ADOT to start repaving project on US 95
Yuma County has been awarded another stimulus-funded highway project to extend pavement preservation work on US 95 north of Yuma.
The Arizona Department of Transportation has scheduled the project on 18 miles of US 95 from just north of the entrance to the General Motors Proving Ground to Stone Cabin, approximately 30 miles south of the town of Quartzsite, announced Lucy Shipp, spokeswoman in Yuma for ADOT.
The work is part of the continuing effort to improve US 95, Shipp noted.
In September, ADOT undertook a pavement preservation project on a stretch of US 95 near Yuma Proving Ground to extend the life of the roadway. The chip seal project took place on 9.7 miles of the highway from just north of Imperial Dam Road (at the Big Guns) to just south of Castle Dome Road.
The new project is more extensive. It will include repaving the roadway north of the earlier project, relining the existing culvert pipes, pavement marking, guardrail replacement, shoulder buildup, seeding and other related work, she said in a news release.
Funding for this $6.8 million project is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as part of the federal economic stimulus program, Shipp said.
The work on the new project will start on Oct. 19, with completion scheduled for spring 2010. Work will take place from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. There will be no work on Nov. 11 for Veterans’ Day, Nov. 26- 27 for Thanksgiving and Dec. 24-Jan. 4 for Christmas and New Years.
Motorists will experience delays during work hours as traffic will be restricted to one lane and be directed to follow a pilot vehicle through the construction zone. Message boards and traffic signs will provide details, while flaggers will direct traffic.
Wide loads will be limited to 11 feet from Nov. 1 through the end of January.
Travelers can check on road conditions and up-to-date restrictions by dialing 511 or by going online to www.az511.com.
In the meantime, ADOT is completing the construction of passing lanes on 2.6 miles of the highway, approximately 18 miles north of the town of Quartzsite and 1/2 mile south of the intersection with State Route 72 near Bouse Wash, Shipp said. In that area, the highway is designated as State Route 95.
The passing lanes are now open to traffic. Remaining work this week consists of placing rock for the drainage pipes, completing permanent signs and general clean up.
The final striping will be applied the week of Oct. 19, Shipp said.
The work consisted of constructing the passing lanes, replacing existing pipe culverts, restriping the new lanes, reseeding and other miscellaneous work.
Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.
