| I-10 | |||
| Get started | Ehrenberg | ||
| End | San Simon | ||
| Length | 392 mi | ||
| Length | 631 km | ||
|
|||
According to IAMACCEPTED, Interstate 10 or I -10 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Arizona. The highway runs through the south of the state, connecting the largest cities in the state, including the state capital Phoenix and the city of Tucson. Arizona is the fastest growing state in the United Statesand that puts quite a bit of pressure on the existing road network, especially in Phoenix and the metropolitan area. The highway mainly leads through a desert landscape, where it can get extremely hot in the summer to more than 50 degrees. Although the road is an east-west connection, the highway is mainly north-south on some stretches, such as between Phoenix and Tucson. The stretch from I-10 in Arizona is 631 kilometers long.
Travel directions
I-10 at Ehrenberg in western Arizona.
Western Arizona
Interstate 10 in California crosses the Colorado River at Ehrenberg, then enters Arizona. Almost immediately one leaves civilization, with only 2 villages along the route over the next 120 kilometers. The US 95 follows here for a while with the I-10. At Quartzsite, US 95 turns south to Yuma and San Luis Rio Colorado in Mexico. Interstate 10 is not the southernmost east-west highway here, and Interstate 8. runs further south. The landscape is wild and barren, without any vegetation except for some cacti. About 20 kilometers after Quartzsite, US 60 turns northeast to Wickenburg, forming a somewhat longer route to Phoenix. There are warning signs at the parking lots along the highway not to let pets around because of poisonous scorpions and snakes. The highway here is known as the Papago Freeway. Traveling along this section of Interstate 10 can be deadly, when sandstorms sweep across the highway, limiting visibility to the windshield. Major collisions happen here regularly.
Phoenix
The Papago Freeway near Tolleson.
I-10 on the east side of Downtown Phoenix.
At Buckeye you enter civilization again, this is the westernmost suburb of Phoenix. The Phoenix metropolitan area extends for the next 90 kilometers. Turbulent spatial developments are taking place in this area, with the massive construction of new residential areas and suburbs. At Perryville, one crosses the Estrella Freeway, a main road that forms Phoenix’s westernmost ring road. This is where the many neighborhoods built around man-made lakes begin, giving the whole a lively and attractive appearance, apart from temperatures that sometimes reach into the 50s. At Tolleson, State Route turns off 101, Phoenix’s outer highway ring, which is 98 kilometers long. After this begins the grid pattern of the city of Phoenix, which has 1.5 million inhabitants, with more than 4 million in the conurbation. The highway widens here to 2×5 lanes, and has a remarkably good road surface,
Phoenix’s highway network is growing rapidly to keep up with rapid spatial developments and population growth. Besides buses, there is also no public transport in Phoenix, which is not efficient due to the enormous distances within the conurbation. Almost the entire city consists of low-rise and detached houses. On the west side of downtown, Interstate 17. intersects for the first time, which runs around the south side of downtown, and to Flagstaff, in the north of the state. The highway runs through a tunnel, which has 2×5 lanes. On the east side of downtown, I-10 exits south. Straight ahead is the State Route 202 ring road, the Red Mountain Freeway to the eastern suburbs, and to the north goes the Piestewa Freeway, to the northern suburbs of Phoenix. The highway runs past Sky Harbor, Phoenix International Airport. A few miles away, I-10 exits at the second interchange with Interstate 17. It crosses the dried-up Salt River, and the highway is called the Maricopa Freeway.. At the height of the large suburb of Tempe the US 60 turns off, the Superstition Freeway, which leads to Mesa, with 448,000 inhabitants the largest suburb in the United States, and larger than well-known cities such as Cleveland, Miami, Minneapolis or Saint Louis. There is only one suburb in North America that is bigger (Mississauga near Toronto). Mesa should grow to 630,000 inhabitants. In this area manifests the “Urban Sprawl”, ever-spreading residential areas that are playfully set up. State Route 202, Phoenix’s eastern bypass, ends at the south end of Chandler, which is 89 kilometers long. A few kilometers further on, you leave the immense conurbation.
Eastern Arizona
The area south of Phoenix is desert, with some irrigated areas here and there. The highway here is called the Pima Freeway. The next regional city is Casa Grande, where Interstate 8from Yuma and San Diego ends. From here, Interstate 10 runs closest to the Mexican border. The highway turns southeast toward Tucson. In this area there are many new construction projects where one after another residential area in the desert is being built up. This is more or less an overflow area for overcrowded Los Angeles. One passes Picacho pass, at 549 meters altitude. To the south is Saguaro National Park. Steep mountains lie along the highway. In this area you can see a lot of oldtimers driving, because of the extremely dry air cars hardly rust here.
The next major city is Tucson, located 100 kilometers north of the Mexican border, and has a population of one million. However, the highway network in this city is very limited, to only the passage of Interstate 10 through the south, and Interstate 19 that joins here. The highway has 2×3 to 2×4 lanes. Due to the lack of public transport except for the bus, everyone in this sprawling city is dependent on the car. Interstate 10 runs through the city for 25 miles. Interstate 19. closes at South Tucsonfrom here one can go to the border town of Nogales, and further into Mexico towards Hermosillo. On the east side of Tucson, you pass Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where more than 4,400 aircraft, mostly unused old aircraft, worth $27 billion, are stored under the control of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, ranging from endless rows of jet fighters to the largest bombers.
The highway continues east, passing through a number of small towns. North of the highway is a second part of Saguaro National Park. The landscape is barren and mountainous. You pass Benson, from where you can travel to various towns in the Mexican border region. The amount of traffic on Interstate 10 outside the cities is low. Here and there are exits that actually lead nowhere. A little further you pass Willcox, where the US 191 is double-numbered with the I-10 for a short distance. To the south this road leads to the border town of Douglas, to the north to Thatcher. Just east of San Simon you come to the border, where Interstate 10 continues into New Mexico.
History
I-10 at Coolidge, south of Phoenix.
According to ACRONYMMONSTER.COM, between 1956 and 1958, the route of I-10 in Arizona was established by the Arizona Highway Department and followed mostly historic routes. Between Phoenix and Tucson, the route was equated with the original horse-drawn carriage routes, which is why this section runs more north-south than east-west. The route was designed in the 1950s and was given a dead-straight westbound route west of Phoenix, rather than a more northwesterly route via US 60 and US 70 through Wickenburg. Residents at the time made frantic efforts to run the highway through Wickenburg, but lost it compared to a shorter route to Los Angeles.
In western Arizona, the first miles were built in the 1960s along the routes of the existing US 60. The last freeway section opened between Los Angeles and Phoenix in the early 1970s. Phoenix was still a fairly insignificant city at the time, unlike the vast metropolis of today. In Phoenix, it took until 1990 for the Papago Freeway to be completed. At the time, traffic still had to use the secondary road network. The construction near downtown Phoenix was a bit of a struggle as it had to be built in the second half of the 1970s, at the time of the Freeway Revolts, when many projects were delayed, canceled or downsized.
The section between Phoenix and Tucson had long since been completed and was completed in phases between 1961 and 1962. The original road between Casa Grande and Tucson was modeled on the German Autobahn. This was the so-called Miracle Mile, but it was not a real highway as there were no grade separated intersections. In the early 1950s, Arizona’s first cloverleaf opened in the city of Tucson. East of Tucson to the New Mexico border, I-10 mainly follows the route of old US 80. A study began in 2008 to build new bypasses for Phoenix and Tucson to “straighten out” I-10, resulting in a shorter I-10. Ultimately, this was not further elaborated. Phoenix and Tucson are both cities with a relatively small highway network, especially in Tucson.
western arizona
The section through western Arizona was constructed more or less at the same time as Interstate 10 in California, the section between the California State Line and US 60 was constructed fairly quickly between 1962 and 1966. In 1972, the desert section opened further to Phoenix.
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| Exit 10 | Exit 17 | 12 km | 1962 |
| exit 0 | Exit 10 | 16 km | 1964 |
| Exit 19 | Exit 31 | 19 km | 1964 |
| Exit 17 | Exit 19 | 3 km | 1966 |
| Exit 31 | Exit 94 | 101 km | 1972 |
Phoenix metropolitan area
The section through Phoenix is laid out in two distinct time periods. The part from downtown to the south was built first, between 1965 and 1968. The part west of downtown has been delayed time and again, only opening the part through the desert west of Phoenix in 1978, but the part in the city itself was only built in the 1980s. In 1990, the final section opened, the tunnels near downtown Phoenix, completing I-10 through Arizona. By the way, through traffic has been able to use I-17 along downtown, which ran parallel south of I-10, since the early 1960s.
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| Exit 150 | Exit 153 | 5 km | 1965 |
| Exit 156 | Exit 161 | 8 km | 1967 |
| Exit 153 | Exit 156 | 5 km | 1968 |
| Exit 94 | exit 128 | 55 km | 1978 |
| exit 128 | Exit 140 | 19 km | 1984 |
| Exit 140 | Exit 142 | 3 km | 1985 |
| Exit 146 | Exit 150 | 6 km | 1988 |
| Exit 142 | Exit 143 | 2 km | 1989 |
| Exit 143 | Exit 146 | 5 km | 10-08-1990 |
Central Arizona & Tucson
The section through Tucson was completed before the section through Phoenix. This is because Tucson used to be a larger city than Phoenix and had some military importance. The first highway through the Picacho Pass was opened in 1962, as well as the first section through Tucson. The section through Tucson was completed in 1966, and the last sections east of Tucson opened in 1967. In 1968, the link between Phoenix and Casa Grande opened to traffic.
In 2008-2014, I-10 was widened to 2×4 lanes through much of Tucson.
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| Exit 212 | Exit 232 | 32 km | 1962 |
| Exit 255 | Exit 260 | 8 km | 1962 |
| Exit 260 | Exit 261 | 2 km | 1964 |
| Exit 232 | Exit 240 | 13 km | 1964 |
| Exit 267 | Exit 275 | 13 km | 1964 |
| Exit 240 | Exit 255 | 24 km | 1966 |
| Exit 198 | Exit 212 | 23 km | 1967 |
| Exit 261 | Exit 267 | 10 km | 1967 |
| Exit 161 | Exit 198 | 60 km | 1968 |
Eastern Arizona
The oldest parts of Interstate 10 in the state of Arizona are east of Tucson. The first sections opened to traffic in the late 1950s, with most sections completed by 1964. An exception were the Benson, Willcox and San Simon bypasses, which were built later, between 1968 and 1974.
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Opening |
| Exit 289 | Exit 290 | 2 km | 1955 |
| Exit 275 | Exit 279 | 6 km | 1959 |
| Exit 290 | Exit 299 | 14 km | 1959 |
| Exit 322 | Exit 336 | 23 km | 1959 |
| Exit 352 | Exit 354 | 3 km | 1959 |
| Exit 279 | Exit 289 | 16 km | 1962 |
| Exit 299 | Exit 303 | 6 km | 1962 |
| Exit 343 | Exit 352 | 14 km | 1962 |
| Exit 386 | Exit 393 | 11 km | 1962 |
| Exit 311 | Exit 322 | 18 km | 1964 |
| Exit 354 | Exit 362 | 13 km | 1964 |
| Exit 368 | Exit 378 | 16 km | 1964 |
| Exit 378 | Exit 386 | 13 km | 1968 |
| Exit 362 | Exit 368 | 10 km | 1968 |
| Exit 336 | Exit 343 | 11 km | 1969 |
| Exit 303 | Exit 311 | 13 km | 1974 |
Widenings
I-10 at the Loop 202 interchange in western Phoenix, opening in 2019.
Phoenix
The Papago Freeway west of Downtown Phoenix was built directly in the 1980s with 2×4 lanes. The wide part started just east of Tolleson at the time. With the construction of Loop 101, the section between Avondale and Tolleson was widened to 2×3 lanes around 2000. The viaducts were already wide enough for this at the time. A series of widenings in the western suburbs were carried out between 2007 and 2013, when the highway was widened to 2×5 lanes between Loop 303 and Loop 101, with the western part being widened directly from 2×2 to 2×5 lanes. Parallel to this, between 2010 and 2013, the section between Verrado Way and Loop 303 was widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes with left-hand hard shoulder. These can later become HOV lanes.
The Maricopa Freeway has probably been widened several times between Downtown Phoenix and Guadalupe. Presumably the first widening took place in the 1970s when the Superstition Freeway (US 60) was built through the eastern suburbs. The highway may have been partially widened in the late 1980s when the missing link of I-10 was built around Downtown Phoenix. Satellite images suggest that the section between SR-143 and US 60 was widened to 2×5 lanes in the mid-1990s. It is unclear whether the 6th HOV lane was then alsohas been constructed. Presumably around 1998, the section between US 60 and Loop 202 was widened to 2×4 lanes. With the construction of the Loop 202 interchange in the early 2000s, the section further south to Sundust Road was widened to 2×3 lanes in 2003. In 2015, a small widening to 2×3 lanes further to SR-347 was carried out, largely on existing pavement.
On August 23, 2022, a diverging diamond interchange opened west of Phoenix with Miller Road in Buckeye. This was part of a widening of I-10 to 2×3 lanes spanning eight miles between Verrado Way and State Route 85, due to be completed in mid-2023.
Phoenix – Tucson
I-10 in Tucson.
I-10 has gradually widened to 2×3 lanes in more and more places between Phoenix and Tucson. Work initially focused on the southern half of the route, between I-8 at Casa Grande and Tucson.
In 2005, a 10-mile section between Rillito and Cortaro just outside Tucson was widened to 2×3 lanes. Between 2007 and 2009, a 45-kilometer stretch between Picacho and Rillito was widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes. Subsequently, in 2011, the section between the interchange with I-8 and Eloy was widened to 2×3 lanes. There was still a remaining 2×2 lane section between Eloy and Picacho. This 6-kilometer section was widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes between 2017 and 2019, including a new connection with the SR-87. I-10 was actually constructed here over a length of 3.5 kilometers on a completely new route, this part opened on August 15, 2019. This widened the entire route from I-8 to Tucson to 2×3 lanes.
The highway between the suburbs of Phoenix and I-8 was not widened until later. In 2012-2013 the first 16 kilometers around Casa Grande was widened to 2×3 lanes. In 2019, a major study began to widen the last 42 miles of I-10 between Loop 202 in Phoenix and State Route 387 on the north side of Casa Grande to 2×3 lanes. This study was called the I-10 Wildhorse Pass Corridor.
Tucson
In the early 1990s, the portion in western Tucson was widened to 2×3 lanes. Between 2007 and 2009, the 9-kilometer section north of I-17 continued to Ruthrauff Road widened to 2×4 lanes.
In the second half of the 1990s, a small section of I-10 east from I-17 was widened to 2×3 lanes, a two-mile stretch to Kino Parkway. The interchange between I-10 and I-17 in Tucson was the original and cramped trumpet interchange. Between 2002 and 2004, the interchange was reconstructed, with a large east-south flyover replacing the loop. An exit to 12th Avenue has also been realized.
Future
The Broadway Curve in Phoenix before the start of widening in 2021.
Broadway Curve in Phoenix
East of downtown Phoenix, traffic is heavily concentrated from the huge suburbs east of the city to downtown. In 2008, 295,000 vehicles were driving on 2×6 lanes every day. There are plans to drastically widen the highway to 2×12 lanes, with a 4+8+8+4 layout. The inner 2 lanes become HOV lanes in each direction.
The project includes 17 kilometers of I-10 between I-17 and Loop 202. The draft EIS was adopted on October 2, 2019, followed by the final EIS on April 27, 2020. Work began on July 23, 2021. [6 ] The project should be completed by the end of 2024.
Cross section alternative 2: 2×12 lanes.
Traffic intensities
I-10 at US 60 in Phoenix.
The starting point of I-17.
| # | 2013 | 2016 |
| California state line | 24,000 | 23,000 |
| Exit 1 Ehrenberg | 22,000 | 24,000 |
| Exit 19 Quartz site | 21,000 | 22,000 |
| Exit 31 | 21,000 | 22,000 |
| Exit 98 Tonopah | 23,000 | 26,000 |
| Exit 109 Sun Valley Parkway | 37,000 | 32,000 |
| exit 112 | 39,000 | 42,000 |
| Exit 114 Miller Road | 45,000 | 44,000 |
| Exit 117 Watson Road | 66,000 | 68,000 |
| Exit 120 Verado Way | 74,000 | 91,000 |
| Exit 121 Jackrabbit Trail | 74,000 | 94,000 |
| Exit 124 | 79,000 | 102,000 |
| Exit 126 Pebble Creek Parkway | 95,000 | 102,000 |
| Exit 128 Litchfield Road | 142,000 | 170,000 |
| Exit 129 Dysart Road | 123,000 | 176,000 |
| Exit 131 115th Avenue | 132,000 | 170,000 |
| Exit 133 | 192,000 | 219,000 |
| Exit 134 91st Avenue | 194,000 | 218,000 |
| Exit 136 83rd Avenue | 189,000 | 238,000 |
| Exit 136B 75th Avenue | 208,000 | 225,000 |
| Exit 137 67th Avenue | 230,000 | 242,000 |
| Exit 138 59th Avenue | 175,000 | 179,000 |
| Exit 139 51st Avenue | 210,000 | 203,000 |
| Exit 140 43rd Avenue | 229,000 | 239,000 |
| Exit 141 35th Avenue | 240,000 | 250,000 |
| Exit 142 27th Avenue | 193,000 | 191,000 |
| Exit 143 | 137,000 | 130,000 |
| Exit 144 7th Avenue | 210,000 | 254,000 |
| Exit 145A 3rd Street | 220,000 | 254,000 |
| Exit 145B 7th Street | 275,000 | 281,000 |
| Exit 147 | 144,000 | 154,000 |
| Exit 148 Jefferson Street | 179,000 | 201,000 |
| Exit 149 Buckeye Road | 154,000 | 159,000 |
| Exit 150 | 240,000 | 258,000 |
| Exit 151 32nd Street | 224,000 | 243,000 |
| Exit 152 40th Street | 197,000 | 230,000 |
| Exit 153 48th Street | 186,000 | 220,000 |
| Exit 154 | 281,000 | 267,000 |
| Exit 154 | 145,000 | 149,000 |
| Exit 155 Baseline Road | 204,000 | 211,000 |
| Exit 157 Elliot Road | 187,000 | 195,000 |
| Exit 158 Warner Road | 174,000 | 182,000 |
| Exit 159 Ray Road | 104,000 | 156,000 |
| Exit 160 Chandler Boulevard | 108,000 | 86,000 |
| Exit 161 | 78,000 | 101,000 |
| Exit 164 Queen Creek Road | 55,000 | 60,000 |
| Exit 167 Riggs Road | 49,000 | 55,000 |
| Exit 175 Casa Blanca Road | 52,000 | 59,000 |
| Exit 185 Pinal Avenue | 46,000 | 43,000 |
| Exit 194 Casa Grande | 47,000 | 45,000 |
| Exit 199 | 41,000 | 42,000 |
| Exit 208 Eloy | 42,000 | 42,000 |
| Exit 240 Rillito | 58,000 | 57,000 |
| Exit 246 Cortaro Road | 71,000 | 97,000 |
| Exit 248 Ina Road | 88,000 | 111,000 |
| Exit 250 Orange Grove Road | 107,000 | 112,000 |
| Exit 251 Sunset Road | 120,000 | 111,000 |
| Exit 252 El Camino Del Cerro | 120,000 | 123,000 |
| Exit 254 Prince Road | 129,000 | 153,000 |
| Exit 255 Miracle Mile | 153,000 | 170,000 |
| Exit 256 Grant Road | 172,000 | 176,000 |
| Exit 257 Speedway Boulevard | 172,000 | 153,000 |
| Exit 258 Congress Street | 145,000 | 177,000 |
| Exit 259 22nd Street | 120,000 | 170,000 |
| Exit 261 | 86,000 | 103,000 |
| Exit 263 Kino Parkway | 73,000 | 79,000 |
| Exit 264 Palo Verde Road | 62,000 | 73,000 |
| Exit 265 Alvernon Road | 66,000 | 69,000 |
| Exit 267 Valencia Road | 65,000 | 69,000 |
| Exit 268 Craycroft Road | 54,000 | 63,000 |
| Exit 269 Wilmot Road | 49,000 | 55,000 |
| Exit 270 Kolb Road | 50,000 | 57,000 |
| Exit 273 Rita Road | 44,000 | 47,000 |
| Exit 275 Houghton Road | 38,000 | 40,000 |
| Exit 281 Vail | 27,000 | 29,000 |
| Exit 306 Benson | 15,000 | 16,000 |
| Exit 331 | 18,000 | 16,000 |
| Exit 340 Willcox | 13,000 | 14,000 |
| Exit 352 | 11,000 | 13,000 |
| Exit 366 Bowie | 12,000 | 12,000 |
| Exit 382 San Simon | 14,000 | 13,000 |
| New Mexico state line | 14,000 | 14,000 |
Lane Configuration
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes |
| exit 0 | exit 120 | 2×2 |
| exit 120 | Exit 122 | 2×3 |
| Exit 122 | Exit 141 | 2×5 |
| Exit 141 | Exit 144 | 2×6 |
| Exit 144 | Exit 148 | 2×5 |
| Exit 148 | Exit 149 | 2×4 |
| Exit 149 | Exit 150 | 2×6 |
| Exit 150 | Exit 154 | 2×5 |
| Exit 154 | Exit 162 | 2×4 |
| Exit 162 | Exit 164 | 2×3 |
| Exit 164 | Exit 185 | 2×2 |
| Exit 185 | Exit 252 | 2×3 |
| Exit 252 | Exit 259 | 2×4 |
| Exit 259 | Exit 263 | 2×3 |
| Exit 263 | Exit 390 | 2×2 |
