PHOENIX (AP) – State transportation officials have begun negotiating with a construction and engineering consortium on a massive project to expand and improve Interstate 17 in the hill country north of Metro Phoenix. The Department of Transportation announced that it has selected the Keiwit-Fann joint venture from among three finalists as the “Apparently Preferred Developer” to design, build, operate and maintain 37 kilometers of I-17 between Anthem Way and Sunset Point selected. The project aims to help avoid frequent traffic clutter, the freeway that connects Metro Phoenix with the Prescott, Sedona and Flagstaff areas and the Verde Valley to the north, but uses lanes for traffic going south or north as needed. ADOT said the final cost will be determined after contract negotiations, but that $ 362.5 million in funding has already been secured from the state and other sources for the project to be built in about three years, the department said.
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