State Route 89A Construction Finished Early

Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2014 - 10:17am

Drivers once again have access to the switchbacks in Oak Creek Canyon.

The Department of Transportation says a $2 million improvement project on a three-mile stretch of the highway has been completed, several days ahead of schedule. 

Spokesman Dustin Krugel says crews resurfaced the highway and removed loose rocks from the mountainside along the roadway.

“We also made some repairs to the historic Pumphouse Wash Bridge, made some repairs to the deck surface there, and then we did all this rockfall containment work,” Krugel said.

Krugel says it was important to get the work done before the monsoon storms hit because that could have caused some of the loose rocks to fall.