News Releases

PHOENIX (April 10, 2019)—The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) was notified this morning that several Valley freeways were shut down after an Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) maintenance worker reported seeing a suspicious device near the freeway. The device turned out to be traffic counting equipment that was placed at the location by a contractor working for MAG.

The contractor had secured all of the appropriate permits and had placed the counter equipment on Tuesday morning.

The traffic counters collect information about traffic volumes (the number of vehicles on a section of the road by vehicle type and time period). Traffic counts are one of the critical inputs into planning, engineering and environmental studies and are a necessary data input in road and transit planning and design. MAG routinely works with a licensed contractor to conduct such counts, usually every 2-4 years.

“MAG believes the contractor followed all of the appropriate permitting processes,” said MAG Executive Director Eric Anderson. “We are looking at the chain of events to determine how the misunderstanding may have occurred. All of the agencies involved are committed to ensuring this regrettable situation is never repeated. We apologize to all of the motorists who were inconvenienced by the freeway closures.”

Anderson stated that MAG will continue to work with its contractor to confirm all appropriate protocols are followed.