Photo courtesy of ADOT

Crews will add new lanes and make interchange improvements along 8 mi. of Loop 202 between Loop 101 (Price Freeway) and Val Vista Drive in the cities of Chandler and Gilbert.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) recently announced that construction on the $200 million Phoenix-area Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) Improvement Project has begun.

The project, which the ADOT awarded to a joint venture between Sundt Construction Inc. and CS Construction Inc., will take approximately two-and-a-half years to complete.

Loop 202, the department said, is the primary freeway serving the area's southeast valley and the widening project is necessary to ease traffic congestion in the growing area, particularly during morning and evening rush hours.

Maricopa County is one of the fastest growing regions in the United States — according to the ADOT — and the population is expected to increase by almost 30 percent between 2020 and 2040.

As part of the work, Sundt and CS will add new lanes and make interchange improvements along 8 mi. of Loop 202 between Loop 101 (Price Freeway) and Val Vista Drive in the cities of Chandler and Gilbert.

Specifically, the project includes:

• The addition of two general travel lanes in each direction from the Loop 202/Loop 101 interchange to Gilbert Road;
• The addition of one general travel lane in each direction from Gilbert Road to Val Vista Drive;
• Widening off-ramps and overpass bridges;
• Reconstruction of the eastbound Loop 202 on-ramp and bridge at Arizona Avenue;
• The installation of noise walls where necessary;
• Removal of existing asphalt pavement and diamond grinding of the existing concrete pavement to provide a smooth roadway surface.

The county's Proposition 400, a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation infrastructure spending, is funding the project.

Distribution of Prop 400 revenue is split — 56.2 percent to freeways and state highways; 33.3 percent to the public transportation fund; and 10.5percent to arterial street improvements.

According to the 2023 Implementation Status of Proposition 400 Annual Report prepared by the Maricopa Association of Governments, other projects that have benefited from the half-cent sales tax are:

• I-10 (Papago Freeway); SR 85 to Verrado Way (complete);
• SR 24 (Gateway Expressway) Interim Phase II (complete);
• I-10 (Maricopa Freeway): I-17 (Black Canyon Freeway) Split to SR 202L (Santan Freeway) (underway); and
• I-17 (Black Canyon Freeway): Peoria Avenue to Greenway Road.

Photo courtesy of ADOT

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