An initial segment of a state highway project under construction in the southeast Valley is scheduled to open on Friday, April 1, several months ahead of schedule, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation (editor's note: An exact time for opening the new stretch on Friday was not known at the time of publication - ADOT will send an update when it opens).

ADOT, the city of Mesa and Legacy Sports USA have partnered on the early opening of the one-mile stretch of State Route 24 (Gateway Freeway) between Ellsworth and Williams Field roads to improve access to and from nearby Bell Bank Park, a new sports and entertainment complex. Bell Bank Park, operated by Legacy Sports USA, is located southeast of a new intersection connecting SR 24 and Williams Field Road.

The segment opening Friday is part of ADOT's ongoing $77 million project to build SR 24 as a four-lane divided roadway between Ellsworth Road in Mesa and Ironwood Drive in Pinal County. Work started in November 2020 and the entire five-mile-long project is scheduled for completion by late summer (2022).

Friday's accelerated opening also will allow for travel to or from neighborhoods near the Williams Field Road intersection along SR 24. SR 24 traffic will not be allowed east of Williams Field Road until the remainder of the four-lane roadway is completed.

As part of the SR 24 construction, crews have added highway bridges over Ellsworth Road. New SR 24 on- and off-ramps on the east side of the Ellsworth Road interchange are scheduled to open within the next week.

The first stretch of SR 24 between Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) and Ellsworth Road opened to traffic in 2014.

More information about SR 24 is available here.