PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Transportation is making an effort to increase safety and reduce congestion for drivers along Interstate 17 north of Phoenix and they want to do it in a sustainable way.
The improvement project will widen 15 miles between Anthem Way and Black Canyon City and add an eight-mile stretch of flex lanes from Black Canyon City to Sunset Point.
Just north of Sunset Point is ADOT’s rock garden.
"Everything you see here at the rock garden is from controlled rock blasting efforts,” said Laura Douglas with ADOT's communications department.
They're recycling, reusing and repurposing rock and old asphalt to decrease their footprint, making the project sustainable and environmentally safe.
"We have a pile of which is called 'rip rap' and this is used for things like slopes and drainage and reinforcing pipes. Same goes for the smaller rock on the other side that is our mulch pile,” said Douglas.
A mountain of aggregated base is the biggest part of ADOT’s sustainability.
“We use the aggregate base as part of the paving operation, so for the repaving of the I-17 from Anthem Way all the way up to Sunset Point,” said Douglas.
ADOT's sustainability isn't just about recycling rock.
“Also, part of these efforts is maintaining the natural beauty of this environment,” said Douglas.
ADOT is impacting our earth one rock at a time.
“If you add up all these rocks, that's a lot of effort,” said Douglas.
