Valley linked as Loop 202’s South Mtn. Freeway opens

When a new freeway opened in metro Phoenix during the 1990s and early 2000s, children on skateboards, roller blades and bicycles would have first dibs to testing out the freshly laid roads.

At the behest of the Arizona Department of Transportation, parties were planned months in advance to celebrate the openings, and oftentimes included live music, free food and even local vendors selling treats.

In 2005, the agency even planned to truck in “several tons” of snow for a Dec. 17 celebration of the Santan Freeway opening between Arizona Avenue and Gilbert Road, according to an Arizona Republic article from that time.

It was a quiet day, however, when the new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway opened Saturday. Crews began removing barricades about noon.

Despite being the largest freeway project in state history, there were no vendors, no live music and no kids on roller blades slicking across the fresh tar. At a gathering on Dec. 18 to celebrate the roadway project, ADOT officials wouldn’t even give a date or time for the road’s opening.

Celebration or not, it doesn’t change the fact that the new 22-mile segment of the Loop 202 is expected to improve the commute for tens of thousands of people and bring major development to the southwest Phoenix area.

The $1.7 billion freeway will connect the East and West Valley by bypassing downtown Phoenix on a new route through Ahwatukee Foothills and Laveen. In October, it was officially named the “Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway” after the late U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, who was Arizona’s first Hispanic member of Congress and who played a big role in funding and building the Valley’s transportation system.

Using an innovative public-private partnership, ADOT opened the freeway three years earlier and at a savings of more than $100 million, the agency said in a news release.

“This Loop 202 opening represents a big step forward in connecting the East and West Valleys, as well as prioritizing safety for drivers,” said Gov. Doug Ducey, in the release. “My thanks to the local, state, tribal, federal and private partners who helped bring this project to fruition ahead of schedule with major cost savings.”

The Loop 202 has three traffic lanes and an HOV lane in each direction. It is projected to carry about 117,000 vehicles per day within its first year and as many as 190,000 vehicles per day by 2035, according to ADOT.

Among the freeway’s 15 interchanges are the state’s first two that use a diverging diamond configuration for improved traffic flow and safety, ADOT said in the release.

The Loop 202’s 40 bridges include two half-mile spans over the Salt River that have the longest concrete bridge girders, at 175 feet, ever used in Arizona.

Despite opening Saturday, some work remains to be done, including some rubberized asphalt paving, building an interchange at 32nd Street, building a pedestrian bridge and finishing a 6-mile walking and biking path in Ahwatukee.

Some of that work, such as rubberized asphalt paving on Interstate 10, will require closures and restrictions.

Saturday’s opening puts to bed the controversial project that was decades in the making.

The project caused tension among many Ahwatukee residents who opposed the road near their neighborhood and the demolition of dozens of homes to make way for the freeway, among other reasons. The Gila River Indian Community and environmental groups also legally challenged the freeway’s construction.

ADOT said in the news release that it will continue to work with residents near the freeway to examine any noise or lighting concerns.

Construction of the freeway began in 2016.

For more information about the freeway, visit SouthMountainFreeway.com.