The Arizona Department of Transportation project that built Loop 303 interchanges at 43rd and 51st avenues near Interstate 17 has been named a top 12 finalist in the 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition.  

The designation makes the $70 million Loop 303 project eligible for two different honors: the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award. The competition is sponsored by AASHTO, an association representing highway and transportation departments nationwide, as well as AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Through Oct. 29, votes can be cast once a day for the People’s Choice Award by visiting americastransportationawards.org.

The Grand Prize will be decided by an independent panel of transportation experts. Both awards will be presented at AASHTO’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.

ADOT partnered with the Maricopa Association of Governments, the regional transportation planning agency and city of Phoenix to accelerate construction of the Loop 303 bridges and ramps to address current and future traffic growth near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in the north Valley, state transportation officials said.

The interchanges were completed in September 2023, several years sooner than originally planned, according to an ADOT release.

“With a large semiconductor manufacturing facility under construction, these two interchanges are connecting Arizonans and empowering our state’s economy,” ADOT Director Jennifer Toth said.

“This collaboration with the Maricopa Association of Governments and city of Phoenix also supports continued development and growth of businesses and services, including health care and housing.”