Skip to main content

Northern Parkway

By


Northern Parkway as presently constructed is an approximately 6 mile mostly limited access highway located in the West Valley of the Phoenix Metropolitain area.  Northern Parkway begins at Arizona Loop 303 in Glendale and extends east to the Agua Fria River as a freeway.  East of the Agua Fria River the current corridor of Northern Parkway becomes part of existing Northern Avenue and ends at 111th Avenue.  Northern Parkway is planned to be extended east from 111th Avenue to US Route 60 at Grand Avenue.  Once completed, Northern Parkway will be a corridor spanning approximately 12.5 miles.  Northern Parkway is maintained by the Maricopa County Department of Transportation and presently is an unnumbered highway.  




Part 1; history of Northern Parkway

The origin of Northern Parkway dates to November 2001 when the corridor was identified as the location for a limited access highway by the city of Glendale.  The Northern Parkway concept was developed and added into the Glendale Transportation Plan in cooperation with the Citizens Advisory Committee for Transportation Issues.  The Northern Parkway corridor was included in the Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan on October 1, 2003.  During November 2004 Maricopa County voters approved Proposition 400 which extended a half cent sales tax which would fund Northern Parkway and other projects on the Regional Transportation Plan.  

During 2008 the cities of Glendale, Peoria and El Mirage approved the design of Northern Parkway.  During 2009 an Environmental Assessment for the Northern Parkway was prepared by the city of Glendale.  The Federal Highway Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation approved a final Environmental Assessment regarding the Northern Parkway corridor on April 26, 2010.  Conceptually, Northern Parkway was designed as a 12.5-mile mostly highway corridor which would extend from Arizona Loop 303 east to US Route 60 (Grand Avenue).  Nothern Parkway was designed to have two at-grade intersections located at 107th Avenue and 111th Avenue.



Phase 1 of the Northern Parkway corridor included the segment from Arizona Loop 303 and Dysart Road.  Phase 1 of the Northern Parkway would fully open to traffic during 2015.  


Phase 2 of the Northern Parkway corridor originated at Dysart Road and terminated to the east at 111th Avenue.  The Phase 2 corridor included a new eastbound bridge over the Agua Fria River.  Construction of Phase 2 was reported as beginning in the January 20, 2019, Arizona Tribune.  The delay in Phase 2 construction is attributed to a recession delaying population growth in the West Valley below projections.  The Phase 2 corridor of Northern Parkway would ultimately conclude and be fully open to traffic during 2022.  


Presently construction on Phase 3 of the Northern Parkway corridor is expected to commence during 2025 and presently still in a design phase.  The Phase 3 corridor includes the segment from 111th Avenue east to 87th Avenue.  The segment of Northern Parkway between 99th Avenue and 91st connecting to Arizona Loop 101 is to be taken over by the Arizona Department of Transportation upon completion.  Existing Northern Avenue at Arizona Loop 101 is planned to be converted to a Diverging Diamond as part of Phase 3 construction. 



Phase 4 of Northern Parkway from 87th Avenue east to US Route 60/Grand Avenue is expected to break ground during 2026.  Once complete between Arizona Loop 303 and US Route 60 the Northern Parkway corridor will be approximately 12.5 miles.  

A Maricopa County Association of Governments final report on Northern Parkway dated to December 2018 can be viewed here.





Part 2; a flyover of Northern Parkway

Existing Northern Parkway can easily be observed from flights departing west from Sky Harbor International Airport.  Northern Parkway can be seen branching east from Arizona Loop 303 towards the Agua Fria River.  Northern Parkway can be seen skirting the northern boundary of Luke Airforce Base and acting as a functional replacement of Northern Avenue west of the Agua Fria River.  Northern Parkway through Phase 2 construction has exits at Arizona Loop 303, Sarival Avenue, Reems Road, Litchfield Road, Dysart Road and El Mirage Road.







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

By
The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high
2 comments
Read more

Mines Road

By
Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre
Post a Comment
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba
Post a Comment
Read more