Northbound Interstate 17, just north of Black Canyon City, will close for about four hours beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 30, so crews can remove a 70,000-pound beam from an oversize load that overturned Saturday. 

Motorists planning to take I-17 north from the Valley should consider traveling before or after the closure, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Northbound traffic can use State Route 87 through Payson and return to I-17 on westbound SR 260. A western option for passenger vehicles is US 60 to Wickenburg and US 93 and SR 89 to Prescott, though commercial vehicles are not permitted on SR 89. 

“Because of the size of this beam, ADOT must close both northbound lanes during the removal,” ADOT officials stated in a release.

Northbound I-17 traffic will be turned around at Rock Springs (Exit 242) to travel southbound on I-17 during the closure. One of the two northbound lanes is currently closed about 3 miles north of Black Canyon City, and motorists traveling before the closure should expect delays. 

The restriction is within the limits of ADOT’s I-17 Improvement Project that’s increasing capacity between Anthem Way and Sunset Point, according to ADOT, but the incident is not project-related.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.