Tucson, AZ

No, not the tv show, or the phenomena that school-aged children go through. These growing pains are of the traffic sort. In January, the Arizona Department of Transporation (ADOT) launched the I-10 widening project which will widen the stretch of I-10 from Prince Road to 29th Street. The project is expected to be completed in Spring of 2010. During this time all the exits between those two roads are closed down making it difficult to navigate Tucson’s streets leading to the Downtown area. Drivers need to exit before the closures and use frontage roads to get to their destinations. ADOT did add a third lane of one-way traffic as well as re-timed the lights to help cut down the commute times during peak hours.

As work progresses, demolition of the bridges has started. With the recent bridge collapse in Minnesota, concerns are being raised across the country about potential hazardous conditions with other bridges. Governor Napolitano has asked that all Arizona bridges be inspected over the course of the next two weeks to verify their safety. Of concern to Tucson residents and drivers is the effect of demolition of the bridges on one side of the freeway on the portion still in use.

The Arizona Daily Star reported:

Before the contractor begins demolishing one side of an I-10 bridge, a hydraulic hammer is used to separate the two sides of the roadway. One side is used by interstate traffic, and the other side is demolished.

The state Department of Transportation inspects the bridges before and after they are demolished, to ensure the rest of the roadway remains structurally sound, said Welborn.

Those pre- and post-demolition inspections are the same as the full inspection each bridge gets every two years, she said. That entails inspecting the condition of the concrete, especially looking for cracks. Inspectors also check the deck joints and hinges of the bridges, Welborn said.

So far the bridges over Speedway and St. Mary’s have been demolished. The bridge over Congress is scheduled to be taken down this weekend so expect to find another route between the east and west sides of Congress. As yet there have been no reported safety issues and hopefully it will continue that way for the duration of the project. When done the new freeway will be a welcome change to driving through the downtown area. Until then, expect some headache and delay and try to enjoy the ride.

For more information on the project go to the I-10 Tucson District website.

Photos courtesy of Stock Exchange www.sxc.hu

ADOT, bridge collapse in Minnesota, Governor Napolitano, Congress