ADOT Blog

Driving Valley Freeways this time of year? You might hear about or even experience lane restrictions because of rubberized asphalt paving. “Why,” you ask, “does ADOT schedule rubberized asphalt paving between March and May when so many of us are out and about enjoying the gorgeous weather?”

Last week we gave a brief overview of how ADOT plans for future transportation needs through a three-phased approach. We covered the Visioning phase (if money was no object, how would we plan for Arizona’s transportation future) and the Planning phase (given that resources are limited, how should we prioritize the needs identified in the Vision).

Arizona dust storms sometimes hit suddenly, without much notice at all. Drivers can be caught very quickly in a blinding wall of dust and debris that leaves almost no visibility. While these storms typically happen between May and September, motorists should be aware year-round of the potential danger these high-wind storms create.

In just 10 hours this past weekend, two bridges in southern Arizona were demolished in order to make way for something new. All it took was some good planning, plenty of patience from motorists, a few enormous machines, and a ton of work by crews on the sites.

Every Thursday, ADOT produces the Valley Freeways Weekend Closures map, detailing the major road closures planned for the upcoming weekend throughout Maricopa County's regional freeway system. The map is a great resource (if you don't already receive it you can sign up for that and other freeway-specific email updates), but we want to use the ADOT blog to take the closure information one step further; to tell you more about WHY we're closing the freeways -- about how your tax dollars are being spent to improve your transportation system.

Ever try to figure out how ADOT decided to put a freeway where it did? Or why some roads have wider shoulders than others? Well, none of it happened by accident. ADOT, like most transportation agencies, takes a three-phased approach to transportation decision making: Vision, Planning and Programming.

Transportation is personal. It affects every aspect of our daily lives, giving us the freedom to move where, when and how we want to go. It’s how we get to work in the morning and back home at night. It’s how the products we buy get to stores and how the products we sell get to our customers. It’s how we reach destinations in our state.