The 101 Freeway Is In Horrible Condition (areas, winter, seasons)

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by locolife

That would be an interesting topic for a Tucson thread, why are there no freeways in the metro? And how did Tucson and Phoenix end up so different?

Like others have said, a "cross-town freeway" has been voted down time after time again and at this point the cost of a right-of-way (ROW) to put one in now would be astronomical. Every now and then, there is talk of building a freeway on stills over the Rillito River to function as an expressway/freeway but it will never happen. That's probably the cheapest ROW and only place a new freeway could go without destroying entire neighborhoods.

They are finally connecting Aviation Parkway (AZ 210) to 6th St./St. Mary's Road and I-10 with "downtown links", which is a new 4-lane road with some lights. I guess if you are coming from the west on I-10 northwest of Tucson and really needed to get to Golf Links Road, you could take the new connector and Aviation Parkway and get there with not too many lights.

[ScottsdaleMark]

I have decided to resurrect this thread just to mention that the entire southbound stretch has been re-paved and is 5 lanes the entire length of the project, although they are clearly not "done" with signage, striping, and pavement work, it still looks like new asphalt and is smooth and pretty easy to drive on. The northbound lanes are mostly in the same stage, smooth and easy and 5 lanes wide, but there is still a couple miles where you lose a lane and are driving on that torn-up concrete.

But, the end is in sight! Pretty great to have a smooth commute at least one direction now. They haven't updated the project web site since late 2015 but it looks to me like they are on target to finish all work in 2016 as originally planned.

[ScottsdaleMark]

All paving is now complete, both north and southbound. Four lanes the entire way from Shea to 202 in both directions.

Just mentioning in case anyone was still avoiding it due to construction. They still have some cleanup and finishing touches, etc., to do but at least all the lanes are open and paved.

[ShampooBanana]

Now that they are finished it has made a huge difference in my commute. The only bad thing is that now during the evening rush it does amplify the bottleneck a bit where the 101 South and 202 Red Mountain merge at the Tempe/Mesa border. Overall it still saves me at least 10-15 minutes each way from before. That's 20-30 minutes a day of me being productive or being with my family rather than sitting in my car.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

All paving is now complete, both north and southbound. Four lanes the entire way from Shea to 202 in both directions.

Just mentioning in case anyone was still avoiding it due to construction. They still have some cleanup and finishing touches, etc., to do but at least all the lanes are open and paved.

Good to know!

[cactusland]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

One annoying thing about this part of the US...road construction season never ends and it is quite dragged out. In areas where there is a hard freeze there seems to be more urgency to get projects completed as the "season" ends when winter approaches.

Definitely not the case in some of the northeast states. I've seen construction on certain roads go on for years. Five plus years in fact. It isn't isolated to just here.

[daveyjones978]

Originally Posted by cactusland

Definitely not the case in some of the northeast states. I've seen construction on certain roads go on for years. Five plus years in fact. It isn't isolated to just here.

Agreed. There are road construction projects in New York that I swear have been going on for 15-20 years, with no end in sight.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by daveyjones978

Agreed. There are road construction projects in New York that I swear have been going on for 15-20 years, with no end in sight.

I wasn't only referring to major projects such as re-doing an entire freeway. In parts of the US where there is a hard freeze, construction season definitely has an ending date in the winter due to the fact that it is too cold for asphalt and the like to set properly. You generally get a break from road construction from November 15th-ish March-ish depending on air temperatures. That isn't to say that major projects don't stretch from one season to another, but there is a time of year when all work stops at least for the season, even if just a few months. Here, that doesn't happen.

Edit: should be GROUND temperatures not air temps.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I wasn't only referring to major projects such as re-doing an entire freeway. In parts of the US where there is a hard freeze, construction season definitely has an ending date in the winter due to the fact that it is too cold for asphalt and the like to set properly. You generally get a break from road construction from November 15th-ish March-ish depending on air temperatures. That isn't to say that major projects don't stretch from one season to another, but there is a time of year when all work stops at least for the season, even if just a few months. Here, that doesn't happen.

Exactly, construction only happened in Rochester, NY from April thru October, November thru March were the off season, due to cold mainly

[timothyaw]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I wasn't only referring to major projects such as re-doing an entire freeway. In parts of the US where there is a hard freeze, construction season definitely has an ending date in the winter due to the fact that it is too cold for asphalt and the like to set properly. You generally get a break from road construction from November 15th-ish March-ish depending on air temperatures. That isn't to say that major projects don't stretch from one season to another, but there is a time of year when all work stops at least for the season, even if just a few months. Here, that doesn't happen.

Edit: should be GROUND temperatures not air temps.

Exactly this. Unfortunately I couldn't rep you again.