WICKENBURG, Ariz. — The Arizona Department of Transportation is planning to widen a heavily traveled highway that is the most direct route from Phoenix to Las Vegas.
US Route 93 is plagued by severe crashes, including one last year that nearly killed a DPS trooper. Passing motorists rescued Trooper Casey Rhinehart from his burning patrol car after he was hit by an oncoming car. Rhinehart had stopped to help a motorist who had run out of gas.
US 93 runs from Wickenburg to Interstate 40 near Kingman. Motorists often use the road as the best route to drive between Phoenix and Las Vegas.
But for most of the 200-mile stretch of the highway, it's a two-lane, undivided road.
“We've been working for the past good decade or more to turn that into a four-lane divided highway," ADOT spokesman Ryan Harding said.
Last week, the Arizona State Transportation Board approved the five-year plan for the state road construction, which includes three widening projects at various sections of US 93.
Starting in 2024 and going through 2027, crews will widen those sections of the highway and add a median between them.
ADOT says the widening projects will increase safety, but is also a step toward creating Interstate 11, a planned freeway that would connect the West Valley with Las Vegas by using the existing US 93 infrastructure.
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