Drivers who use Interstate 10 west of Loop 101 in the Avondale area have been watching progress being made on a future bridge and interchange at Fairway Drive.

The bridge will be completed this spring as part of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s $20.8 million project to add the Fairway Drive interchange under the Regional Transportation Plan that Phoenix-area voters approved in 2004, according to a release.

Crews recently poured the concrete deck for the Fairway Drive bridge over I-10. Work now is focused on adding safety barrier walls to the structure. On- and off-ramps for the future interchange have already been in use as detour routes for traffic at times when I-10 closures have been needed for bridge construction.

Other work to be completed over the next month includes resurfacing I-10 between Avondale Boulevard and Dysart Road with a new top layer of smooth rubberized asphalt. Crews will also finish installing lighting and traffic signals.

The city of Avondale is designing a Fairway Drive connection to the interchange and plans to start construction when ADOT completes its work on the I-10 project.

Funding for the Fairway Drive interchange project is provided by the Maricopa Association of Governments, which schedules regional freeway projects. A primary funding source for MAG’s Regional Transportation Plan is a half-cent sales tax in the Phoenix area.