The first leg of the new South Mountain Freeway opens up Monday.

Morning rush hour traffic will be diverted from Pecos Road onto the new Loop 202 segment. This segment will only have one lane of traffic each way on the freeway.

This move will allow work crews to complete construction on other traffic interchanges.

Eventually, the freeway will have three lanes plus an HOV lane in each direction.

The 202 will eventually carry traffic from Interstate 10 around South Mountain and link up again with I-10 in the West Valley.

The freeway is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.