Getting Around: Buckeye & the West Valley

Plan your life around I-10, because nearly every trip out of Verrado starts on it. Verrado is a car-oriented community on the western edge of the Phoenix metro, and once you know the two or three roads that matter, getting around is easy. Road work comes and goes out here, so check the Arizona Department of Transportation and the City of Buckeye for current construction before a big drive.

The roads you'll actually use

I-10 at Verrado Way (Exit 120) is the front door. Verrado Way runs north from the freeway straight into the community, past Verrado Marketplace at the freeway corner, and on up toward Main Street.

Loop 303 meets I-10 a few miles east at Cotton Lane (Exit 124). It's the main north-south road to Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Surprise, and the northwest Valley.

Downtown Phoenix is roughly 25 miles east on I-10 (the verrado.com FAQ gives the same 25 miles and the Exit 120 directions), and Sky Harbor Airport is a bit farther. Off-peak, figure a 30 to 40 minute drive. At rush hour it can take a lot longer.

For everything else, Verrado's own 2025 attractions sheet lists distances in miles (not minutes). Costco is 1 mile, Walmart 5 and Target 8. Goodyear Ballpark is 10, Abrazo West Hospital 11 and Banner Estrella 15. Phoenix Raceway is 17, State Farm Stadium 19 and Westgate 20. Chase Field and the Suns' arena are both 27, ASU West is 31 and ASU's main campus is 36. Add your own traffic.

Closer to home, most everyday errands are a short drive. Banner Health Center is down by Verrado Way and I-10, our Where to eat page covers the Main Street, Marketplace and Village Grove options, and the city's Skyline Regional Park is about two miles north of the I-10 and Watson Road interchange.

What the commute is really like

I-10 is the workhorse, and it's also the bottleneck. The stretch through the West Valley carries very heavy traffic and has been the focus of ongoing widening efforts (the city keeps an I-10 widening advocacy page). Eastbound mornings and westbound evenings are the slow directions. Plenty of neighbors shift their hours or work hybrid schedules for exactly that reason, and if you can swing it, I'd do the same.

You don't have to cross the whole metro for work, either. Goodyear and Avondale (healthcare, logistics, aerospace) are reachable on I-10 or MC-85, and the Loop 303 corridor (distribution, manufacturing) is off to the northeast.

Here's where the I-10 work stands. The widening from SR 85 to Verrado Way is done: ADOT added a lane each way and built diverging diamond interchanges at Miller and Watson, an $82 million job that ran July 2021 to July 2023 (ADOT). The next stretch, SR 85 to Citrus Road, is "currently in the design phase," per ADOT's project page when we checked Oct. 10, 2026. Closer to home, the Jackrabbit Trail interchange rebuild started its first phase in August 2026 and runs to 2028. It replaces the I-10 bridges, adds signals and wider ramps, and takes Jackrabbit to three lanes each way from McDowell to south of I-10, with a second phase to Van Buren starting in 2028 (City of Buckeye bulletin). Expect cones there for a while.

Local road projects matter too. When the city closes part of Verrado Way, it posts updates on its project pages, like the Verrado Way: Yuma to Van Buren project. Check it before you head to the freeway on a tight schedule.

Right now the big one is Verrado Way and Yuma Road. That intersection is fully closed through fall 2026 while crews widen it and raise it about 3 feet for flooding, and there was no reopening date as of Sept. 26 (InBuckeye). The project hotline is 602-532-6250. Plan another way south until it reopens.

Getting around without the car

Transit is limited this far west. Valley Metro publishes the current routes and park-and-ride locations if you want to try it.

Inside Verrado, it's a different story. The community really is walkable and bikeable, since the street grid, paths, and Main Street were designed for it. You'll see plenty of golf carts too. Rules for driving them on public streets come from Arizona law and the City of Buckeye, so look those up before you buy one. And check where you'll keep it: the VCA rules say golf carts (like RVs, boats and trailers) get parked only in an enclosed garage unless the board authorizes otherwise (VCA rules). Carts aren't allowed on the mountain trails either; they're pedestrians only (trails map).

Airports

Sky Harbor (PHX) is the main airport, about 30 miles east. You'll also hear jets closer to home. Luke Air Force Base is about 5 miles east, and its jets fly over parts of Verrado, though the verrado.com FAQ says Verrado sits outside the base's high-noise and accident-potential zones. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway (AZA) is much farther, way out on the southeast side. It's usually only worth it for a specific low-cost route you can't get at Sky Harbor.

Unofficial neighbor guide, not the association or the city. Corrections welcome via /contact/.