Interstate 17

Interstate 17 is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Arizona. I-17's southern terminus lies within Phoenix, at Interstate 10, and its northern terminus is in Flagstaff, at Interstate 40. The majority of I-17 is known as the Arizona Veterans Highway. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, it is mostly known as the Black Canyon Freeway, however the southern 4.16mi is part of the Maricopa Freeway. The portion of the highway south of Cordes Lakes was built along the alignment of SR 69, while the northern part was built along old SR 79's alignment. I-17 is one of the most scenic Interstate Highways as it gains more than a mile in altitude between Phoenix at 1,117ft and Flagstaff at 7,000ft. The highway features several scenic view exits along its route that overlook the many mountains and valleys found in northern Arizona.Route descriptionInterstate 17 is known as the Black Canyon Freeway from the northern end of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area to a point 2.2mi south of The Stack interchange with Interstate 10 northwest of Downtown Phoenix. At the Durango Curve southwest of downtown, between the 19th Avenue and Buckeye Road interchanges, it picks up the designation Maricopa Freeway all the way to the southern terminus at the second Interstate 10 junction. It is one of the metropolitan area's primary freeways. It has two interchanges with Interstate 10 in Phoenix.