Tangerine Road's Widening Wraps Up This Fall. The Squeeze at I-10 Doesn't.

The orange cones on Tangerine Road should mostly be gone by the first Monday of November. Borderland Construction is laying the final seal coat and pavement markings on the Phase 2A widening from October 19 through November 2, 2026, according to the Regional Transportation Authority. That's the last step on a stretch of road that has been under construction since the summer of 2024.

From Canyon Pass, the finished section sits in the middle of the drive. The work that will shape the commute over the next year is at the two ends. At the west end are the I-10 underpass and a railroad crossing that still has no date. At the east end is the segment leading to Dove Mountain Boulevard, which is still being designed.

What the striping crews are finishing this week

Phase 2A covers Tangerine Road from Interstate 10 to just west of Marana Tech Drive. It's a partnership between the RTA and the Town of Marana and part of the 2006 RTA ballot plan. The final paving runs from the railroad crossing to the project's eastern end past the Tangerine Business Loop. Crews work from 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Expect lane reductions and shifts during those hours. Access to businesses along the road stays open. The Town of Marana's alert for the work says the dates can slip without further notice if weather or other problems cause delays.

The road this replaces had two lanes. In a 2025 progress update, the RTA said the new road would have four lanes, paved shoulders, a curbed and landscaped median, a 12-foot multi-use path, drainage improvements, a signal at Adonis Road and a frontage road on the south side. Construction started with a joint utility trench the week of July 8, 2024, according to the Town's original traffic alert. The Town's project page still says Phase 2A was expected to finish by March 2026. The RTA's October notice is the newer schedule, and it puts the final striping in the first days of November.

Once the crews leave, the middle of the drive is a four-lane road with a multi-use path alongside it. The ends of the drive still have open work.

The interchange runs on its own calendar

The Town calls the I-10 work "The Great Tangerine Squeeze." It has its own project number, consultant and phase list, separate from the widening. The widening is wrapping up while this project still has phases ahead of it.

Phase 5 is the one affecting traffic now. KVOA reported that Borderland began the underpass work on May 18. The station also reported that work on the north side of the underpass comes next, with completion expected in March 2027.

The railroad row in that table matters most for Dove Mountain. The new underpass lanes being built now don't open until the railroad crossing work is done. That gives the trip to the interstate a short-term timeline and a long-term one, and the long-term one has no date.

The route home that skips Exit 240

For anyone driving back from Tucson on I-10, the most useful detail is in KVOA's coverage. The westbound off-ramp at Tangerine Road, Exit 240, is down to a single left-turn lane until March 2027. The Town has advised commuters to avoid that exit at rush hour, especially on the way home from Tucson. A left turn from that ramp is how you'd head east toward Dove Mountain, so the single lane affects Canyon Pass drivers directly.

KVOA reported the Town's suggested alternate for drivers headed to Dove Mountain or Oro Valley. Take Exit 244 for Twin Peaks Road, four exit numbers before Tangerine, and follow it to the intersection of Dove Mountain Boulevard and Tangerine Road.

That route stays useful through March 2027, after the widening is striped and well after the Phase 2A cones are gone. Drivers headed west toward Gladden Farms have a different suggested route. They can exit at Avra Valley Road and take Sanders Road and Moore Road to Tangerine Farms Road.

One restriction that was planned for this fall won't happen. The Town had announced a ban on left turns from eastbound Tangerine onto the westbound I-10 on-ramp, then canceled it. I-10 access works normally, though the underpass is still down to one lane in each direction. The main project page still lists that restriction, so the canceled alert is the one to rely on.

Eight weeks with no start date

The railroad crossing is the biggest open question. The Town says the Union Pacific crossing work is in final design. It needs separate reviews and approvals from Union Pacific and the Arizona Corporation Commission, and its timing depends on those outside agencies. In its March 2026 construction guide, the Town said it expects a full closure of roughly eight weeks at the crossing and that schedules and durations were not final.

No closure dates or detour plan have been announced yet. Until then, the Twin Peaks exit is the alternate the Town has pointed drivers to. Explorer News covered the March Town Council briefing on the project. It reported that Town officials advised avoiding the interchange when possible and acknowledged the challenge of traffic volumes there. The Town's campaign has also put out a podcast episode and a printable "Bingo Bonanza" card for drivers stuck in the backup.

The stretch closest to home is still on the drawing board

The east end of the drive has a different kind of wait. Phase 2B will widen Tangerine from Marana Tech Drive to Dove Mountain Boulevard and Twin Peaks, according to the Town's project page. The Town's fiscal 2027 budget describes the project as starting west of Breakers Road. It calls for four lanes, drainage, sidewalks, a multi-use path, right-of-way purchases, utility relocations, water-line extensions and landscaping. The budget lists the project at $54.6 million, with $50 million from the RTA.

The approved RTA Next plan also includes the final phase of Tangerine. It describes a four-lane desert parkway with bike lanes, drainage and turn lanes, and places the start of construction in the plan's first period, fiscal years 2027 through 2031. That plan lists different funding figures than the Town budget, and neither document explains the gap.

So the segment leading to Dove Mountain Boulevard has funding and a design underway but no construction date yet. The Phase 2A work wrapping up now shows what it will probably look like: a two-lane road becomes four, with a median and a path along the side, built over about two years.

Outings that stay on the Dove Mountain side

Some of the season's events don't require a trip down Tangerine at all. The Town of Marana runs free guided hikes in the Tortolitas on Saturday, November 21, and Saturday, December 19, from 8 to 11 a.m. They start at Wild Burro Trailhead, 14810 N. Secret Springs Drive. The same trailhead hosts the free Sonoran Desert Educational Hikes. These are 3- to 4-mile routes on Thursday, November 5, and Thursday, December 3, from 8 to 10:30 a.m.

The Town's Holiday Festival is Saturday, December 5, from 2 to 9 p.m. at 11555 W. Civic Center Drive. The tree lighting is at 6 p.m., with an encore at 8:30. If you drive to it, check the Town's traffic alerts that morning, since the underpass is still one lane in each direction.

If road work timelines factor into your plans to buy, sell or host family in Dove Mountain this winter, Gray St. Onge can help you build a realistic schedule around them. Schedule a confidential buying or selling consultation.