Daily Archives: December 16, 2020

2020 a year of service-oriented innovations for ADOT

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PHOENIX – Despite the obvious challenges 2020 presented to everyone, the year has been an important one for innovations from the Arizona Department of Transportation when it comes to service-oriented projects designed to make travel across the state safer and more efficient.

Those innovations came in all areas of Arizona and across every facet of ADOT’s business, including major projects, the Motor Vehicle Division, the Enforcement and Compliance Division and safety improvements.

In ADOT’s Major Projects Group, that includes the new shared-use path along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, improvements to State Route 189 in Nogales and first steps on a four-year program to reconstruct Interstate 10 between the Loop 202 (South Mountain and Santan freeways) and Interstate 17, including the heavily travelled Broadway Curve.

Major Projects

A 6-mile shared-use path opened along the South Mountain Freeway in October. The path, which runs from 40th Street to 17th Avenue, is open to all non-motorized users, including cyclists, skaters, walkers and runners. The path was developed along the former alignment of Pecos Road, which was removed during construction of the freeway. It offers users a safe, free recreational opportunity right in their neighborhood.

In Nogales, Governor Doug Ducey kicked off work on State Route 189 in March and work has proceeded throughout the year on new flyover ramps to Interstate 19. Nogales, with its direct access to Tucson and Interstate 10, has always been Arizona’s most popular spot for international commerce. The new ramps, which are expected to be completed in fall 2021, are making the road to American markets more efficient for trucking companies and safer for Nogales residents. The ramps will save commercial interests time and money by eliminating the need to stop as many as three times before they reach I-19, and will improve safety by removing those trucks from city streets before they reach Nogales High School. More than 360,000 trucks will use the new ramps each year, representing more than 80% of commerce that enters Arizona from Mexico.

Along the I-10 Broadway Curve, one of Phoenix’s busiest freeway segments with about 300,000 vehicles per day, ADOT in November took the first step in a four-year project to improve safety and traffic flow by identifying a joint venture as the likely preferred developer. The project – which includes adding lanes to Interstate 10, replacing the interchange with State Route 143, widening the bridge over the Salt River and creation of innovative collector-distributor lanes to improve traffic flow and driver safety – is expected to begin construction in fall 2021.

Coconino County Sheriff’s Office investigating possible kidnapping

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Blue Ridge — On 12/15/2020 the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office was attempting to locate a male suspect and female victim who was reportedly forced into a vehicle south of Flagstaff, Arizona, along Interstate 17 in the late morning hours.

At 1157 hours the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Mustang Gas Station at Clint’s Wells along Hwy 87, reporting the vehicle involved from the incident on I-17 in the area. The caller reported a female passenger strapped/tied to the front passenger seat in a white in colored 4dr Jeep Wrangler with a black top. The reporting party then followed the suspect vehicle south along Highway 87 from Clint’s Wells until the suspect turned off on to Forest Service Road 141 east.

The Reporting party obtained and reporting the vehicle information to the 911 dispatch center. The vehicle returned to a subject out of Scottsdale, Arizona. During the investigation it was learned a Brandon Thomas Stewart of Scottsdale, was in possession of the vehicle in question.

Pings on the phone lead the Sheriff’s Office, Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Public Safety Helicopter to begin Searching the area east of Highway 87 and north of Forest Service road 300.

Later in the evening the suspect vehicle was located, and a high-risk traffic stop was conducted by DPS and Navajo County Sheriff’s Office at mile post 283 on Interstate 40.

The driver Brandon Stewart was taken into custody without incident and the female victim was located uninjured. Brandon Stewart was transported to the Navajo County Detention facility and booked on charges of Unlawful Imprisonment. Further charges are pending.

This incident is still under investigation and no further information is currently available. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Safety for their assistance in this incident.