Native plant relocation a key part of US 93 widening project

PHOENIX – One of the first steps in a project to widen US 93 near Wikieup was removing thousands of ocotillos, cactus and other plants in the path of a newly divided highway.

But for the Arizona Department of Transportation, those native desert plants weren’t obstacles to be discarded. Their removal is only temporary, as more than 3,000 of those plants have been carefully set aside to rejoin the desert landscape as part of the overall improvement project.

Salvaging native plants has been an important part of many ADOT projects since the 1980s, including projects to widen Loop 101 in Scottsdale, the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway and other improvement projects along US 93 between Wickenburg and Kingman.

The latest US 93 project at Cane Springs will involve returning plants to about 4 miles along the reconstructed highway between mileposts 106-110. The goal is to help the landscape heal more quickly and minimize the impact of a massive construction project, said LeRoy Brady, ADOT Chief Landscape Architect, who worked on the Agency’s first plant salvage efforts in the 1980s along State Route 87 between Phoenix and Payson.

“We try to make those slopes look as natural as possible,” Brady said. “The goal is sustainability, visual integrity and to continue the habitat for both wildlife and insects.”

The US 93 project is saving ocotillos and about 15 species of cacti, including barrel cactus, hedgehog cactus, Christmas cholla and staghorn cholla. They were removed when work began in early 2025 and have been cared for at a temporary nursery in the project area. An irrigation system has kept the plants watered until their return along the new roadway, with some plantings set to take place in early 2026 and the rest when the project nears completion in early 2027.

The salvage efforts began with a survey of the plants to determine which species and individual plants were good candidates for saving based on decades of ADOT’s experience with other plant relocation projects. For example, that means knowing ocotillos that are medium-sized have high survival rates and are worth carefully digging up to store in the nursery. 

“When you build a road, you want to keep as many of the plants as you can,” said Robert Winrow, the ADOT resident engineer who oversees the US 93 widening project. “The ultimate intent is to make it look like the road was always there.”

The plant restoration process will include using a diverse mix of 25-30 native seed types where the ground was disturbed. The seeds will be customized to that biological zone’s temperature, rainfall and soil type. The seeds range from grasses to perennials that will help control erosion, support pollinators and just plain look good to motorists passing through. The diversified native re-vegetation through seeding will help prevent non-native invasive plant species from infesting the project area.  

Some of the native plants that will sprout from seeds and the transplants, such as hedgehog cactus, won’t be visible to motorists passing by at 65 mph. They’re just as important as the largest of the ocotillos that will rejoin the landscape because a diversity of plants is important to insects, birds and other wildlife

“Some things are hard to place a monetary value on but you do it because it all fits together,” Brady said. “It’s a piece of the puzzle.”

The US 93 project is expected to be complete in spring 2027. For more information, please visit azdot.gov/projects/us93CaneSprings.