Construction Roundup Aug. 11: ADOT projects begin and end; N.M. Gov. Candidates At Industry Gathering

It’s been a good week for the construction industry in the Southwestern United States. Submissions are coming in for our top Top 20 Under 40 competition and the young minds in this industry are proving to be dynamic thinkers, as well as movers and shakers … and we don’t just mean with machinery. While all the submissions are collected, however, work must continue.

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In the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Arizona Department of Transportation has begun construction of a $72.7 million dollar project to expand the Loop 101 Freeway between Shea Blvd. and the Loop 202 on Aug. 9. The project will result in the widening of 11 miles of the freeway, adding one lane to both the northbound and southbound flows. The project, which is slated for a late 2016 completion will also add new lights and signs, as well as new merge lanes between the interchanges at Indian Bend Road and McDonald Drive, new landscaping, wider bridges and realigned on and off ramps and a new layer of smother asphalt added across the lanes.

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ADOT will also be celebrating the completion of a project in the month of August when the Loop 303 and Interstate 10 interchange is dedicated in Goodyear on the 16. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer will be in attendance as well as addressing the community during the ribbon cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. The public is invited and encouraged to come and “walk, jog, skate or cycle beneath the elevated ramps.”

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In New Mexico, companies in the real estate and construction industries will be sponsoring the first debate between the candidates for Governor, incumbent Susana Martinez and her opponent Attorney General Gary King. The event will take place Sept. 22 at the Albuquerque Marriott. The moderator will be Ken Walz editor in chief of the Albuquerque Journal, and so far it is the only debate that Martinez has agreed to.

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According to BidClerk.com, more than 600 new construction projects were put out for bid in the second quarter of 2014. According to the site, the bids have a contract value of $2.5 billion, which is up from $2 billion in the previous quarter. Some of the notable projects in the region include the Gramercy Tower Building #7. The estimated cost of the project is $300 million. As well as in the Albuquerque MSA region, the Neighborhood at Rio Rancho is being built at an estimated cost of $35 million. In the Phoenix MSA region, the @51 Apartments is being built at an estimated cost of $30 million.