Major Road Work Brings Months Of Construction To Southeast Tucson

People traveling through southeast Tucson should prepare for months of lane restrictions, milling and paving on Irvington Road, while a separate reconstruction project continues to reshape I-10 near Kino Parkway and Alvernon Way. The Irvington work is scheduled to affect the corridor between Kolb and Houghton roads, with construction beginning Monday, Aug. 17, and rolling delays expected through January 2027. Together, the projects will bring significant changes to several major routes used by commuters, residents, businesses and visitors to the area.

The Irvington Road project is the City of Tucson’s first pavement rehabilitation effort funded by RTA Next, the voter approved regional transportation program. The initial construction phase will concentrate on Irvington between Sierra and Pantano roads, with work planned from mid-August through early October. A second phase is scheduled to begin in early October on the section between Pantano and Kolb roads and continue into January 2027. The city has not described the work as a neighborhood street improvement. RTA Next funding is reserved for heavily traveled arterial and collector roads.

During the first phase, final paving across all lanes is scheduled for Sept. 28 through Oct. 1. The second phase’s final paving is set for Jan. 5 through Jan. 8, 2027. Those dates are subject to change because of weather, equipment problems and other unexpected conditions. City officials specifically cautioned that monsoon storms could affect the timeline, an important consideration for anyone planning trips through the corridor during the construction period.

Crews are generally expected to work from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays through Oct. 15. Starting Oct. 16, the regular work hours are scheduled to shift to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 30. Weekend work is possible as well. Drivers should expect restricted lanes and active milling and paving operations, which may produce changing traffic patterns as crews move from one section to another.

The project will involve more than placing new asphalt. Before paving, workers will rebuild Americans with Disabilities Act ramps that do not meet current standards and lower manhole and water valve covers so they can be adjusted to the finished road surface. The city said residents may see those covers temporarily positioned along curbs and asked people not to remove or discard them. Crews will reinstall them after paving, then raise them to match the new pavement and repaint lane markings.

Access to homes and businesses is expected to remain available throughout the project, although driveways may be blocked temporarily when construction equipment is directly in front of them. Once a section of road has been milled, paving is usually completed within 24 hours, though the city noted that the work can take longer depending on crew capacity. Newly placed pavement generally requires about 30 minutes to cure before traffic can use it. The project is intended to address a roadway that has required repeated maintenance over the years rather than continued short term repairs.

Ward 4 Tucson City Council member Nikki Lee said the Irvington stretch had long needed a complete rebuild. She credited voters with approving the investment that made the work possible. RTA Next has allocated $177.6 million for pavement rehabilitation across four construction periods. The larger plan totals $2.67 billion and is intended to fund transportation improvements throughout the greater Tucson region over 20 years, including roads, transit, safety projects, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and environmental work.

At the same time, drivers using I-10 southeast of downtown are encountering a much larger, separate project. The Arizona Department of Transportation says reconstruction and widening between Kino Parkway and Alvernon Way has reached the halfway point. The $600 million project covers three miles of freeway and began in June 2025, with completion expected in 2028. ADOT says the work is designed to reduce delays and improve safety while keeping two lanes open in each direction during peak travel periods and maintaining access to businesses.

A major upcoming change on I-10 is the permanent closure of the Palo Verde Road interchange, scheduled to begin Friday night, Aug. 14. The closure will allow crews to demolish portions of the existing interchange and construct new travel lanes and bridges. A new interchange at Country Club Road is expected to open in the fall. It will use a diverging diamond design, the second such interchange in the Tucson area after the I-10 and Houghton Road interchange opened in 2021. The project also includes widening I-10 to three lanes in each direction with auxiliary lanes, rebuilding the Kino Parkway interchange, adding a westbound on ramp at Alvernon Way, and removing the Palo Verde interchange.

Construction has already advanced on new I-10 bridges over Palo Verde and Irvington roads. Bridge girders are in place for a new Kino Parkway structure over Ajo Way, and work is underway on an I-10 undercrossing connecting the North and South Kino Sports Complexes. Other girders are being installed over I-10 for the reconstructed Kino Parkway interchange. The highway project grew out of a 2020 study of improvements along roughly 10 miles of I-10 between I-19 and Kolb Road. That study also identified a possible State Route 210, or Barraza Aviation Parkway, extension along Alvernon Way to connect I-10 with downtown Tucson.