About halfway through the allotted money and time, even though no finished pavement can be easily seen, Project 1 of the Hwy. 179 Improvement Project is about half done, according to Carl Burkhalter, Arizona Department of Transportation project manager.

About halfway through the allotted money and time, even though no finished pavement can be easily seen, Project 1 of the Hwy. 179 Improvement Project is about half done, according to Carl Burkhalter, Arizona Department of Transportation project manager.

Nine months into the 18-month project — part one of a two-part project that began in the Village of Oak Creek — the bulk of the work has been preparation and underground.

Crews have been working on things like double box culverts, curbs and bridge work.

“This has to occur first. The contractors know what they are doing,” Burkhalter said.

One of the recent issues is a common community perception that the project is behind schedule since so little work is visibly apparent.

Many in the community also have the idea that there have been numerous mistakes made by ADOT contractor Southwest Asphalt Paving.

“Not so,” Burkhalter said. “In either case.”

“There is the seen and the unseen,” in highway construction, according to Burkhalter.

Then there is the engineer’s idea of “functional” and the public’s idea of “done.”

Much of Hwy. 179 project has remained functional, from an engineering standpoint, during construction, Burkhalter said.

“Residents want to see it done and that means no equipment or loose dirt and with the landscaping finished,” he said. “I understand that.”

Holes and ditches were opened and closed for safety reasons and that sometimes leads to the idea that they are repeating the same work, Burkhalter said.

Much of the work on the future southbound lane that runs through U.S. Forest Service land between the Village of Oak Creek and Sedona has made significant progress but won’t be seen by residents until traffic is switched to that side of the highway.

While construction continues, ADOT is trying to accommodate residents and businesses to the best of its ability, according to Burkhalter.

A recent improvement has been the addition of blue flags at the businesses to mark entrance driveways.

“ADOT has added blue flags, pennants and larger business access signs with directional arrows,” an ADOT press release stated.

Southwest has also removed most of the large equipment and dirt piles from the front of the businesses.

“We have maintained access to businesses during the Hwy. 179 construction and wanted to make the driveways more visible to motorists,” the release stated.

‘Party Time 179’

ADOT will hold a Phoenix freeway-style highway opening when Project 1 is complete around May 2008.

In metropolitan Phoenix, when a section of new freeway is completed and before it is open to traffic, the state agency provides refreshments and an opportunity for the public to use the road for recreational purposes.

“In the Phoenix area, hundreds turn out to skateboard, roller-skate, use their bikes, anything you can do with an empty, smooth stretch of highway,” Burkhalter said.

Sycamores stay

In response to residents’ concerns about cutting down the old sycamore trees near Tlaquepaque, Burkhalter said, “We’re not taking out any trees behind the Tlaquepaque wall or in the parking lot.

“The trees that will be taken out are in the creek area and most of them are small trees, a few big ones, in the creek where the bridge is. They are in the ADOT right of way on the north side.

“There are no ‘60 trees coming out.’ I don’t know where that rumor got started,” he said.

Mike Cosentino can be reached at
282-7795, Ext. 128, or e-mail to
mcosentino@larsonnewspapers.com