a joint initiative of WTS International and the US DOT that launched with the 2010 signing of a memorandum of understanding by US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

ADOT Equipment Shops awarded for reducing impact to environment

ADOT Director John Halikowski presented the Prescott Valley
equipment shop with a Green Shop Award Feb. 24. The ADOT satellite
shop in the North Valley was presented with its award on Feb. 8.

What does the phrase “going green” mean to you?

If you work in one of ADOT’s Equipment Services shops, it means implementing more than 175 environmentally conscious “best management practices” within your workplace.

Those practices constitute a range of actions spelled out in a manual developed to help shops reduce pollution and improve operations in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The manual was created in 2006 as part of the Green Shop Program, which is designed to improve customer satisfaction and assist ADOT’s equipment shops become more “green.”

Right now, you might be wondering what an equipment services shop is … so, let us explain.

There are 26 ADOT Equipment Services shops located throughout the state and they provide vehicle services to more than 40 government agencies in Arizona ranging from state groups like the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona Game and Fish Department to local police departments and school districts.

The vehicle services performed in the shops include tune-ups, diagnostics, repairs … even complete rebuilds. They work on all types of vehicles – from cars to snow plows! Plus, there’s also the ability to perform specialties (think paint, body repair, welding and electrical) on the government vehicles that come in.

OK … back to the Green Shop Program.

Prince Road/I-10 underpass, ramps to close as ADOT widens busy interchange

Progress is being made on the I-10 widening project we first told you about back in October and construction has reached a milestone, requiring a closure in the Tucson area...

Beginning March 12, the I-10 Prince Road underpass and ramps will close. This closure is necessary so ADOT can widen this busy Tucson interchange.

But, don’t worry ... motorists can use Ruthrauff Road or Miracle Mile ramps to enter or exit I-10. Businesses in the area will remain open during construction and are accessible on both sides of I-10 using frontage roads and nearby surface streets.

A little background on the project 

This project is designed to widen I-10 to four lanes in each direction from Ruthrauff Road to Prince Road.

Crews also are working to reconstruct the Prince Road traffic interchange so that the road will pass over Union Pacific Railroad tracks and I-10. This is vital due to frequent traffic backups and delays at the Prince Road/I-10 intersection (more than 40 trains pass through the area each day, which can cause traffic to back up onto nearby I-10).

Work, which should be complete by late 2013, also includes new landscaping and the updating of on- and off-ramps to provide better connections and improved access for motorists.

Traffic alerts, maps and additional information are all available at azdot.gov/Tucson10Widening. You can also call the project hotline at 1-855-712-8530.

ADOT Five Year Construction Program available for comment

Take a look at the tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities
Construction Program and give us your feedback.

Arizona’s transportation system has evolved over the past 100 years from a series of unpaved roads into a robust network of highways, airports and transit systems equipped with the latest technology and innovations.

But, that transformation didn’t happen by accident ... it took plenty of work and a whole lot of planning.  

Planning is just as vital today as it was back then and at ADOT we’re always looking ahead.

Which brings us to the topic of today’s blog post ... the Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program.

This is a plan that basically serves as a blue print covering a five-year span to detail where, when and how regional, state and federal funding will be spent for future projects. Since Arizona is a big state with lots of needs and because transportation projects come with high costs, ADOT needs to prioritize which projects move forward first.

New ramps linking SR 143 and Sky Harbor Blvd set to open Monday

Check the map for details on this weekend's 

restrictions (click image for larger view).

Drivers headed to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport are sure to notice a couple of big improvements beginning Monday morning…

That’s when two new freeway ramps linking SR 143 with Sky Harbor Boulevard are set to open, providing drivers with better roadway connections at the east end of the airport.

But these ramps are just part of a $17.8 million project designed to modernize the interchange connecting SR 143 and Sky Harbor Boulevard. The entire project is scheduled for completion by late summer (we blogged about it last July and gave a progress update at the end of 2011).

Here are a few advantages the new ramps offer

• For the first time, drivers departing the east end of Sky Harbor Airport will be able to travel directly onto southbound SR 143 via one of the new ramps.
• Westbound Loop 202 drivers using the SR 143/Sky Harbor Blvd. exit will have a new elevated ramp to reach southbound SR 143. Many drivers use that route to travel between Loop 202 and Interstate 10.
• The elevated ramp will replace an older circular ramp being removed to make way for a third new ramp connecting southbound SR 143 to westbound Sky Harbor Boulevard this summer.

Transportation Defined: Highway Advisory Radio (HAR)

When you see signs directing you to tune in to a certain radio station for construction information, do you ever wonder where the signal is coming from?

Chances are a nearby Highway Advisory Radio transceiver is helping to deliver the message.

Used to give special announcements within a short distance, HARs are often used in Arizona for rural road construction. 

Transportation Defined is a series of explanatory blog posts designed to define the things you see on your everyday commute. Let us know if there's something you'd like to see explained ... leave a comment here on the blog or over on our Facebook page!