5-miles of Main Street going on ‘road diet’

Crews are scheduled to commence work this week on a two-year project to shrink the width of a 5-mile stretch of Main Street in East Mesa by one motor vehicle lane in each direction.The Arizona Department of Transportation’s $38 million project  will add bike lanes and sidewalks as it reduces Main Street between Sossaman and Meridian roads to two motor lanes.That stretch today still has many characteristics of the rural highway that served early interstate travelers.

The project will transform the streetscape of the last remnant of the old Highway 60 still on the Arizona State Highway System – known to ADOT as US 60X and known to locals as Apache Trail east of 80th Street.Crews will also resurface the road, add lighting and improve drainage.ADOT said crews will start setting up work zones between the Loop 202 Red Mountain and Meridian Road.A release stated that traffic could be temporarily reduced to one-lane in each direction. Business access will be maintained.Most work will take place on weekdays, though some weekend and weeknight work may be needed, ADOT continued.A 2018 ADOT study of the US 60X stated the area has been “cited by numerous reports as a high crash corridor that requires operational and infrastructure improvements to meet the safety, access, mobility and multimodal needs of the corridor.”Part of ADOT’s rationale for reducing the number of lanes is to discourage speeding and reckless driving, according to documents submitted to the Maricopa Association of Governments in 2021.The “wide corridor encourages speeding or traffic movements that add concerns for all travelers,” the document stated. “Reducing travel lanes, improving intersections and crossings, and adding facilities for all travelers wi …