ADOT 511 website now lets truckers see rest areas’ parking capacity
ADOT 511 website now lets truckers see rest areas’ parking capacity
PHOENIX – Truck drivers looking for places to rest can now find the total number of truck parking spaces at any of Arizona’s rest areas on the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Arizona Traveler Information 511 website.
This new feature at az511.gov allows commercial vehicle drivers to see how many total spaces are available at each rest area on their routes. Click on the ‘Map Legend’ box on the right-hand side of the screen and check the box next to ‘Rest Areas’ to bring up the rest areas on the map. Clicking on a rest area location will show details including the total number of truck spaces.
There currently are 430 total truck parking spaces at the state’s 27 rest area facilities.
“Providing opportunities for long-haul truckers to rest is important in keeping commerce flowing in Arizona,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “During this unprecedented time, truckers have been key to keeping grocery stores stocked and medical facilities supplied. Facilitating these safe locations for rest is key to ADOT’s mission.”
And more is on the horizon: Last year, Arizona and three other states that are part of the I-10 Corridor Coalition, California, New Mexico and Texas, received a federal grant to fund development of a program that will alert commercial truck drivers to available truck parking at Interstate 10 rest areas.
During fiscal year 2019, nearly 7.5 million commercial trucks entered Arizona.
In addition to the hundreds of truck parking spaces available at rest areas, ADOT temporarily reopened two long-shuttered northern Arizona rest areas, Parks on Interstate 40 west of Flagstaff and Christensen on Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff, to provide 44 additional parking spaces during the current public health situation.
Meanwhile, there are projects underway at two I-40 rest areas, Haviland and Meteor Crater, to expand truck parking spaces by 38 at Haviland and 60 at Meteor Crater. The project at Haviland was deemed an emergency due to the current public health situation. The expansion at Meteor Crater was added to an existing project to renovate the rest area. Both truck parking expansion projects are scheduled to wrap up this summer.
Nearly 1.5 million users have accessed az511.gov since the redesigned website launched in March 2019. November and December saw the most users, with more than 450,000 visiting the site. For more information, please visit az511.gov and azdot.gov.