From the Director: Maintaining, upgrading and improving safety is the name of the game

When it comes to developing the Arizona Department of Transportation five-year construction program, we must balance the needs and wants while making sure the program is fiscally constrained. In other words, we have to have the funds to pay for the projects in the program. The 2022-2026 Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program is all about upgrading Key Commerce Corridors, improving safety and investing in pavement maintenance projects across Arizona.

The Program invests more than $1 billion in pavement maintenance projects across the state. It also funds several projects to widen highways and improve safety on two Key Commerce Corridors, Interstates 17 and 10. Those projects include:

• Adding lanes along Interstate 17 between Anthem Way and  Sunset Point, with construction on the $328 million project beginning in 2022.
• Replacing the Gila River bridge on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande, with construction for the $83 million project targeted for 2023.

I consider these improvements critical to our ability to move passenger and freight traffic throughout the state, and help position the state to attract jobs, businesses and economic growth. Our partnership with the Maricopa Association of Governments is vital to the success of completing these two projects on I-17 and I-10.

Thank you to the State Transportation Board for its approval of this plan that works to address the need for new infrastructure while maintaining existing highways, all within the constraints of limited funding resources. 

The Board conducted three virtual public hearings this spring and received more than 1,000 comments during the public comment period. I want to thank Arizonans for providing their input during our planning process. 

You can learn more about the 2022-2026 Five-Year Program at azdot.gov/fiveyearprogram.

Maintaining, upgrading and improving safety to the transportation system we have is indeed the name of the game. At ADOT, we are committed to making strategic decisions that protect Arizona’s infrastructure for years to come.