PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Hey twin, the Arizona Department of Transportation soft-launched weekend freeway closures with some Gen Z style on Instagram Wednesday.
Because if the roads are going to be a mess, at least the announcement has personality.
The agency’s social media team leaned on Shaq, Toy Story, SpongeBob and Pingu to share news of road work on both directions of SR 51 between the I-10 Mini Stack and Shea Boulevard in Phoenix, where crews are preparing for pavement upgrades.
One popular meme format the agency used was the “I Bring a Sort Of X Vibe to the Y” trend, which ADOT translated to: “I bring a sort of closing the road vibe to State Route 51 that AZ drivers don’t really like.”
Whether drivers like it or not, roadwork will require multiple weekends of full closures on the freeway starting this weekend.
Crews will first close southbound SR 51 between Cactus Road and Northern Avenue from 9 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday,.
During that closure, crews will remove the top layer of asphalt, repair bridge decks and diamond-grind the concrete pavement to create a smoother ride with less tire noise.
ADOT says there will never be planned closures of the freeway in both directions at the same time.
Drivers are encouraged to use the southbound I-17 or Loop 101, depending on their destination, as a detour. Southbound SR 51 traffic exiting at Cactus Road will be detoured west to southbound 7th Street, then east on Northern Avenue.
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