Expect Full Closures of I-17 as Project on New Interchanges Ramps Up

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 Robert Roy Britt

For 15 years, In&Out Magazine has been the definitive source of “Everything that’s going on” in and out of the community. We thank you, our readers, as well as the businesses that support the magazine through advertising, for that opportunity. But with little going on, and many businesses suspending or canceling their ads during the Covid-19 crisis, we are suspending publication of the magazine and web sites for the month of May.

The foundation for a new bridge pier in the center of I-17 at Pinnacle Peak Road was poured in April. Photos: ADOT

Grab your stick shift and park the road rage at home. More than a dozen full-stop closures of Interstate 17 are coming from May to November, as crews erect new interchanges at Happy Valley and Pinnacle Peak roads.

Many of the closures will occur overnight and on weekends, ADOT said.

Already, these two lane closures are in place through fall 2020, when the project is expected to be complete:

The northbound I-17 HOV lane between Pinnacle Peak and Happy Valley roads.
The southbound I-17 HOV lane between Jomax and Pinnacle Peak roads.

This month, crews will pour concrete for two 19-foot tall piers in the center of I-17 to support the Pinnacle Peak overpass, with girders going up in mid-May, according to ADOT. Work so far has focused on relocating utilities, altering drainage patterns and building up embankments.

The $50-million project will replace the Happy Valley roundabouts with a “diverging diamond interchange” that’s expected to significantly increase safety and capacity. The new Pinnacle Peak Road interchange will be a traditional diamond interchange that increases capacity. Also, a fourth general-purpose lane will be added in each direction of the interstate between Deer Valley and Happy Valley roads.

A form wall is lifted into place during April as part of the new Pinnacle Peak Road overpass.

Crews work on an abutment for the new overpass.

Robert Roy Britt

NoPho resident Robert Roy Britt has written for In&Out publications since its inception in 2005. Britt began his journalism career in New Jersey newspapers in the early 1990s. He later became a science writer and was editor-in-chief of the online media sites Space.com and Live Science. He has written four novels. .