Arizona State Route 101
Arizona State Route 101 (commonly referred to as Loop 101) is a semi-beltway encompassing much of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the United States. It connects several suburbs of Phoenix, including Tolleson, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler. Construction began in the late-1980s and was completed in 2001. Additional general purpose lanes and a high occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) are being constructed along the eastern stretch of Loop 101 from Scottsdale to Chandler, starting at Princess Drive to Loop 202 (the Santan Freeway).
Loop 101 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by ADOT | ||||
Length | 60.99 mi[1] (98.15 km) | |||
Existed | 1988–present | |||
History | Fully completed in 2001 | |||
Major junctions | ||||
From | ||||
To | ||||
Location | ||||
Counties | Maricopa | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Loop 101 has interchanges with almost all area freeways, including: Loop 202, US 60, SR 51, Interstate 17, and Interstate 10 along its 61-mile (98 km) route.
Loop 101 has various names along its route:
Route description
Loop 101 begins as the Agua Fria Freeway west of Phoenix in Tolleson at a three-level interchange with Interstate 10. From that point, it heads north entering Phoenix then Glendale, passing State Farm Stadium and Gila River Arena. Continuing northward through Peoria, it passes the Peoria Sports Complex before entering northwestern Glendale and heading east just past the Arrowhead Towne Center mall. Loop 101 now heads eastward on the Beardsley Road alignment. The freeway enters northern Phoenix, and at milepost 23, Loop 101 intersects Interstate 17 near the Deer Valley Airport, 15 miles (24 km) north of Downtown Phoenix.
Continuing east as the Pima Freeway, it passes through the Union Hills area and then has an interchange with the northern terminus of SR 51 at milepost 29. East of its junction with SR 51, Loop 101 curves south through Scottsdale in the northeast valley on the Pima Road alignment. The freeway curves east and continues onto the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community just south of Via Linda providing access to Downtown Scottsdale, a large open-air power center called Scottsdale Pavilions, Scottsdale Community College, two casinos, and Scottsdale Fashion Square. Continuing south, Loop 101 encounters an interchange with the Red Mountain Freeway portion of Loop 202 in Tempe at milepost 51, near the campus of Arizona State University. This interchange is partially built over the Salt River.
After this interchange, Loop 101 is now the Price Freeway, and interchanges with US 60 at milepost 55 before entering Chandler. Loop 101 provides access to Chandler Fashion Center just prior to concluding at milepost 61 at an interchange with the Santan Freeway portion of Loop 202.[2]
History
The highway originally was assigned two different route numbers along its path. The Agua Fria Freeway portion was initially designated SR 417;[3] the section along the Pima/Price Freeways was to be SR 117.[4] A portion of Loop 101 between the Superstition Freeway and McDowell Road near Scottsdale had been proposed as the "Indian Bend Freeway" (SR 117) in 1962.[5] The Loop 101 designation was first assigned on December 18, 1987, at which time the South Mountain Freeway and the portion of the San Tan Freeway between I-10 and Price Road were also designated to be part of Loop 101.[6] On July 19, 1991, the proposed South Mountain Freeway was renumbered as part of Loop 202.[7] The San Tan Freeway portion of Loop 101 has never officially been renumbered, though this freeway section has been signed as Loop 202 since its opening.
An exit in Northeast Phoenix at 64th Street started construction in January 2008, and completed construction in the end of Q3 2008.[8] It was finally opened to traffic in May 2015. Construction of Freeway Management System (FMS) for this segment of Loop 101. Using sensors, freeway cameras and the latest technology, the Valley’s Intelligent Transportation Systems keep traffic flowing by providing incident management personnel with information about real-time traffic conditions. Construction was completed on the segment between I-17 and State Route 51 in September 2009.
In 1990, after several years of negotiation with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, the state of Arizona paid the tribe $247 million for right of way for the eastern leg of Loop 101 from (north to south) south of Via Linda to the north bank of the Salt River.[9]
The resulting alignment kept all four corners of each interchange along the roughly 7-mile leg on tribal land, allowing the community to control and benefit from development. The tribe formed a development arm, Salt River DevCo, to manage these and other community developable properties. [10]
On August 26, 2010, comedian Robert Schimmel was involved in an accident on the road in Scottsdale in which his daughter was driving; their car flipped onto the side of the road. Schimmel died from his injuries on September 3, 2010.[11]
Speed enforcement
In 2006, Scottsdale installed speed enforcement cameras along its stretch of Loop 101 to combat the high fatality rate along its section of freeway. The photo enforcement was based on inductive sheeting on the freeway bed located at six fixed positions along the freeway - three in each direction. The photo enforcement was in a trial phase, with the trial ending in December 2006. In January 2007, the program was authorized by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to resume in February 2007.[12]
There had been much criticism of the program after its inception. For instance, in May 2006, a vehicle was allegedly clocked traveling at 147 miles per hour (237 km/h) on Loop 101. Scottsdale police arrested Lawrence Pargo soon afterwards. According to the manufacturer Hyundai,[13] the vehicle the suspect was driving had a centrifugal governor, and was only capable of traveling 137 mph (220 km/h).[14]
The system was calibrated to ticket anyone traveling 76 mph (122 km/h) or greater, as 65 mph (105 km/h) was the predetermined speed limit. The system was also designed for night time use and utilized equipment with a high intensity flash and full motion video capture to take pictures of fast-moving objects.[15]
Money from a typical $162 ticket went to the following:
- $78 (about) - Went to state surcharges for Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund and other designated state programs.
- $42 - Went to Redflex Traffic Systems, the city's photo enforcement contractor.
- $32 - Went to covering general operating costs for the program, including city rental payments to Redflex for the equipment and other police, prosecutor and court costs.
- $10 - Went for a fund used only for court operations enhancements.
Photo enforcement along Loop 101 ended in 2010.[16]
Exit list
The entire route is in Maricopa County.
Location | mi[1][17] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tolleson | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1 | Counterclockwise terminus; signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east); exit 133B on I-10 | |
Phoenix | 0.72 | 1.16 | 2 | McDowell Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance |
1.74 | 2.80 | 3 | Thomas Road | ||
2.75 | 4.43 | 4 | Indian School Road | ||
3.79 | 6.10 | 5 | Camelback Road | ||
Glendale | 4.78 | 7.69 | 6 | Cardinals Way | Formerly Bethany Home Road |
5.29 | 8.51 | 7A | Maryland Avenue | HOV interchange | |
5.78 | 9.30 | 7B | Glendale Avenue | ||
Glendale–Peoria line | 6.88 | 11.07 | 8 | Northern Avenue | |
Peoria | 8.09 | 13.02 | 9 | Olive Avenue | |
9.10 | 14.65 | 10 | Peoria Avenue | ||
10.01 | 16.11 | 11 | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former US 89 | ||
10.54 | 16.96 | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; referred internally as exit 11A[1] | |||
11.47 | 18.46 | 12 | Thunderbird Road | ||
12.30 | 19.79 | Bridge over Skunk Creek | |||
13.53 | 21.77 | 14 | Bell Road | ||
Glendale | 14.59 | 23.48 | 15 | Union Hills Drive | No southbound exit; southbound access is via exit 16 |
15.49 | 24.93 | 16 | Beardsley Road west / Union Hills Drive | No southbound exit | |
Cardinal direction change: Western quadrant (north–south) / Northern quadrant (west–east) | |||||
16.02 | 25.78 | 17 | 75th Avenue | ||
17.02 | 27.39 | 18 | 67th Avenue | ||
17.96 | 28.90 | 19 | 59th Avenue | ||
Glendale–Phoenix line | 19.86 | 31.96 | 20 | 51st Avenue | |
Phoenix | 20.97 | 33.75 | 22 | 35th Avenue | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
22.67– 25.07 | 36.48– 40.35 | 23 | 27th Avenue | Signed as exit 23A westbound | |
Signed as exits 23B (north) and 23C (south) westbound; exit 214C on I-17; westbound exit to NB I-17 includes direct exit ramp onto Deer Valley Road | |||||
Agua Fria Freeway transitions to Pima Freeway | |||||
22.98 | 36.98 | 24 | 19th Avenue | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
23.96 | 38.56 | 25 | 7th Avenue | ||
24.96 | 40.17 | 26 | 7th Street | ||
26.99 | 43.44 | 28 | Cave Creek Road | ||
28.29– 29.49 | 45.53– 47.46 | 29 | North end of SR 51; exit 15 on SR 51 | ||
HOV access only; westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||||
30.09 | 48.43 | 31 | Tatum Boulevard | ||
31.18 | 50.18 | 32 | 56th Street | ||
32.36 | 52.08 | 33 | 64th Street | Exit opened in 2015 | |
Phoenix–Scottsdale line | 33.30 | 53.59 | 34 | Scottsdale Road | |
Scottsdale | 34.33 | 55.25 | 35 | Hayden Road | |
35.36 | 56.91 | 36 | Pima Road / Princess Drive | Eastbound access to Bell Road | |
Cardinal direction change: Northern quadrant (west–east) / Eastern quadrant (north–south) | |||||
36.57 | 58.85 | 38 | Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard / Bell Road | No southbound signage for Bell Road | |
37.36 | 60.13 | 39 | Raintree Drive / Thunderbird Road | No northbound signage for Thunderbird Road | |
38.86 | 62.54 | 40 | Cactus Road | ||
39.84 | 64.12 | 41 | Shea Boulevard | ||
Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community | 41.13 | 66.19 | 42 | 90th Street / Pima Road | |
42.16 | 67.85 | 43 | Via de Ventura | ||
43.22 | 69.56 | 44 | Talking Stick Way / Indian Bend Road | ||
44.28 | 71.26 | 45 | McDonald Drive | ||
45.28 | 72.87 | 46 | Chaparral Road | ||
46.28 | 74.48 | 47 | Indian School Road | ||
47.30 | 76.12 | 48 | Thomas Road | ||
48.31 | 77.75 | 49 | McDowell Road | ||
49.32 | 79.37 | 50 | McKellips Road | ||
Mesa | 50.03– 50.64 | 80.52– 81.50 | 51A-B | Signed as exits 51A (west) and 51B (east); exit 9 on Loop 202 | |
Bridge over the Salt River | |||||
Pima Freeway transitions to Price Freeway | |||||
Tempe | 51.34 | 82.62 | 52 | Rio Salado Parkway / University Drive | |
52.34 | 84.23 | 53 | Broadway Road | ||
53.34 | 85.84 | 54 | Southern Avenue / Baseline Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
53.54– 55.14 | 86.16– 88.74 | 55A-B | Signed as exits 55A (east) and 55B (west); exit 176 on US 60 | ||
55C | Baseline Road / Southern Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |||
55.36 | 89.09 | 56 | Guadalupe Road | ||
56.37 | 90.72 | 57 | Elliot Road | ||
Chandler | 57.36 | 92.31 | 58 | Warner Road | |
58.37 | 93.94 | 59 | Ray Road | ||
59.37 | 95.55 | 60 | Chandler Boulevard | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
59.67– 60.99 | 96.03– 98.15 | 61A | Price Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
61D | HOV access only; exit 50C on Loop 202 | ||||
61B-C | Clockwise terminus; signed as exits 61B (west) and 61C (east); exit 50A on Loop 202 | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Roadway Inventory Management Section, Multimodal Planning Division (December 31, 2013). "2013 State Highway System Log" (PDF). Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
- Google (June 8, 2009). "Arizona State Route 101" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 417". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 117". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- Breyer, Joe. "Arizona DOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1962-104". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 101L". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- Breyer, Joe. "Arizona DOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1991-07-A-056". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- "Loop 101 (Pima Freeway)". Azdot.gov. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
- "17 Aug 1990, Page 99 - Arizona Republic at Newspapers.com". Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- "Salt River Devco". Salt River Devco. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
- Quizon, Derek (September 4, 2010). "Scottsdale comedian Robert Schimmel dies after car accident". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- Ferraresi, Michael (2007-02-09). "Signs warn motorists of speed cameras' return". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2007-02-10.
- "Hyundai Sonata LX". Car and Driver.
- "Accused 147 mph speeder gets day in court". East Valley Tribune.
- "Photo Enforcement 101". City of Scottsdale. Archived from the original on 2007-03-08.
- "Arizona Department of Public Safety announces the expiration of the Statewide Photo Enforcement Contract". azpds.gov. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
- Google (January 15, 2016). "Arizona State Route 101" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 15, 2016.