The Arizona Department of Transportation has signed an agreement with the developer team to design, build, operate and maintain the Interstate 17 Improvement Project from Anthem Way to Sunset Point.

The deal with the Kiewit-Fann Joint Venture will cost $445.9 million, which includes construction costs and ADOT’s project administration cost.

The project is aimed to widen the heavily used freeway for 15 miles between Anthem Way and Black Canyon City and then add flex lanes for another 8 miles from Black Canyon City to Sunset Point. Constrcution will start next year and is expected to wrap up by 2025.

The project team consists of Kiewit Infrastructure West Co.; Fann Contracting Inc.; Kiewit Engineering Group Inc.; DBI Services LLC; CONSOR Engineers LLC dba Apex Design; T.Y. Lin International; Lee Engineering; Terracon Consultants Inc.; Wheat Design Group, Inc.; Y2K Engineering; and Pinyon Environmental Inc.

The joint venture was selected over two other finalists after a review by ADOT with oversight from representatives from the Federal Highway Administration and the Maricopa Association of Governments.

All three finalists were encouraged to use innovation and develop alternative concepts to reduce project time and impacts to the traveling public and community while construction is underway.

Interstate 17 between Anthem Way and Sunset Point is a major stretch of highway that sees more than one million travelers every year, with plenty of congestion on weekend.
Because of its use as the main road between Phoenix, Flagstaff and other northern Arizona destinations, ADOT and the develop will limit most lane closures to weeknights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. All motorists still need to be cautious in the construction zone, which will be active seven days a week.
Once finished, ADOT officials said they believe the project will help alleviate congestion and improve safety and traffic flow north of the metro-Phoenix region.

The I-17 flex lanes will operate as a separate, two-lane roadway carrying one direction of traffic at a time depending on the greatest need along the steep, winding eight miles between Black Canyon City and Sunset Point. For example, the flex lanes will be able to carry heavy northbound traffic on a Friday or heavy southbound traffic on a Sunday.

Similarly, ADOT will be able to open flex lanes to accommodate traffic any time if a crash or other incident causes long delays. The flex lanes will be next to, but physically separated from, southbound I-17 using concrete barriers.

Access to the flex-lane entrances will be controlled by gates. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced in February $40 million in funding for the I-17 Improvement Project from higher-than-anticipated revenue amid Arizona’s strong economic recovery and federal COVID-relief funds. Additional project funding sources include:

• $130 million of state highway funds appropriated by the state Legislature in 2019

• $90 million from an Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant

• $50 million programmed by the Maricopa Association of Governments for the Maricopa County portion of this project

• $135.9 million from federal aid with matching state highway funds. That includes $83.6 million approved by the Arizona State Transportation Board on Oct. 15, clearing the way for construction to begin in 2022.

For information about the I-17 Improvement Project, visit azdot.gov/i17-anthem-way-to-sunset-point.