Skip to main content

Arizona chooses consortium for its largest-ever highway project

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has selected Connect 202 Partners as the preferred developer for its first highway public-private partnership, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. The consortium includes Fluor Enterprises, Granite Construction and Ames Construction, with Parsons Brinckerhoff as the lead designer. The South Mountain Freeway will be constructed with four lanes in each direction - three general-use lanes and one HOV lane - and includes modern features including rubberised
January 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The 6576 Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has selected Connect 202 Partners as the preferred developer for its first highway public-private partnership, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway.  The consortium includes 2248 Fluor Enterprises, 7973 Granite Construction and Ames Construction, with 4983 Parsons Brinckerhoff as the lead designer.

The South Mountain Freeway will be constructed with four lanes in each direction - three general-use lanes and one HOV lane - and includes modern features including rubberised asphalt and aesthetics designed in partnership with the community.

While the freeway will not be a toll road, the public-private partnership will allow ADOT to construct the project at an accelerated pace and at a lower cost.

This public-private partnership will reduce costs to taxpayers while accelerating construction. Typically, a project of this magnitude would be split into several smaller projects, but the South Mountain Freeway will be completed as a single project by one contracting team and remains on track for construction to begin in summer 2016. ADOT is expected to finalise the contract with Connect 202 Partners by mid-February. Construction is expected to take up to four years to complete.

“While ADOT has successfully built and managed hundreds of miles of freeways in the Phoenix metropolitan area, following a public-private partnership path for the first time was an appropriate tool for the South Mountain Freeway,” ADOT director John Halikowski said. “ADOT will be able to complete this much-needed project sooner as a result, while increasing the likelihood of saving taxpayer dollars.”

“The South Mountain Freeway is a critical piece of the MAG freeway program,” said Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Council. “The freeway has been included in the voter-approved Regional Transportation Plan since 1985 and will provide improved mobility for residents in the MAG region. The design, construction and maintenance of the freeway by a private developer is a unique and innovative approach to delivering this important project.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EU research develops method for evaluating critical infrastructure
    January 10, 2013
    The European Commission’s SeRoN research project has drawn to a close, having developed a sophisticated method of identifying and quantifying threats to critical infrastructure. In December 2008 the European Commission published the directive 2008/114/EC on the identification, designation and assessment of the need to improve ‘European critical infrastructure’. In line with the objectives formulated in this directive, the SeRoN (Security of Road Transport Networks) research project was established in Novemb
  • Wireless technology aids workzone communications
    June 7, 2012
    Need for a temporary communication fix during a construction project has led to rapid deployment of a permanent but simplistic wireless broadband network in Chandler, Arizona When a major construction project was expected to disrupt highway communications in the city of Chandler, Arizona, the city’s engineers went looking for a simple solution. They needed a way of maintaining data connections with three consecutive intersections along Arizona Avenue in Chandler while construction necessitated the severin
  • Why integrated traffic management needs a cohesive approach
    April 10, 2012
    Traffic control is increasingly being viewed as one essential element of a wider ‘system of systems’ – the smart city. Jason Barnes, Jon Masters and David Crawford report on latest ideas and efforts for making cities ‘smarter’ Virtually every element of the fabric and utilitarian operations that make urban areas tick can now be found somewhere in the mix that is the ‘smart city’ agenda. Ideas have expanded and projects pursued in different directions as the rhetoric on making cities ‘smarter’ has grown. App
  • GM to start autonomous vehicle manufacturing and testing in Michigan
    December 16, 2016
    Following the signing of the SAVE Act legislation to support autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in Michigan, General Motors is to begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. GM also announced it will produce the next generation of its autonomous test vehicles at its Orion Township assembly plant beginning in early 2017. Testing is already underway on GM’s Technical Center campus in Warren, Michigan and will now expand to public roads on the facility’s outskirts. Within the next few months,