The Arizona Department of Transportation is planning major construction projects in the next five years. Those projects include widening Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande and adding lanes on Interstate 17 between Anthem and Sunset Point.
ADOT spokesperson Steve Elliott said the proposed new lanes on I-17 would be considered “flex lanes,” which would be used in the direction of greater need.
“For example, on a busy weekend with a lot of people heading north on a holiday weekend," Elliott said, "we’ve got four lanes running up the hill. At the end of that weekend we could have four lanes running back down the hill to increase capacity.”
Elliott said conservation is a key part to the agency’s tentative five-year construction program.
“A lot of people look toward what the expansion projects are in there," Elliott said, "but preservation is extremely important to what we do in this planning process.”
ADOT is seeking public input on both projects. The agency is holding public meetings in Flagstaff and Phoenix over the next few months before planned approval in June.