(Arizona Department of Transportation Photo)
By Kevin Stone | KTAR
PHOENIX – The ambitious Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway was designed to ease Phoenix’s crosstown traffic, but its impact was muted by the coronavirus during its first year, officials said.
Arizona’s largest-ever highway project, with a $1.7 million price tag, added 22 high-speed miles to the Valley’s roadways when it opened on Dec. 21, 2019, after 3½ years of construction.
Around 117,000 vehicles a day were expected to use the South Mountain Freeway in year 1.
But with fewer people commuting during the COVID-19 pandemic, daily usage was only about 60,000 vehicles at the beginning of December, the Arizona Department of Transportation said Monday in a press release commemorating the first anniversary.
