In 2017, neighbors described 56th Street as a corridor where sidewalks ended abruptly, concrete heaved, and some stretches were so narrow that walkers had to step off the sidewalk to get around obstacles. That description came from a neighborhood group making its case to the City of Phoenix. The first construction crews arrive a week from now.
On Monday, October 12, 2026, the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department begins work on the 56th Street Improvement Project between Thomas Road and Camelback Road, and the city expects to finish in fall 2028. The city's notice calls it a "community-driven project." That phrase is accurate, and it explains both what the finished street will look like and why the parts still undecided are the ones neighbors raised first.
From a Neighborhood Group to a $23 Million Contract
The project began as a resident effort before it ever reached the city's capital budget. The SAVES and Connects 56th Street group formed in late February 2017 with families from the Arcadia Camelback Mountain and Arcadia Osborn neighborhood areas. The group surveyed more than 600 local families and, as its supporters wrote at the time, received a $120,000 grant from the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) for design work. When the city asked for more evidence of support from local families, the group wrote a survey with then-Councilman Sal DiCiccio's office.
The milestones since then:
- June 20, July 18 and September 26, 2018. Three city open houses for the 56th Street Corridor Study drew about 330 residents in total.
- 2020. A MAG and ADOT program amendment set aside $1,527,777 in federal money and $92,347 in regional money for the Thomas-to-Indian School segment.
- May 2022. Final design for the full project began.
- Winter 2025. Arcadia News had reported this as the hoped-for start of the northern phase. That date slipped.
- March 3, 2026. The city received three bids.
- May 20, 2026. City Council awarded the construction contract to Hunter Contracting Co.
Hunter's bid was $23,142,664.40. The city's own cost estimate was $26,430,460.50, and the next-lowest responsive bid, from Combs Construction Company, was $29,468,633.35. That puts the winning bid about $3.3 million under the city's estimate. Citing volatile material and labor costs, Council approved a 10 percent contingency on top, which raises the ceiling to $25,456,930.40. Any use of that contingency needs written approval from the Street Transportation Director and the City Engineer. The project uses federal funds plus the Street Transportation Department's Capital Improvement Program budget.
One contract covers both phases. Phase 1 runs from Indian School Road to Camelback Road, and Phase 2 runs from Thomas Road to Indian School Road. An earlier Arcadia News piece estimated the phases at roughly $14 million and $9 million. The single Council award replaces those figures.
The Street Being Built Is Not the 2018 Favorite
The 2018 open houses compared several street cross-sections. At the second open house, attendees preferred Alternative 2, which used raised bike lanes. That concept narrowed the roadway but kept two travel lanes and a center turn lane, with bicycles separated from both cars and pedestrians.
The final design uses a different approach. The city's current plan calls for a continuous multi-use path, 10 to 12 feet wide, on both the west and east sides of 56th Street, meant for "younger cyclists, school-age children, families and pedestrians." Bicycles will share the path with walkers and strollers. The road itself stays at two travel lanes. Some of the city's typical-segment drawings add a turn lane, and others show a landscape buffer on one side, both sides, or neither.
This matters to anyone who rides 56th Street now. Adult riders used to sharing the road with cars will find the new path built around a slower, mixed group of users. The city's description of the path says who it was designed for.
The Camelback Signal Shows How Resident Input Shaped the Plan
The clearest example of resident influence is at Camelback Road. During public engagement, people asked for left-turn arrows onto 56th Street from eastbound Camelback and from 56th Street onto westbound Camelback. The city answered with a full signal rebuild:
- Green, solid yellow, red and flashing yellow arrows on all four approaches
- A dedicated left-turn lane for northbound 56th Street
- Pedestrian push buttons and countdown timers on all four approaches
- New ADA ramps on every corner
The traffic calming follows the same pattern. Early meetings raised speeding, traffic volume, missing sidewalks, and signal and streetlight problems. The neighborhood group's own notes added drainage, saying mountain runoff had flooded several homes along 56th Street and put the intersection of Indian School and 56th underwater during heavy rains. The plans address several of these directly:
Concern raised early on | What the plans show |
|---|---|
Speeding | Raised intersections, raised medians, traffic chokers and raised pedestrian crossings on the 90% design drawings, with new bollards labeled on the June 2026 final map |
Flooding | A new 24-inch storm drain running the full length from Thomas to Camelback |
Missing sidewalks | Multi-use paths on both sides, plus new curbs, gutters, sidewalks and ADA ramps |
Signals and lighting | Signal updates at five intersections, with lighting in the contract scope |
The city also plans low-water-use shade trees along the sidewalk and path, which will change how the corridor feels on a summer walk.
The Questions Phoenix Has Not Answered Yet
The same early meetings that raised speeding also flagged the Exeter Boulevard traffic circle. Those meetings were the city's three open houses in 2018. Eight years later, the circle is still the least defined part of the project.
- The Exeter roundabout. The city's project page promises only "possible changes or improvements to the existing roundabout at Exeter Boulevard." The construction notice says the Exeter intersection will be improved "to improve safety and traffic flow." The June 2026 final project map labels new bollards around Exeter, but none of the published text says whether the circle stays as it is, gets reshaped, or is removed.
- Which five signals. The notice says five intersections will get signal updates but does not name them. Camelback is the only one the city has described in detail.
- Lane closures and detours. The October notice includes no closure schedule, detour route or driveway access plan. It says more notices will follow as specific work and traffic changes are scheduled.
The timeline also leaves some room. Hunter's contract runs 660 calendar days from the city's Notice to Proceed, and work identified before that term ends can extend past it. The city's fall 2028 completion date should be read as a target, and the project's 2025 start date has already slipped once.
Where the First Crews Will Be
Work starts at the south end, between Thomas Road and Indian School Road. Standard hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the city may schedule some night and weekend work to reduce disruption. The city's project page says both phases begin construction in October 2026. In practice, that means one contract with crews starting at the south end.
The first stretch covers several familiar stops. At the southern end is the Walgreens at 5625 E. Thomas Road, which the store itself lists as 56th Street and Thomas. Arcadia Park is directly on the corridor at 3402 N. 56th St., with a playground, picnic area, restrooms and shade structures. At the north end of the first segment, at 56th Street and Indian School Road, SRP lists G.R. Herberger Park. Arizona Falls is on the Arizona Canal between 56th and 58th streets, with a pedestrian footbridge and a viewing platform.
None of the project documents describe a formal link between the new 56th Street paths and the Arizona Canal trail. The plans place the canal near the route but do not show a planned connection. North of Indian School, the city's corridor map labels Arizona Country Club before the project ends at Camelback Road.
The city has not published day-by-day restrictions yet. Its traffic-restrictions page links to a live list of scheduled restrictions and to Arizona 511. The project page, which hosts the June 2026 final project map, is where any Exeter decision is most likely to appear first.
If you own a home along 56th Street, or are considering a sale during a two-year construction window, timing and presentation matter. Clayton Wolfe follows projects like this block by block and can show you how the construction schedule fits with a listing or purchase timeline. Request a Private Consultation to plan around the corridor.
