/ Modified may 4, 2022 12:35 p.m.

Gov. Ducey approves $400 million to widen I-10

Project will widen about 25 miles of the interstate between Phoenix and Tucson.

i-10 rail ADOT reports project widening of I-10 will relieve traffic in the short term, but won't keep up with projected growth.
Steve Riggs/AZPM

Gov. Doug Ducey signed off Wednesday on dedicating $400 million of state funds to widening Interstate 10 between Casa Grande and Chandler.

Work is expected to start next year with widening bridges over the Gila River and continue until sometime in 2026.

The project will widen about 25 miles of the interstate from two lanes to three lanes.

I-10 widening map VIEW LARGER ADOT plans to widen a stretch of Interstate 10, highlighted here, starting with portions that cross the Gila River.
ADOT

"This is the only stretch of I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson that has not been expanded. It still only has two lanes of travel in each direction. So, that creates a natural and unfortunate bottle neck," said Douglas Nick, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation.

But while this stretch of the interstate has not been widened, population along that corridor has grown, Nick said.

“It is a key economic corridor. It really has a lot — it’s a workhorse, let’s put it that way — for all sorts of traffic and as the state has grown over the last 20, 30, 40 years, the population of the state of course has gotten larger. So, the pressure on this arterial roadway has just increased by a tremendous amount.”

With the funding approved by bipartisan majorities in the Legislature, the state will apply for another $300 million from the federal government under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to pay for the project.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona