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The Renaissance Festival starts this weekend along with heavy traffic at times.

Nighthiker wrote:The Renaissance Festival starts this weekend along with heavy traffic at times.

It's weird for me to imagine the festival in progress. I've driven past there countless times in all different seasons, but never seen it going. Is the site ever used for anything else?

I asked someone there that once and they said no, not even a flea market. They basically use it for a month a year, and that is it ...

kingsnake wrote:They basically use it for a month a year, and that is it ...

One month a year is enough to cause a massive traffic jam. I live in AJ, about 10 miles from the site and on weekends, the US 60 traffic is stop-and-go here. What gets frustrating is, there ain't no other way around.

Anyone going to Picket Post, the Arboretum, Superior or Peralta Road, keep the delays in mind

And this weekend Sunday the 19th is the Lost Dutchman Marathon which will have one lane of US 60 on the West bound lanes restricted...

Reminder to Peralta Trail hikers and points farther east. The Ren Fest is open weekends and holidays Feb 3 to Mar 31 from 10am to 6pm. Traffic congestion may occur.

chumley wrote:Traffic congestion may occur.

My experience is "it will occur"!

My experience has been that it's never been remotely as bad as all the crying and whining

joebartels wrote:it's never been remotely as bad as all the crying and whining

I've had a couple miserable experiences that resulted in 30+ minute delays. In more recent years I feel like the officers assigned to manually switch the traffic lights to keep congestion to a minimum have been more successful than in the past. But there might still be an officer or two assigned to the light controls who revel in watching people get impatient

This is my first year having to deal with it living in GC. Just plan it right and all will be good.

ADOT loves to 'keep it interesting'...
Eastbound US 60 (Superstition Freeway) closed between Loop 202 (SuperRedTan Interchange) and Crismon Road in the east Mesa area from 9 p.m. Friday (Feb. 9 ) to 5 a.m. Monday (Feb. 12) for pavement improvement work.
Eastbound US 60 on-ramp at Power Road also closed. Both Loop 202 ramps to eastbound US 60 closed. Detours: Consider exiting ahead of the closure and using alternate routes including eastbound Baseline Road or Southern Avenue to travel beyond the closure.

Apache Trail between Power Road to Meridian will be under reconstruction. Going from 3 lanes to two with bike lanes.

***If this has already been posted elsewhere, please delete***

In addition to partial week, full closures of US 60 just east of Superior, it sounds like the LOST Queen Creek Canyon segment and the climber’s pull-off by the tunnel may be closed for a while.

US 60: Queen Creek and Waterfall Canyon Bridges Project:
https://azdot.gov/projects/southeast-di ... e-projects

@PrestonSands

Closures starting May 15:

https://azdot.gov/news/closures-begin-m ... ge-project

US 60: Queen Creek and Waterfall Canyon Bridges Project

This is similar to the schedule ADOT followed for the Pinto Creek bridge that was recently completed. But there must be more blasting required here because the full closures will occur TWTh from 9-2 rather than just TTh 9-1 as was the case previously. With advance planning, it seems like the impacts can be minimized for most users.

Out of all the possible plans, it's too bad they didn't to go with Plan A-2, which would have been all new 4-lane construction by-passing Superior by a route roughly parallel to the power lines up Silver King Wash & Silverado Ridge then East toward Oak Flat.
By being new construction there would have been very minimal effect on traffic until the ends were connected to existing road.
I saw the biggest positive of A-2 as being all new 4 lane, instead of a hodge-podge of lanes, still being a winding road... and of course the tunnel won't change so it will always be a bottleneck.

@CannondaleKid
But wouldn't that have interfered with where rio tinto wants to dump the mine tailings?

@chumley
Nope... the tailings mountain was/is planned to be about 2-3 miles to the West, on the other side of FR 650.

Renaissance Festival
12601 US-60, Gold Canyon, AZ

Open Feb 1st - Mar 30th
Weekends 10am - 6pm

Plan your trips on or around US60 accordingly.

@The_Eagle
Prithee thou make thy journey by a different path.