TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Arizona Department of Transportation has reached the halfway point on its $600 million Interstate 10 reconstruction project between Kino Parkway and Alvernon Way, marking a major milestone in what officials call the largest highway construction project in Southern Arizona history.
The three-mile project, which began in June 2025, is designed to reduce congestion and improve safety by widening I-10 to three lanes in each direction, rebuilding existing interchanges and adding new connections along one of Tucson's busiest freeway corridors.
"ADOT has good news for drivers who use I-10 southeast of downtown Tucson," ADOT spokesman Garin Groff said.
That progress will become especially visible this weekend as ADOT permanently closes the Interstate 10 interchange at Palo Verde Road beginning Friday night to make way for demolition and construction work.
"ADOT has reached the half-way mark on a project to reconstruct and widen I-10, from Kino Parkway to Alvernon Way," Groff said.
The closure of the Palo Verde interchange will allow crews to build additional freeway lanes and new bridges in the area. In its place, ADOT plans to open a new interchange at Country Club Road this fall.
"Tonight, we will be permanently closing the interchange at Interstate 10 and Palo Verde Road," Groff said. "That is so we can continue work in that area to widen the freeway and construct new overpasses."
The new Country Club Road interchange will use a diverging diamond design, only the second such interchange in the Tucson area after the I-10 and Houghton Road interchange opened in 2021. The design briefly shifts traffic to the opposite side of the roadway, allowing vehicles to make left turns onto freeway ramps without crossing oncoming traffic, improving both safety and traffic flow.
Recent construction milestones include completing most of the pavement for the new Country Club interchange, demolishing portions of the existing freeway to make room for new lanes, installing bridge girders for the reconstructed Kino Parkway interchange and advancing work on new bridges over Palo Verde and Irvington roads. Crews have also made significant progress on an undercrossing connecting the North and South Kino Sports Complex.
Groff said the current work is only the beginning of broader improvements planned along the I-10 corridor.
"We released a study that looked at future improvements that were needed," he said. "And this segment from Kino Parkway to Alvernon Way, this is the first of many projects coming down the pipeline to improve Interstate 10."
The project stems from a 2020 ADOT study examining transportation needs along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between Interstate 19 and Kolb Road. Construction is expected to continue through 2028, with ADOT maintaining at least two travel lanes in each direction during peak travel periods.
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Eddie Celaya is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born in Tucson and raised in the Phoenix area, Eddie is a life-long Arizonan and graduate of the University of Arizona who loves the desert and mountains and hates the cold. Previously, Eddie worked in print media at the Arizona Daily Star. Share your story ideas with Eddie at edward.celaya@kgun9.com, or by connecting on Facebook or Instagram.
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