The Arizona Department of Transportation says it is expanding times when construction and maintenance crews can work statewide because of very light traffic during the Cornavirus outbreak.
ADOT said it typically does much of its major freeway work at night and on weekends to reduce the inconvenience for drivers. But with sparse traffic conditions during the governor's "stay-at-home" order, crews can start earlier and some projects are adding work on weekdays—and that’s also providing a safer work environment for road crews.
The effort means faster work is being done on freeway and road projects in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
In Flagstaff, ADOT is accelerating a project to widen and improve the Interstate 17 bridge over McConnell Drive. With Northern Arizona University shifting to online classes, full closures of McConnell will begin Monday, April 13, instead of waiting for summer. That will allow the project to finish ahead of schedule and potentially eliminate the need for intermittent closures that were originally planned during the fall semester.
