TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There’s one stretch of I-10 from I-19 to Kolb Road, that's prone to collisions. But that road is about to see a lot of improvements.
Pima County’s population increased by more than 6% in the last decade. This means more traffic, and potentially more collisions along I-10. According to Arizona Department of Public Safety, since 2019, there’s been 314 car accidents just within a mile of I-10 and Kino Parkway.
"ADOT has been planning for years for the growth that is coming to Southeast Tucson,” said Garin Groff, with the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The Arizona Department of Transportation, also know as ADOT, plans to change the roads for the growing population.
“In 2020 we put together a plan to improve about 11 miles of I-10 from I-19 out to Kolb Road,” Groff said.
The plan lays out 13 major projects. The first two projects involve reconstructing the cloverleaf interchanges at Country Club Road and Kino Parkway.
“As we rebuild the interchanges, drivers will see a much simpler design that’s a lot easier to navigate,” Groff said.
With the interchanges, ADOT will add a third lane of traffic, and sometimes a fourth on certain parts of I-10.
“And we’ll also be expanding I-10 itself so there’s a lot more room to merge and more lanes of travel to accommodate growth,” Groff said.
The preparation for those two projects will take about five years, and ADOT has no existing timeline for starting construction.
“We’ve already got a couple major projects happening right now in Tucson, we’ll have some others coming up," Groff said. "It's going to be a few more years before we kick off some of these big improvements on I-10.”
Another project is to improve traffic flow into downtown. That involves turning Alvernon Way into part of State Route 210, thus connecting 210 to I-10.
“There will be a free flow of traffic from I-10 up State Route 210 into the downtown Tucson area,” Groff said.
ADOT estimates that all 13 projects will take 10-20 years to complete. The plan also has total price tag of more than a billion dollars. ADOT hopes to get the money from a mix of local state and federal funds.
