Bell and Grand (US 60) Flyover bridge

[Max Rockatansky]

Found this on ADOT's Youtube site today:

I didn't realize this was going to be a left exit from Grand.  I'm not exactly sure how this going to speed up things for Bell Road but should clear up Grand pretty nicely.  Guess the old Dysart, to Bell and back to Grand trick isn't going to work anymore going north.

[pumpkineater2]

Well for one, the railroad tracks and Bell road will have a grade separation. If the actual cars drive as fast as they are going in the video, things will surely speed up.

[Sonic99]

The lights can also be shorter, as the only traffic at that intersection will be those turning on or off of Bell, instead of the Grand Ave traffic as well.

[Max Rockatansky]

The lights can also be shorter, as the only traffic at that intersection will be those turning on or off of Bell, instead of the Grand Ave traffic as well.

What I thought was really weird upon re-watching was that you have to go left into the turn lane for Bell at Bell Grande Drive.  Granted I know that's a large shopping center but that leaves some unanswered questions.  Would you be able to turn left on to the Bell ramp off of Bell Grande Drive or just go straight onto Grand?  And without a divider median past the Bell Granda Drive isn't that just going to mean people who realize they missed the Bell turn off are just going to cut left suddenly to get on the ramp?  Granted the alternative would be to south the traffic to go south on Grand and u-turn or dumping them onto Bell to go south/north on the Grand Ramp.

[707]

They could have made it easier by rebuilding Grand on an overpass over Bell road and making it an interchange.similar to Exit 160, but on a smaller scale.

[Max Rockatansky]

They could have made it easier by rebuilding Grand on an overpass over Bell road and making it an interchange.similar to Exit 160, but on a smaller scale.

Probably has a lot to do with the fact that it's going to take 6 to 8 months to finish the project as is.  Shutting down Grand for that long would basically cause the whole city of Surprise to grind to a halt, it's probably already getting that way with Bell being closed.

[Sonic99]

They could have made it easier by rebuilding Grand on an overpass over Bell road and making it an interchange.similar to Exit 160, but on a smaller scale.

That would have done nothing to address the railroad grade crossing for Bell Rd. Putting Bell over the top eliminated the grade crossing completely.

[707]

They could have made it easier by rebuilding Grand on an overpass over Bell road and making it an interchange.similar to Exit 160, but on a smaller scale.

That would have done nothing to address the railroad grade crossing for Bell Rd. Putting Bell over the top eliminated the grade crossing completely.

That's right. I forgot about the railroad.

[hm insulators]

I've wondered: Couldn't they have buily a detour next to the construction site for Bell Road, rerouted the traffic onto the detour across the tracks and Grand Avenue instead of closing Bell Road completely and rerouting the traffic onto roads not designed for such heavy traffic volumes (Dysart, Greenway, RH Johnson--I'm sure traffic on RH Johnson has increased greatly, much to the chagrin and annoyance of Sun City West residents like my mother)? I remember when they built I-210 through the L.A. suburb I grew up in, they didn't close down Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest Hwy. and force traffic to use residential streets; they built detours.

[Sonic99]

I've wondered: Couldn't they have buily a detour next to the construction site for Bell Road, rerouted the traffic onto the detour across the tracks and Grand Avenue instead of closing Bell Road completely and rerouting the traffic onto roads not designed for such heavy traffic volumes (Dysart, Greenway, RH Johnson--I'm sure traffic on RH Johnson has increased greatly, much to the chagrin and annoyance of Sun City West residents like my mother)? I remember when they built I-210 through the L.A. suburb I grew up in, they didn't close down Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest Hwy. and force traffic to use residential streets; they built detours.

They went this route for timing. They had to wait until after spring training to be done, but they need to be done by the holidays because of the snow bird traffic and the shopping traffic around that area. Building a detour, then the main interchange, then removing the detour and finishing it up, would just take too long.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've wondered: Couldn't they have buily a detour next to the construction site for Bell Road, rerouted the traffic onto the detour across the tracks and Grand Avenue instead of closing Bell Road completely and rerouting the traffic onto roads not designed for such heavy traffic volumes (Dysart, Greenway, RH Johnson--I'm sure traffic on RH Johnson has increased greatly, much to the chagrin and annoyance of Sun City West residents like my mother)? I remember when they built I-210 through the L.A. suburb I grew up in, they didn't close down Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest Hwy. and force traffic to use residential streets; they built detours.

They went this route for timing. They had to wait until after spring training to be done, but they need to be done by the holidays because of the snow bird traffic and the shopping traffic around that area. Building a detour, then the main interchange, then removing the detour and finishing it up, would just take too long.

It's amazing how empty that corridor gets this time of year.  Basically once the 1st of April hits almost all of Sun City and Sun City West has long packed up to whatever great white northern destination they came from.

[swbrotha100]

I've wondered: Couldn't they have buily a detour next to the construction site for Bell Road, rerouted the traffic onto the detour across the tracks and Grand Avenue instead of closing Bell Road completely and rerouting the traffic onto roads not designed for such heavy traffic volumes (Dysart, Greenway, RH Johnson--I'm sure traffic on RH Johnson has increased greatly, much to the chagrin and annoyance of Sun City West residents like my mother)? I remember when they built I-210 through the L.A. suburb I grew up in, they didn't close down Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest Hwy. and force traffic to use residential streets; they built detours.

The official detour for Bell Rd is Litchfield Rd, Greenway Rd, Dysart Rd.

[roadfro]

I've wondered: Couldn't they have buily a detour next to the construction site for Bell Road, rerouted the traffic onto the detour across the tracks and Grand Avenue instead of closing Bell Road completely and rerouting the traffic onto roads not designed for such heavy traffic volumes (Dysart, Greenway, RH Johnson--I'm sure traffic on RH Johnson has increased greatly, much to the chagrin and annoyance of Sun City West residents like my mother)? I remember when they built I-210 through the L.A. suburb I grew up in, they didn't close down Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest Hwy. and force traffic to use residential streets; they built detours.

They went this route for timing. They had to wait until after spring training to be done, but they need to be done by the holidays because of the snow bird traffic and the shopping traffic around that area. Building a detour, then the main interchange, then removing the detour and finishing it up, would just take too long.

Not to mention, building a detour across the railroad tracks involves an extra layer of coordination with the railroad authorities with having to construct a temporary grade crossing.

[707]

ADOT sent out an update. Construction just started on the eastbound bridge support columns for Bell Road.

[Sonic99]

ADOT sent out an update. Construction just started on the eastbound bridge support columns for Bell Road.

They're moving quickly. This is why they went for the full closure instead of building detours to keep Bell open somehow. Intersection is already dismantled and supports are already going vertical. None of that could have happened if Bell was still open.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1054552817949754&id=117553941649651

[Sonic99]

And now a flyover video of what's happening right now.

[Max Rockatansky]

Almost looks like Bell dead ends at Grand from the perspective of the fly-by angle.

[Max Rockatansky]

ADOT posted a video update on this project: