Highways in Surprise not keeping up with growth. Residents demand US 60, Loop 303 fixes

Shawn Raymundo, Arizona Republic
·5 min read
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For those traveling around Surprise, getting caught in traffic along U.S. 60, where it bottlenecks between R.H. Johnson Boulevard and 163rd Avenue, is an all too familiar occurrence.

Residents like Rebekah Massie have sat in traffic for about half an hour just to move a few miles. Conditions are certainly worsened in the mornings and early evenings when people are headed to or coming home from work.

“And if there’s an accident, forget about it,” Massie said, citing instances where lanes were shut down because of a collision.

Such an occurrence happened just last Friday when a crash involving two semi-trucks and a car closed a stretch of the 60’s eastbound lane from just before 10:30 a.m. until about 3 p.m.

“Friday, I had errands to run in the afternoon,” she recalled. “I couldn’t get out (of the traffic).”

With Surprise continuing to see rapid population and employment growth, state transportation and city officials have been exploring ways to give commuters some much-needed relief through that 1.7-mile stretch of U.S. 60, or Grand Avenue.

There’s “a lot of development happening northwest of Loop 303 and there’s one point of egress, that’s where it connects with our state highway system,” Arizona Department of Transportation spokesperson Steve Elliott said.

Since the 2020 Census, the population in Surprise grew by 7.7%, based on 2022 estimates. That trend is expected to continue, with the county projecting the city's population to grow by more than 51% in 2030.

Meantime, traffic along U.S. 60, between Loop 303 and 163rd Avenue, grew by nearly 32% over five years from 2017.

An ADOT feasibility in 2022 proposed a list of short- and long-term fixes. In December, ADOT completed some of those immediate road improvement projects.

A third westbound lane was added along U.S. 60 between 163rd and Loop 303, and a second right turn lane was opened for westbound travelers switching to 163rd Avenue from Grand Avenue.

ADOT also installed a right-turn green arrow signal so drivers can make a right onto northbound 163rd Avenue as southbound travelers turn left onto Grand’s eastbound lanes.

The department has more improvements planned for this summer. ADOT will:

  • Open a third left turn lane for southbound 163rd Avenue travelers transferring onto Grand Avenue.

  • Add a third eastbound lane on Grand between Loop 303 and 163rd Avenue.

  • Extend the recently added westbound lane on Grand so it goes past the 163rd Avenue intersection.

  • Modify sidewalks and ramps in multiple locations around the related intersections to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

Down-the-road fixes

Massie has been vocal about her concerns with the traffic, starting the website The Grand Failure and launching a petition urging officials to address the congestion. Though traffic was “significantly worse” before ADOT completed its short-term fixes, she said, “there’s still work to do” and conditions are “still nowhere near acceptable.”

That’s where Maricopa County voters can come in. This November, they will decide again whether to extend a half-cent countywide sales tax for transportation projects through Proposition 479.

If passed, the proposition would serve as a continuation of the 20-year tax that voters first approved in 1985 as Proposition 300 and renewed in 2004 as Proposition 400. The extended tax would go toward numerous projects, including completing Loop 303 and State Route 24.

Proposition 479’s passage could also provide ADOT the roughly $133.8 million in funding needed to complete the long-term fixes in Surprise. Those include proposals to construct a Grand Avenue overpass at 163rd Avenue, as well as improve the interchange at U.S. 60 and Loop 303.

Surprise growth, by the numbers

The ongoing population and employment growth Surprise is seeing has made it difficult for ADOT and the city to manage the increased traffic needs, Elliot said.

“It is a challenge when you have development that happens quickly,” he said.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates from 2022 put Surprise’s population at around 154,198, up from the 143,148 tallied in the 2020 Census.

By 2030, Surprise’s population is anticipated to reach 234,579, according to the Maricopa County Association of Government’s latest projections.

Over five years from 2017 to 2022 — ADOT’s latest available data — the average annual daily traffic count of vehicles increased around U.S. 60 and Loop 303 area in Surprise. ADOT’s data also includes projections for vehicle traffic in 2042.

  • U.S. 60, from 163rd AVenue to Loop 303

    • 23, 935 vehicles in 201731,526 vehicles in 2022

    • 40,019 vehicles in 2042 (projected)

  • U.S. 60, from Loop 303 to R.H. Johnson/Sunrise Boulevard

    • 21,139 vehicles in 2017

    • 30,539 vehicles in 2022

    • 48,069 vehicles in 2042 (projected)

  • Loop 303, from Bell Road to U.S. 60

    • 23,013 vehicles in 2017

    • 41,772 vehicles in 2022

    • 65,751 vehicles in 2042 (projected)

For the stretch between 163rd Avenue and Loop 303, that increase represented a 31.7% increase. From Loop 303 to R.H. Johnson Boulevard, vehicle traffic increased by about 44.5%.

As for the Bell Road to U.S. 60 stretch, that saw the biggest jump in vehicle traffic over the same period, increasing by 81.5%.

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ADOT projects could ease nightmare traffic on US 60 in Surprise