ADOT's & Phoenix's Road Construction Coordination

[phetaroi]

I don't see any coordination.

Each week I go down to Goodyear from Sun City West. Right now both Dysart and Litchfield are under construction, with Dysart actually closed sometimes. Two adjacent parallel roads. Anyone with a brain would not have scheduled both for construction at the same time.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

I don't see any coordination.

Each week I go down to Goodyear from Sun City West. Right now both Dysart and Litchfield are under construction, with Dysart actually closed sometimes. Two adjacent parallel roads. Anyone with a brain would not have scheduled both for construction at the same time.

I know somebody who works at Amazon's new location that's on north Sarival Ave in Litchfield Park, and Google Maps has a tough time keeping up with construction projects in the area for some reason. I was at that location two weeks ago and when I had to go to Fry's on Camelback and Litchfield Roads, apparently Google Maps didn't know about the construction that caused delays on both roads.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

A lot of us have plenty of tasks to do online, my wife and I don't have time to waste before we leave the house every time. Using Google Maps is good for helping us find addresses in areas we're not familiar with, there's no reason to use my smart phone to find routes I already know by using every day just to avoid construction closures.

It takes not more than 4 seconds to open Google maps and look at the colors to see what traffic looks like. I do it to avoid traffic snarls. Those 4 seconds can save you a lot of time. Very easy. You can do it in your driveway as you’re leaving to get a quick sense.

[new2colo]

Closing an entire freeway allows works to get done faster than just closing a few lanes. A lot of people appreciate how quickly ADOT gets things done. Well, that’s because they close entire freeways. We are on a grid system and there are dozens of ways to get almost everywhere in the Valley, unlike many other cities. People here also have a very strong tendency to do a lot of rubbernecking, including taking pictures, while driving. In other states I’ve lived in, people seem a lot less nosy about road issues going on that don’t involve them. People here rubberneck and then create other issues when they get rear ended. It’s best to avoid that and just close entire freeways.

Google Maps alerts travelers to roadway restrictions. We live in a growing metropolitan area with multiple roadway improvement needs. It would be asinine for a city this large to only tackle on infrastructure issue at a time. Opening Google Maps before you leave would save a lot of stress.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Closing an entire freeway allows works to get done faster than just closing a few lanes. A lot of people appreciate how quickly ADOT gets things done. Well, that’s because they close entire freeways. We are on a grid system and there are dozens of ways to get almost everywhere in the Valley, unlike many other cities.

ADOT closes entire sections of freeways weekend after weekend after weekend, and no other state or city does this which I'm aware of. Yes, we have a street grid system which allows for easier commutes, but Magnum Mike brought up the fact that even some of the city streets which serve as detours are restricted or closed due to construction. Thus, the title of the thread is: ADOT's & Phoenix's construction coordination.

Originally Posted by new2colo

People here also have a very strong tendency to do a lot of rubbernecking, including taking pictures, while driving. In other states I’ve lived in, people seem a lot less nosy about road issues going on that don’t involve them. People here rubberneck and then create other issues when they get rear ended.

Definitely agree with this. It's aggravating enough when the traffic flow grinds to a halt due to a major collision, but it's understandable in that situation. Minor accidents where the vehicles involved are on the side and wouldn't normally cause traffic restrictions seem to create standstills due to all the rubberneckers & curiosity goons. Keeping your head straight & your eyes on the road should be common courtesy, but that seems to be lacking here for some reason.

Originally Posted by new2colo

Google Maps alerts travelers to roadway restrictions. We live in a growing metropolitan area with multiple roadway improvement needs. It would be asinine for a city this large to only tackle on infrastructure issue at a time. Opening Google Maps before you leave would save a lot of stress.

Have you given any consideration to commuters who travel to (or through) Phoenix from out of state? Drivers making long road trips would like to have a straight commute without having to detour onto side streets. Closing freeways causes massive delays, regardless if drivers check the internet prior to their trip. It's dangerous (and against the law in many states) to do this while on the road. While you're correct that infrastructure improvements are necessary, it would be much more convenient for everybody if ADOT did what most other states do, which is lane closures instead of entire shutdowns.

[Magnum Mike]

If you want to see the best example of the lack of coordination with both ADOT and the city of Phoenix, try driving on the northbound I-17 during the afternoon/evening rush hours, if you had to use any of the exits that stretch from Thomas Rd all the way to Cactus Rd, and Greenway Rd (when it opens up again) then you'd know what I'm referring to. It's the long lines of automobiles backed up on the Black Canyon Access road waiting to drive straight on the Access Road or make left turns on those surface streets, and those traffic back-ups extend well onto the the exit lanes on the freeway, thanks to whoever programmed the traffic lights at the surface streets that intersect with the Access Road. Those traffic lights have very long cycles and I don't think the length of time of those cycles changes depending on the time of the day, and they are what's causing traffic to back up on the exit lanes.

I would think ADOT and/or the city of Phoenix would have noticed those traffic back-ups and done something to alleviate the cause of those traffic back-ups by changing the time length of those traffic light cycles to reduce the number of vehicles in traffic back-ups and thereby reduce the amount of time motorists would have to wait, but apparently not. This is an on-going problem that seemed to have existed for a long time and it'll continue until some coordination comes into place between ADOT and Phoenix, and it's not the kind of problem you can get around by using Google Maps.

I contacted ADOT and the city of Phoenix 3 or 4 years ago to inform them of this issue and I remeber getting a vague reply from ADOT telling me that'll look into this issue..

[singlegirlinaz]

It's part of life here but I think they could do more work at night when traffic is lighter.

32nd Street between Shea and Greenway has been torn up since last summer, left turns and access to driveways are limited. It's never ending.

[Roadwarriors79]

FWIW, this is the project that has closed some of the frontage roads along I-17 in north Phoenix:

https://azdot.gov/projects/central-d...oad-acdc-canal

All the surface street signals that intersect with the I-17 frontage roads are the responsibility of ADOT. From what I have observed, the signal timing is based on the amount of traffic at any particular intersection.