Arizona State Route 101

"Loop 101" and "Arizona Loop 101" redirect here. For other uses, see List of highways numbered 101 (disambiguation).

Arizona State Route 101 (SR 101) or Loop 101 is a semi-beltway looping around the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in central Arizona, 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 2002.^[2]

State Route 101
Loop 101 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ADOT
Length	60.99 mi[1] (98.15 km)
Existed	1988–present
History	Fully completed in 2002[2]
Major junctions
From	I-10 in Tolleson
Major intersections	US 60 in Peoria I-17 in Phoenix SR 51 in Phoenix Loop 202 in Mesa US 60 in Tempe
To	Loop 202 in Chandler
Location
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Counties	Maricopa
Highway system
Arizona State Highway System Interstate US State Proposed Former
← SR 99 → SR 143

Interchange of 101 (Pima Freeway) with Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) in Mesa, with 101 through Scottsdale in the distance

Loop 101 has three officially designated sections 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 (Red Mountain Freeway)
• Price Freeway in the east valley from Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) to Loop 202 (Santan Freeway)

Route description

Agua Fria Freeway

Loop 101 begins as the Agua Fria Freeway at a three-level interchange with I-10 in Tolleson west of Phoenix. From that point, the route heads north entering Phoenix then Glendale, passing State Farm Stadium and Gila River Arena. Continuing northward through Peoria, it encounters the Grand Avenue portion of US 60 and passes the Peoria Sports Complex before entering northwestern Glendale and curving east just past the Arrowhead Towne Center mall. The route then heads east along the Beardsley Road alignment. The freeway enters northern Phoenix, and at milepost 23, Loop 101 intersects I-17 15 miles (24 km) north of Downtown Phoenix.

Pima Freeway

Continuing east as the Pima Freeway, Loop 101 travels just south of Deer Valley Airport before intersecting the northern terminus of SR 51 at milepost 29. East of this junction, Loop 101 curves south through Scottsdale on the Pima Road alignment. The freeway then curves east and passes through the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, just south of Via Linda providing access to Downtown Scottsdale, Scottsdale Pavilions, Scottsdale Community College, 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. This interchange is partially built over the Salt River.

Price Freeway

Loop 101 then becomes the Price Freeway and continues south, passing Arizona State University to the east. The route then intersects the Superstition Freeway portion of US 60 at milepost 55 before entering Chandler.

Loop 101 and US 60 interchange in Tempe

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 (signs for AZ-101 Loop S).

History

1985–2007: Original Construction

Old colored Arizona Loop 101 shield that has been phased out.

Loop 101 was a part of the 1985 Maricopa County Regional Transportation Plan that was funded by a sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters that year.^[3] The freeway was originally assigned two different route numbers along its path: The Agua Fria Freeway portion was initially designated as SR 417,^[4] and the Pima/Price Freeway portion was initially designated as SR 117.^[5] The Loop 101 designation was first assigned on December 18, 1987, at which time the South Mountain Freeway and the portion of the San Tan Freeway between I-10 and Price Road were also designated to be part of Loop 101.^[6] On July 19, 1991, the proposed South Mountain Freeway was renumbered as part of Loop 202.^[7] The San Tan Freeway portion of Loop 101 has never officially been renumbered, though this freeway section has been signed as Loop 202 since its opening.

In 1990, after several years of negotiation with the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, the state of Arizona paid the tribe $247 million for right of way for the nine-mile eastern leg of Loop 101 from Via Linda to the north bank of the Salt River. The resulting alignment kept all four corners of each interchange on tribal land, allowing the community to control and benefit from development. The tribe formed a development arm, Salt River DevCo, to manage these and other community developable properties.^[8]

Loop 101 was built in stages from 1988 to 2002. The first segment of Loop 101 opened in November 1988, consisting of the two-mile stretch from Peoria Avenue to Northern Avenue in Peoria.^[9] Throughout the next 14 years, the other 59 miles of the route would be built including the interchanges with I-10, I-17, both Loop 202 Freeways, and the US 60. The final segment that was built was the two-mile stretch from Scottsdale Road to Pima Road in Scottsdale that opened in April 2002, marking the full completion of the entire 61-mile route.^[2] Loop 101 was built with three general-purpose lanes in each direction along with one auxiliary lane with the exception of the three-mile stretch from Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) to US 60 where there were four general-purpose lanes in each direction.

In January 2006, Scottsdale installed speed enforcement cameras along its 7.8 mile stretch of Loop 101 to lower speeds and reduce collisions. There were six cameras placed in total, three in each direction. 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 trial phase lasted from January to October 2006 before resuming full time in February 2007.^[10] There had been much criticism of the program since its inception, and it ended in 2010.^[11]

2007–present: Recent Improvements

Between 2007 and 2011, HOV lanes were constructed along the entire route in different phases. It included construction of direct HOV ramps between Loop 101 east and SR 51 south in Northern Phoenix and Loop 101 north and Loop 202 east (Santan Freeway) in Chandler.^[12]

The Maryland Avenue HOV interchange in Glendale began construction in October 2013 and was completed in March 2014.^[13]

In August 2014, construction began to add a fourth general-purpose lane in each direction for the 11-mile segment from Shea Boulevard to Loop 202 in Scottsdale. Construction was completed in October 2016.^[14]

The 64th Street interchange in northeast Phoenix opened in May 2015 after being built in 2008.^[15]

Bethany Home Road was renamed Cardinals Way to honor the Arizona Cardinals in February 2019.^[16]

In February 2019, construction began to add a fourth general-purpose lane in each direction for the 13-mile segment from I-17 to Pima Road in Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix. Construction was completed in January 2022.^[17]

In May 2019, construction began to add a fourth general-purpose lane in each direction for the 6.4-mile segment from Baseline Road to Loop 202 (Santan Freeway) in the East Valley. Construction was completed in August 2020.^[18]

Construction began in January 2024 to add a fourth general-purpose lane in each direction for the 4.5-mile segment from Shea Boulevard to Princess Drive/Pima Road. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2026.^[19]

Future

Construction is planned to begin in fall 2024 to add a fourth general-purpose lane in each direction for the six-mile segment from 75th Avenue to I-17 in the northwest valley.^[20]

Direct HOV lane connections are planned to be constructed at the I-10 interchange between Loop 101 and I-10 east. Construction is planned to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2027.^[21]

The Northern Avenue interchange in Peoria is planned to be upgraded to a diverging diamond interchange (DDI). It will be the first DDI on Loop 101, and construction is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2027.^[21]

Exit list

The entire route is in Maricopa County.

Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Tolleson	0.00	0.00	1A-B	I-10 (Papago Freeway) – Phoenix, Los Angeles	Counterclockwise terminus; signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east); exit 133B on I-10
			1C	I-10 east	Planned HOV interchange with construction set to begin in 2025[21]
Phoenix	0.72	1.16	2	McDowell Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	1.74	2.80	3	Thomas Road
	2.75	4.43	4	Indian School Road
	3.79	6.10	5	Camelback Road
Glendale	4.78	7.69	6	Cardinals Way	Formerly Bethany Home Road
	5.29	8.51	7A	Maryland Avenue	HOV interchange
	5.78	9.30	7B	Glendale Avenue
Glendale–Peoria line	6.88	11.07	8	Northern Avenue	Future Northern Parkway
Peoria	8.09	13.02	9	Olive Avenue
	9.10	14.65	10	Peoria Avenue
	10.01	16.11	11	US 60 (Grand Avenue)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former US 89/SR 93
	10.54	16.96		91st Avenue to US 60 (Grand Avenue)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; referred to internally as exit 11A[1]
	11.47	18.46	12	Thunderbird Road
	12.30	19.79	Bridge over Skunk Creek
	13.53	21.77	14	Bell Road
Glendale	14.59	23.48	15	Union Hills Drive	No southbound exit; southbound access is via exit 16
			Cardinal direction change: Western leg (north–south) / Northern leg (west–east)[lower-alpha 1]
	15.49	24.93	16	Beardsley Road west / Union Hills Drive	No eastbound exit
	16.02	25.78	17	75th Avenue
	17.02	27.39	18	67th Avenue
	17.96	28.90	19	59th Avenue
Glendale–Phoenix line	19.86	31.96	20	51st Avenue
Phoenix	20.97	33.75	22	35th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	22.67– 25.07	36.48– 40.35	23	27th Avenue	Signed as exit 23A westbound
				I-17 (Black Canyon Freeway) – Flagstaff, Phoenix	Signed as exits 23B (north) and 23C (south) westbound; exit 214C on I-17; westbound exit to NB I-17 includes direct exit ramp onto Deer Valley Road
			Agua Fria Freeway transitions to Pima Freeway
	22.98	36.98	24	19th Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	23.96	38.56	25	7th Avenue
	24.96	40.17	26	7th Street
	26.99	43.44	28	Cave Creek Road
	28.29– 29.49	45.53– 47.46	29A	SR 51 south	Signed as exit 29 eastbound; northern terminus of SR 51; exit 15A on SR 51
			29B	SR 51 south	HOV access only; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	30.09	48.43	31	Tatum Boulevard
	31.18	50.18	32	56th Street
	32.36	52.08	33	64th Street
Phoenix–Scottsdale line	33.30	53.59	34	Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale	34.33	55.25	35	Hayden Road
	35.36	56.91	36	Princess Drive / Pima Road
			Cardinal direction change: Northern leg (west–east) / Eastern leg (north–south)[lower-alpha 2]
	36.57	58.85	38	Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard / Bell Road	No southbound signage for Bell Road
	37.36	60.13	39	Raintree Drive / Thunderbird Road	No northbound signage for Thunderbird Road
	38.86	62.54	40	Cactus Road
	39.84	64.12	41	Shea Boulevard
Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community	41.13	66.19	42	90th Street / Pima Road
	42.16	67.85	43	Via de Ventura
	43.22	69.56	44	Talking Stick Way / Indian Bend Road
	44.28	71.26	45	McDonald Drive
	45.28	72.87	46	Chaparral Road
	46.28	74.48	47	Indian School Road
	47.30	76.12	48	Thomas Road
	48.31	77.75	49	McDowell Road
	49.32	79.37	50	McKellips Road
Mesa	50.03– 50.64	80.52– 81.50	Bridge over the Salt River
			51	Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway)	Serves Sky Harbor Airport; signed as exits 51A (west/airport) and 51B (east) northbound; exit 9 on Loop 202
			Pima Freeway transitions to Price Freeway
Tempe	51.34	82.62	52	Rio Salado Parkway / University Drive
	52.34	84.23	53	Broadway Road
	53.34	85.84	54	Southern Avenue / Baseline Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	53.54– 55.14	86.16– 88.74	55A-B	US 60 (Superstition Freeway) – Globe, Phoenix	Northbound signed as exits 55A (west) and 55B (east), southbound signed as exits 55A (east) and 55B (west); exits 176A-B on US 60
			55C	Baseline Road / Southern Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	55.36	89.09	56	Guadalupe Road
	56.37	90.72	57	Elliot Road
Chandler	57.36	92.31	58	Warner Road
	58.37	93.94	59	Ray Road
	59.37	95.55	60	Chandler Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	59.67– 60.99	96.03– 98.15	61A	Price Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			—	Loop 202 east	HOV access only; exit 50C on Loop 202
			61B-C	Loop 202 (Santan Freeway)	Clockwise terminus; signed as exits 61B (west) and 61C (east); exit 50A on Loop 202
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       HOV only       Incomplete access       Route transition

1. As indicated by reassurance shields on the mainline, in addition to guide signs on Union Hills Drive and 75th Avenue^[22]
2. As indicated by overhead signs on Princess Drive/Pima Road^[22]

See also

• U.S. roads portal
• Arizona portal
• Roads and freeways in metropolitan Phoenix
• Loop 202
• Loop 303

References

1. Roadway Inventory Management Section, Multimodal Planning Division (December 31, 2013). "2013 State Highway System Log" (PDF). Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
2. "Loop 101". AAroads. April 15, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
3. "About MAG: Proposition 300 and 400". Maricopa Association of Governments. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
4. Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 417". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
5. Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 117". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
6. Breyer, Joe. "Right-of-Way Resolutions - Route Number: 101L". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
7. Breyer, Joe. "Arizona DOT Right-of-Way Resolution 1991-07-A-056". Arizona Highway Data. Works Consulting LLC. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
8. Lynch, Ken (October 3, 2017). "Loop 101 101: How One Man Stalled The Freeway for 8 Years and Changed a Tribe Forever". Arizona Report. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
9. Dougherty, John (April 27, 2017). "Throwback Thursday: Outer Loop Freeway". Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
10. "Photo Enforcement 101". City of Scottsdale. March 8, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
11. Sakal, Mike (July 26, 2010). "As state ends photo speed enforcement, local cameras roll on". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
12. "HOV lanes open up in Chandler and the West Valley". Arizona Department of Transportation. October 13, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
13. "New Loop 101 HOV-lane ramps now open at Maryland Ave. in Glendale". Arizona Department of Transportation. April 3, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
14. "Major work complete on Loop 101 widening project in East Valley". Arizona Department of Transportation. October 26, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
15. "Phoenix and ADOT open Loop 101 interchange at 64th Street". Arizona Department of Transportation. May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
16. Fifield, Jen (February 25, 2019). "The Arizona Cardinals just got a road named after them. Here's where street signs are changing". AZ Central. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
17. Shapiro, Danny (January 12, 2022). "Loop 101 widening project in North Valley complete after 3 years". Ktar News. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
18. "Yes, it was 2020 but progress still made along Phoenix-area freeways". Arizona Department of Transportation. December 31, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
19. "Loop 101 (Pima Freeway), Princess Drive to Shea Boulevard Improvements". Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
20. "Loop 101 (Agua Fria Freeway), 75th Avenue to I-17 Improvements". Arizona Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
21. "FY 2023 FLCP FREEWAY LIFE CYCLE PROGRAM (FLCP)" (PDF). Maricopa Association of Governments. May 25, 2022. pp. 19–20. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
22. "Arizona State Route 101" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

External links

• Agua Fria Loop 101 construction history
• Pima Loop 101 construction history
• Price Loop 101 construction history

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