AZ79 Between Tucson and US60.

Assuming you are referencing 79 through Florence. Good road and no problem.
I would use I10 through Tucson and exit on Twin Peaks Road to Tangerine, then East to pickup Oracle through Catalina. 79 is a left turn just North of Catalina and nice drive to US 60 north of Florence.

I like AZ79 & Florence is an interesting place to visit.

Straight, flat road. If it were me, though, I'd stay on I-10.

I-10 north of Casa Grande is some of the worst interstate in the country. Take EV2's advice and enjoy the ride on 79, drove it twice yesterday.

Be aware there is some road work near/at the junction with Park Link Drive which is 10 miles from Oracle junction {where 79 splits off from 77}. They are applying tar snakes and 79 closes down to one lane with the requisite Pilot Truck to follow but its only about a 5 minute delay at worst.

Use your headlights on 79 as there a lot of folks who like to pass... Badly!

:C

azdryheat wrote:
Straight, flat road. If it were me, though, I'd stay on I-10.

why?

Desert Captain wrote:
I-10 north of Casa Grande is some of the worst interstate in the country. Take EV2's advice and enjoy the ride on 79, drove it twice yesterday.

Be aware there is some road work near/at the junction with Park Link Drive which is 10 miles from Oracle junction {where 79 splits off from 77}. They are applying tar snakes and 79 closes down to one lane with the requisite Pilot Truck to follow but its only about a 5 minute delay at worst.

Use your headlights on 79 as there a lot of folks who like to pass... Badly!

:C

thanks

I drive Mesa to Tucson pretty regularly, and wouldn't think of using anything other than AZ79. True, Oracle (and Twin Peaks/Tangerine) are slow-go with lights and traffic, but 79 is a good road.

And for me, I-10 is a nightmare of semis, white pickups, and souped-up little Hondas.

obgraham wrote:
I drive Mesa to Tucson pretty regularly, and wouldn't think of using anything other than AZ79. True, Oracle (and Twin Peaks/Tangerine) are slow-go with lights and traffic, but 79 is a good road.

And for me, I-10 is a nightmare of semis, white pickups, and souped-up little Hondas.

thanks. I-10 east of Tucson isn't bad but thru and west of Tucson I totally agree with your assessment. we've been mostly on I-10/I-12 since I-55 at Hammond, LA and it's been a rough drive...both literally and mentally. Coming out of Chicago a few weeks back we traveled I-57 and I-55. With the exception of a few, isolated stretches both roads were excellent. The happiness continued for the few miles we were on I-12 and then the reality of I-10 slammed us.

My unscientific impressions.

I-12 through LA is fine but two years ago we found I-10 to be deplorable so we got off 10 at Baton Rouge and took US190/LA12/TX12 all the way to Vidor TX. east of I-45 190 is just a tad better than I-10...just a tad. West of I-45 the road is a lot better but narrows to 2-lanes. the drive is a little longer time wise but much better stress wise.

I-10 between Vidor TX to Katy TX is a bit...a tiny bit better but lots of narrowed lanes for construction and stretches of potholed road. West of Katy it's gets better. The closer we got to San Antonio the better the ride.

We didn't want to mess with SA traffic so we took the Anderson Loop road (SR 1604) around the north end of SA. As soon as we exited 10 1604 looked and proved to be a mess. Construction is in progress for the first 10-11 miles. Really rough patches especially in the right lane. Once out of the construction zones and onto the "freeway" portion of 1604 the road became a lot better all the way to the I-10 exit. Our destination was Kerrville so back into I-10 we went.

Two years ago the construction on I-10 west of SA started at the 1604 merge. This year all lanes were moving well on fairly good pavement. That lasted just a few miles where we ran into narrowed lanes and construction. It took us almost an hour to get to the area of the Boerne exit. Between there and the Kerrville exit I-10 was good.

This is why I'm asking about AZ79. I've had enough of I-10 and am looking for a smooth-er ride. We still have El Paso in front of us next week and my memory from 2-yrs ago was a not-so-good roadbed. Traffic moving at or above the posted speeds doesn't bother me but bumper-bumper, construction and roadbeds so rough my teeth rattle do.

obgraham wrote:
I drive Mesa to Tucson pretty regularly, and wouldn't think of using anything other than AZ79. True, Oracle (and Twin Peaks/Tangerine) are slow-go with lights and traffic, but 79 is a good road.

And for me, I-10 is a nightmare of semis, white pickups, and souped-up little Hondas.

I agree. I live in Mesa, and travel to Tucson to visit friends.
79 is a good road, as stated. Be safe, and stay focused.
I-10 is great...if you enjoy heavy traffic, lots of trucks, dodging tire gators, people that drive 90-100 mph, or those that constantly slam on the brakes when they see a radar patrol officer in the median. Throw in the accident delays, and dust storms. No thanks.

mostly/all 2-lane???