Arizona State Route 101

State Loop 101
Route information
Maintained by ADOT
Length:	60.98 mi[1] (98.14 km)
Existed:	1988; completed 2001 – present
Major junctions
Beltway around Phoenix and Scottsdale
CCW end:	I-10 in Tolleson
	US 60 in Peoria I-17 in Phoenix SR 51 in Phoenix Loop 202 in Tempe US 60 in Tempe
CW end:	Loop 202 in Chandler
Location
Counties:	Maricopa
Highway system
State Routes in Arizona Interstate U.S. State Unconstructed Former ← SR 99 SR 143 →

Arizona State Route 101, or Loop 101, (spoken as one-oh-one) is a semi-beltway encompassing much of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the United States. It connects several suburbs of Phoenix, including Tolleson, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler. Construction began in the late-1980s and was completed in 2001. Additional general purpose lanes and a high occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) are being constructed along the eastern stretch of Loop 101 from Scottsdale to Chandler, starting at Princess Drive to Loop 202 (the Santan Freeway).

Loop 101 has interchanges with almost all area freeways, including: Loop 202, US 60, SR 51, Interstate 17, and Interstate 10 along its 61-mile (98 km) route.

Route description

Old colored Arizona Loop 101 shield that is being phased out.

Loop 101 begins as the Agua Fria Freeway west of Phoenix in Tolleson at a three-level interchange with Interstate 10. From that point, it heads north entering Phoenix then Glendale, passing the University of Phoenix Stadium and Jobing.com Arena. Continuing northward through Peoria, it passes the Peoria Sports Complex before entering northwestern Glendale and heading east just past the Arrowhead Towne Center mall. Loop 101 now heads eastward on the Beardsley Road alignment. The freeway enters northern Phoenix, and at milepost 23, Loop 101 intersects Interstate 17 near the Deer Valley Airport, 15 miles (24 km) north of Downtown Phoenix.

Continuing east as the Pima Freeway, it passes through the Union Hills area and then has an interchange with the northern terminus of SR 51 (Piestewa Freeway) at milepost 30. East of its junction with Route 51, Loop 101 curves south through Scottsdale in the northeast valley on the Pima Road alignment. The freeway curves east and continues onto the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community just south of Via Linda providing access to Downtown Scottsdale, a large open-air power center called Scottsdale Pavilions, Scottsdale Community College, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (and its two casinos), and Scottsdale Fashion Square. Continuing south, Loop 101 encounters an interchange with the Red Mountain Freeway portion of Loop 202 in Tempe at milepost 51, near the campus of Arizona State University. This interchange is partially built over the Salt River.

After this interchange, Loop 101 is now the Price Freeway, and interchanges with US 60 at milepost 55 before entering Chandler. Loop 101 provides access to Chandler Fashion Center just prior to concluding at milepost 61 at an interchange with the Santan Freeway portion of Loop 202.^[2]

History

An exit in Northeast Phoenix at 64th Street started construction in January 2008, and completed construction in the end of Q3 2008.^[3] Construction of Freeway Management System (FMS) for this segment of Loop 101. Using sensors, freeway cameras and the latest technology, the Valley’s Intelligent Transportation Systems keep traffic flowing by providing incident management personnel with information about real-time traffic conditions. Construction was completed on the segment between I-17 and State Route 51 in September 2009.

On August 26, 2010, comedian Robert Schimmel was involved in an accident on the road in Scottsdale in which his daughter was driving; their car flipped onto the side of the road. Schimmel died from his injuries on September 3, 2010.^[4]

Future

64th St. Traffic Interchange

64th Street is planned to be a six-lane arterial and will be elevated approximately 30 feet above the existing ground over Loop 101. The interchange provides freeway access ramps (entry/exit) for both directions of Loop 101.

Photo enforcement

In 2006, Scottsdale installed speed enforcement cameras along its stretch of Loop 101 to combat the high fatality rate along its section of freeway. The photo enforcement was based on inductive sheeting on the freeway bed located at six fixed positions along the freeway - three in each direction. The photo enforcement was in a trial phase, with the trial ending in December 2006. In January 2007, the program was authorized by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to resume in February 2007.^[5]

There had been much criticism of the program after its inception. For instance, in May 2006, a vehicle was allegedly clocked traveling at 147 MPH (237 km/h) on Loop 101. Scottsdale police arrested Lawrence Pargo soon afterwards. According to the manufacturer Hyundai,^[6] the vehicle the suspect was driving had a centrifugal governor, and was only capable of traveling 137 MPH (220 km/h).^[7]

The system was calibrated to ticket anyone traveling 76 MPH (122 km/h) or greater, as 65 MPH (105 km/h) was the predetermined speed limit. The system was also designed for night time use and utilized equipment with a high intensity flash and full motion video capture to take pictures of fast-moving objects.^[8]

Money from a typical $162 ticket went to the following:

• $78 (about) - Went to state surcharges for Criminal Justice Enhancement Fund and other designated state programs.
• $42 - Went to Redflex Traffic Systems, the city's photo enforcement contractor.
• $32 - Went to covering general operating costs for the program, including city rental payments to Redflex for the equipment and other police, prosecutor and court costs.
• $10 - Went for a fund used only for court operations enhancements.

Photo enforcement along Loop 101 ended in 2010.^[9]

Naming

Loop 101 has various names along its route:

• Agua Fria Freeway in the west valley from I-10 to I-17.
• Pima Freeway in the east valley from I-17 to Loop 202's Red Mountain Freeway.
• Price Freeway from Loop 202's Red Mountain Freeway to Loop 202's Santan Freeway.

Exit list

The entire route is in Maricopa County.

Location	mi	km	Exit[1]	Destinations	Notes
			Begin Agua Fria Freeway
Tolleson	0.00	0.00	1	I-10 – Phoenix, Los Angeles	Signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east)
Phoenix			2	McDowell Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			3	Thomas Road
			4	Indian School Road
Phoenix–Glendale line			5	Camelback Road
Glendale			6	Bethany Home Road
			6A	Maryland Avenue	HOV ramps
			7	Glendale Avenue
Glendale–Peoria line			8	Northern Avenue
Peoria			9	Olive Avenue
			10	Peoria Avenue
			11	US 60 (Grand Avenue)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			11A	To US 60 (Grand Avenue) / 91st Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; ADOT signs it as Exit 11
			12	Thunderbird Road
			14	Bell Road
Glendale			15	Union Hills Drive	Southbound exit is via exit 16
			16	Beardsley Road	Southbound exit and eastbound entrance
			17	75th Avenue
			18	67th Avenue
			19	59th Avenue
Glendale–Phoenix line			20	51st Avenue
Phoenix			22	35th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			23A	27th Avenue
			23 B-C	I-17 – Flagstaff, Phoenix	Signed as exits 23B (north) and 23C (south)
			End Agua Fria Freeway, begin Pima Freeway
			24	19th Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			25	7th Avenue
			26	7th Street
			28	Cave Creek Road
			29	SR 51 south – Phoenix	Northern terminus of SR 51
				SR 51 south	HOV access only; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			31	Tatum Boulevard
			32	56th Street
			33	64th Street	Exit closed until 64th Street is completed in area
Phoenix–Scottsdale line			34	Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale			35	Hayden Road
			36	Pima Road / Princess Drive
			38	Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard / Bell Road
			39	Raintree Drive / Thunderbird Road
			40	Cactus Road
			41	Shea Boulevard
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community			42	90th Street / Pima Road
			43	Via de Ventura
			44	Indian Bend Road
			45	McDonald Drive
			46	Chaparral Road
			47	Indian School Road
			48	Thomas Road
			49	McDowell Road
			50	McKellips Road
Mesa			51	Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) – Phoenix, Tempe
			End Pima Freeway, begin Price Freeway
Tempe			52	Rio Salado Parkway / 8th Street / University Drive
			53	Broadway Road
			54	Southern Avenue / Baseline Road	Signed as exit 55C northbound
			55	US 60 – Globe, Phoenix	Signed as exits 55A (east) and 55B (west)
			56	Guadalupe Road
			57	Elliot Road
Chandler			58	Warner Road
			59	Ray Road
			60	Chandler Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			61A	Price Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	60.98	98.14	61 B-D	Loop 202 (San Tan Freeway) – Mesa	Signed as exits 61B (west) and 61C (east) and HOV exit 61D
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       HOV only       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also

• Loop 202
• Loop 303
• Metropolitan Phoenix Freeways

References

External links

• Agua Fria Loop 101 construction history
• Pima Loop 101 construction history
• Price Loop 101 construction history
• Loop 101 Current Projects & Construction - AZ DOT

Route map: Bing