Two major projects on roads in Tucson have been announced as the Department of Transportation seeks to reduce traffic and improve the drivability of the roads. 

State Road 86 -- otherwise known as Ajo Way -- was built in 1935 as a two-lane roadway, but today it has become an important road for the transportation of Tucson. The project will be working to widen the road for seven miles and also to bring Interstate 19 up to speed in terms of modernity. Ajo Way’s five-and-a-half-mile stretch from milepost 167 to 172 will need to be able to serve 44,000 vehicles daily by 2030.

Preparation work will include removal of plants and soil that are obstructing the space to be built upon. Construction will begin by mid-April. 

The first phase of the project has been estimated at $41 million; it will take two years to complete. 

The second phase will begin in 2018 and will start the process of widening I-19, as well as constructing two new bridges, repaving lanes from Irvington Road to the north of Ajo Way, and building a new structure that will benefit the southbound I-19 Ajo Way on-ramp.