PHOENIX – Drivers planning to use southbound Interstate 17 in the north Valley this weekend should budget extra time with pavement improvement work reducing the freeway to one lane at Loop 303/Sonoran Desert Drive and with traffic exiting and re-entering at Jomax Road. 

The lane restrictions and the closure at Jomax Road, with traffic using the off- and on-ramps, are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Friday and end by 5 a.m. Monday, July 15. Drivers should plan for delays, especially from afternoon into early evening on Saturday and Sunday, and may want to consider traveling through the area earlier or later. 

Continuing a much-needed project to improve the ride on 6 miles of I-17 between Happy Valley Road and State Route 74, crews will be replacing bridge deck joints, among other work, in the stretch between Loop 303/Sonoran Desert Drive and Jomax Road. The project has already removed the top layer of older, worn asphalt pavement and later will smooth the remaining concrete surface through a process called diamond grinding. 

Other details:

• To help keep traffic moving through the work zone this weekend, east- and westbound Jomax Road will be closed at I-17. Southbound I-17 drivers wanting to access Jomax Road can continue to Happy Valley Road and use northbound 19th Avenue.

• Drivers wanting to enter southbound I-17 at Jomax Road will be directed onto northbound I-17 to access southbound I-17 at Loop 303/Sonoran Desert Drive.

• The southbound I-17 off-ramp at Loop 303/Sonoran Desert Drive will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Saturday, July 13, and from 9 p.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. Sunday, July 14.

• Earlier in the week, on Wednesday and Thursday nights, July 10 and 11, southbound I-17 will be narrowed to one lane between Loop 303 and Dixileta Drive from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. The southbound I-17 on-ramp at Loop 303/Sonoran Desert Drive also will be closed during the same hours. 

To learn more about this project and subscribe for updates, please visit  azdot.gov/i-17HappyValleySR74. 

The I-17 pavement work between SR 74 and Happy Valley Road is separate from the I-17 Improvement Project currently underway north of Anthem Way. For more information about that larger project visit improvingi17.com. 

Real-time highway conditions are available on ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov, the az511 app (download for Apple or Android devices) or by calling 511.