Please share your thoughts as we update our five-year construction program

By Laura Douglas / ADOT Communications

When it comes to transportation planning, can one voice make a difference?

The answer is yes.

Transportation is personal. As you can imagine, we hear from a lot of people every day who have questions and comments for us about Arizona’s highway system. We want people to be engaged in transportation, whether it’s an existing roadway, an upcoming project or an ongoing study.

That’s especially true for the annual update to ADOT’s Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program – a list of projects statewide that are scheduled to move forward during the next five years. The comment period for the 2019-2023 Tentative Program is going on now – and that’s where you come in.

We want to hear from as many people as possible by the June 5 deadline about the projects that are important to your community. These comments are essential to help ADOT and the State Transportation Board determine which projects can realistically move forward during the next five years. We must also consider available funding and project readiness.

The next public hearing for the Tentative Five-Year Program is at 9 a.m. this Friday, April 20 at the City of Flagstaff Council Chambers, 211 W. Aspen Ave., Flagstaff. This is an opportunity for anyone to address the board with their comments about the projects they believe should be included in the Five-Year Program.

If you can’t make it to a public hearing, there are other ways to comment – online, via email or by phone. Make sure you get your comments in by June 5!

Here are the details for the remaining public hearings (the first was on March 16 in Sahuarita), a follow-up study session and the State Transportation Board’s June meeting, where the final Five-Year Program is expected to be approved. All hearings begin at 9 a.m.:

April 20: Public hearing and State Transportation Board meeting at the City of Flagstaff Council Chambers, 211 W. Aspen Ave., Flagstaff.

May 18: Public hearing and State Transportation Board meeting in the ADOT Administration Building Auditorium, 206 S. 17th Ave., Phoenix.

June 5: State Transportation Board study session at ADOT’s Human Resources Development Center, 1130 N. 22nd Ave., Phoenix.

June 15: State Transportation Board meeting at the City of Globe Council Chambers, 150 N. Pine St., Globe.