Southern Arizona - Transportation

Transportation

Transportation over significant distances in Southern Arizona is centered on the highway and the railroad. In highways, Southern Arizona is the locations of the major transcontinental Interstate highway Interstate 10 from the border with New Mexico westward through Tucson, and then continuing northwest via Casa Grande to the Phoenix-Scottsdale-Mesa metropolis. Also, running westward from Casa Grande is Interstate 8, which goes via Yuma into California, crossing the Colorado River. Finally, the short Interstate 19 runs south from Tucson to Nogales, Arizona, and a major border crossing into Mexico. In addition, the much older Federal highway U.S. Route 80 crosses Southern Arizona from east to west from the New Mexico border, nearly to the California border, and formerly into California to the Pacific Ocean. However, its westmost stretch has been replaced by Interstate 8, which was built on top of it and its right-of-way.

Southern Arizona is also the route of a major Transcontinental Railroad which crosses it via Tucson and Phoenix. Also, there is a major railroad south from Northern Arizona, via Phoenix, Casa Grande, and Tucson, to Nogales, where is crosses the border and links up with the Mexican railroads.

As for airline transportation, Southern Arizona is the home of a major airport at Tucson, and it also has access to the very large Sky Harbor International Airport just south of Phoenix.