A reader asked last week why the East Valley freeways don’t carry the designation of interstates. He’s from upstate New York and I-390 and I-490 — highways carrying the familiar red-white-and-blue shield although they never leave Rochester.

An effort to develop a national bicycle interstate system is under way with the help of the state Transportation Department.

BISMARCK, N.D. - Crews on Tuesday gradually reopened major highways that had been closed by the Plains' first blizzard of the season, stranding post-Thanksgiving travelers. Thousands of people remained without electricity.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety did not wait long before putting to work its newest weapon against speeding.

Freeway noise will become more bearable for neighborhoods across the East Valley as a wave of repaving projects sweeps across the highway system this spring.

A $6.6 billion Valley highway funding deficit has prompted the Regional Council of Maricopa Association of Governments to defer or modify projects to balance its budget in response to depressed sales tax revenues.

Before reading this column, first read the Tribune’s package of stories on the opening of the last segment of Loop 202’s Red Mountain Freeway. Also, be sure to check out the interactive graphics.

Northbound Rural Road will close just south of Apache Boulevard from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday so crews can repair a broken water main. As part of the repair project, northbound Rural will be restricted to one lane at Apache until July 3.

The northbound Loop 101 Price Freeway frontage road will close this weekend at Chandler Boulevard as crews relocate a gas line and repair pavement. The closure will begin at 10 p.m. Friday and extend until 5 a.m. Monday.

The new head of the state police force wants changes to speed cameras along interstates.

A strong winter storm walloped much of Arizona on Saturday, bringing heavy snow and rain and the temporary closure of a large section of Interstate 40.

The Maricopa Association of Governments is planning for a long-anticipated population explosion with new freeways and highways in metropolitan Phoenix that would serve an area larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

In the March 6 edition, Mr. Rod Livdahl presented a lively and articulate apology for the tax/borrow/spend insanity running amok in our country. The presentation lacked only one component of importance—accuracy.

It is painfully obvious that conservatives and liberals think with completely different sides of their brains! Or more succinctly, one uses it’s brain to think, while the other prefers to let others do their thinking for them. They simply go with the flow because the conservative ‘siren song’ of lower taxes just sounds so pleasant and soothing to the ear!

Phoenix-area freeways will be free of construction closures this weekend. Drivers traveling in other parts of Arizona or to southern California or Mexico over Easter weekend should plan for a handful of restrictions already in place near Tucson, Gila Bend, Prescott and Flagstaff for highway improvement projects. Delays are possible during peak travel times. The Arizona Department of Transportation recommends drivers allow extra time and consider alternate routes while these restrictions are in place:

Several freeway-improvement projects in the Valley will require closures May 3-5, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and consider alternate routes while the following freeway closures are in place this weekend:

HAMBURG, Pa. - National Guardsmen towed stranded vehicles from highways and crews toiled to clear roads early Friday following a monster storm that has been blamed for at least 15 deaths.

Police canceled an Amber Alert for a 14-year-old girl abducted at knifepoint Wednesday morning in Chandler, after the girl was found safe about 10 a.m. by a Department of Public Safety highway patrol officer on Interstate 8, just east of the California border.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety did not wait long before putting to work its newest weapon against speeding. Hours after its photo enforcement vehicles were unveiled to the media on Thursday, DPS started duties at undisclosed locations in south-central Arizona.

Arizona can only benefit by having native daughter Mary Peters at President Bush’s side as his new secretary of transportation.

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is asking state and Maricopa County taxpayers to help build new roads connecting its tribal lands to the rest of the East Valley.

Thousands of East Valley residents, Gov. Janet Napolitano and Chandler’s top officials walked all over the guest of honor at an outdoor gala event Saturday.

As the 10th annual Rural Transportation Summit wrapped up last week in Casa Grande, one theme was preached from the podium by many in the private and public sector who spoke: the future of the transportation landscape in Pinal County and all of Arizona will be shaped heavily for decades to come by studies currently under way.