ADOT works with many state agencies for many reasons. One collaboration with the Arizona Game & Fish Department significantly reduced elk-vehicle crashes on northbound I-17 south of Flagstaff.

In 2011, AZGFD noted a stretch of I-17 near Munds Park was seeing a high number of elk-vehicle crashes.  Because a full-grown bull elk can weigh upwards of 700 pounds, crashing into something that large can destroy a vehicle and cause serious injury or death to vehicle occupants, as well as the animal. 

In 2012, after some study, AZGFD and ADOT installed ungulate – “ungulate” means “hoofed mammal” – fencing in four locations near Munds Park on I-17:

• Munds Canyon Bridge (milepost 322)
• Schnebly Hill traffic interchange (milepost 320.5)
• Fox Ranch traffic interchange (milepost 317.9)
• Woods Canyon Bridge (milepost 317)

In most instances, the existing right-of-way fences were modified with bolts and barbed wire, eliminating the need for completely new fencing and poles. Positive results were seen immediately.

From 2007 to 2010, 20 elk-vehicle crashes were documented within this area. From 2012 to 2014, there was only one.

This success is one example of Arizona showing leadership in wildlife connectivity issues through partnerships among multiple agencies. ADOT and AZGFD have also collaborated to construct wildlife underpasses and elk crossings along State Route 260 east of Payson and desert bighorn sheep overpasses near historic Hoover Dam on US 93

It's said that “teamwork makes the dream work,” and yes, it’s cliche, but there’s a good reason why. Here are two recent examples:

A new pull-out area on eastbound I-40 near Ash Fork is nearing completion that will allow commercial truckers to put snow chains on their semis. This came about after staff from ADOT’s Infrastructure Delivery and Operations (IDO) and Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) divisions met to discuss the possibility of a snow chain pull-out area and location.

The State Engineer’s Office came up with the idea originally and then gathered the two divisions to expand on the idea and plan details like the location of the pull-out area.

“It made sense to put the pull-out area on eastbound I-40 just west of Ash Fork to give truckers and other drivers an opportunity to put on snow chains before making the uphill climb toward Williams,” said Kevin Duby, ADOT’s Statewide Road Weather Manager.

Staff from the different divisions met to confirm the location and make plans. IDO maintenance staff is building the pull-out area while TSMO signing crews will fabricate and install the signs. The new snow chain pull-out area will be available for use during this year’s winter weather season.

Partnering with outside entities is helping bring improvements to a section of State Route 169 in Prescott Valley. A developer is building housing near SR 169 and SR 69. As is usually the case, any developer building new housing or businesses is required to make necessary improvements to the roads to accommodate the new traffic the development will bring to the area.

The developer needed to widen SR 169 to build a new eastbound left turn lane into the new housing development. Maintenance staff from ADOT’s Northwest District made pavement repairs to the area first so the developer could proceed with building the new turn lane. ADOT’s TSMO division also stepped in and helped the developer create a traffic control plan. They are also managing the traffic signals at the intersection of SR 169 and SR 69 to help traffic flow through the area while the developer builds the turn lane.

That project is expected to wrap up in a few weeks.

ADOT makes a habit of working together and forming partnerships in order to achieve goals. 

At the Arizona Department of Transportation, we are all about improving our processes whereby safety and quality are enhanced, and eliminating wastes. The effort is called “kaizen.” In our Continuous Improvement culture, kaizen can be a noun (change for the better) or verb (make change for the better).

I’ve been amazed by how our employees have embraced our kaizen philosophy since 2016. A kaizen can be large or small. It can be a new way of removing rusted nails from damaged guardrails with an impact gun and 6-inch socket to a new invention called a guardrail crab, which moves and lifts guardrail into position along a roadway. The result has been a reduction in the number of employees needed to replace guardrail and potential injury, not to mention enhancing safety for everyone.

We have videos that depict kaizens in action and the effects in the work being performed, from a barrel funnel to load sand into crash barrels, to using a reverse diamond stencil when repaving our roadways.

One of the most notable kaizens has been reducing wait times at our Motor Vehicle Division offices. A team identified all the process steps to issue a driver’s license. Using a problem-solving mindset, they located and eliminated wastes in the process. What used to take a day, now only takes minutes. Our MVD employees truly have embraced their mantra of “out of line and safely on the road” with many kaizens that enhance the customer experience.

Using humble inquiry, our employees ask, “Why do we have this process step and what value does it bring?” By asking why, our employees are empowered to find a better way, to become problem solvers and make changes for the better. The essence of kaizen is “everyone, everywhere, solving problems every day!”

Here are just a few more examples of note-worthy kaizens implemented at ADOT: anti-graffiti shields on freeway signs, tablets for windshield wiper fluid mixtures, repurposed generator trailer for guardrail repair, refurbished herbicide truck to spray weeds in our right of way and use of a winch in a truck to help remove large animal remains on our roadways.

I’m proud to say that we’ve implemented more than 39,000 kaizens at ADOT over the past six years. We’ve made changes for the better - eliminating wastes, improving processes, enhancing safety and quality, and providing better customer experiences.

Kaizen! 

Do you know what a guardrail crab is?

No, it's not a delicious restaurant entree. It's an invention from ADOT's Nogales Maintenance Unit that makes repairing guardrails easier and safer.

Guardrails are a vital component of highway safety and replacing or repairing them is a top priority when damage occurs. However, each one is 25 feet long and weighs 185 pounds. Previously, at least four crew members were required to hold the guardrail in place 20-30 inches from the ground for two to seven minutes. Multiply that by miles of highway and that situation's full of potential for arm, leg and back injuries. Plus, there is the safety component of repairing guardrails along roadways.

The Nogales Maintenance Unit felt there must be a better way, and the guardrail crab was what they came up with. Using two guardrail crabs, crew members can line up the guardrail at the site and move it into place. Not only has this reduced the number of crew members needed for guardrail repairs, it has increased safety for employees and reduced time working on busy roads.

For drivers who make frequent trips on I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson, thoughts of the monsoon likely spur memories of nasty dust storms that cover the desert like a thick fog. Traveling can be miserable not so much for the triple-digit heat but the scary realization you may not be able to see what’s ahead.

Thankfully for motorists, this monsoon season marks the third year ADOT is working to make the drive safer with our dust detection and warning system spanning 10 miles of the highway that’s most prone to wind-blown dust.

You’ve probably noticed where the system operates even if you haven’t spotted any of the high-tech devices that make it work. That’s because large signs inform drivers they’ve entered a variable speed limit corridor, where electronic speed limit signs can drop the speed limit during dust storms.

The normal 75 mph speed limit can change to as low as 35 mph, depending on how bad the dust is in the corridor between Eloy and Picacho Peak. At the same time, overhead message boards light up and tell drivers to slow down because of reduced visibility.

After two monsoon seasons, we know the automated system is working as designed based on a couple big factors.

First, the system has successfully activated itself when dust kicks up. Just as importantly, it returns to normal when the dust dies down.

And drivers are slowing down. Sensors in the road tell us vehicles pass through the area more slowly as the speed limit signs change, which means motorists are traveling more safely when visibility is poor.

Only one thing hasn’t worked as we expected: the monsoon itself.

The 2020 season was what meteorologists call - and this is a highly technical term - a non-soon. There just weren’t many dust storms to activate the system, which only kicked in for mostly very short spans about a handful of times.

The 2021 monsoon began by drenching most of Arizona’s central deserts, so there wasn’t a lot of dust to kick up.

Nevertheless, the system operates year-round because dust storms are possible any time of year in Arizona. With the peak season for blowing dust just now starting, ADOT technicians have recently finished maintenance and calibration work on the system’s 13 visibility sensors that detect dust particles.

If you want to know more about how this first of its kind system works, check out this article to read more about the devices and technologies that are largely invisible to drivers.

Finally, a word about one thing all this technology can’t do: Replace common sense. Drivers need to take the monsoon seriously by slowing down when dust cuts visibility. And our best advice for driving in dust storms is to not drive into them. Delay your travels if possible. And if you find yourself in a bad storm, pull over and wait it out.

And know that on your next trip between Phoenix and Tucson, ADOT’s dust detection and warning system is ready for whatever this season may bring.

A truck striking the bottom of a lower-height bridge deck -- also commonly called an overpass -- can cause plenty of damage.

ADOT engineers had noticed that one problem area were I-17 overpasses in Phoenix. Trucks hitting overpasses at 19th Avenue, 16th Street and other locations were causing thousands of dollars in damage.

Enter the Central District and Regional Traffic Engineering teams. After exploring a few options, it was determined that a solution to this recurring issue was adding red-and-white reflective sheeting to the bottom decks of several I-17 bridges. This makes the bridge overpass stand out for trucks that don't meet the bridge clearance.

Sheeting was trimmed to fit the bottom edges of the bridges. Highway Operations team members installed the material on I-17 overpasses at 19th Avenue, Seventh Avenue, Seventh Street and 16th Street.

The team's ingenuity and perseverance paid off. Since the sheeting was installed last summer, there have been no bridge hits at those locations. Previously, overpass repairs at those locations totaled about $37,000 a year.

“The feedback so far has been very favorable regarding the visibility, cost and ease of installation,” said Highway Operations Superintendent Sean McHugh. “Based on this easier and lower cost process, standard work was created for low-height bridges that can be applied across the state.”

It probably goes without saying that, until recently, most people didn’t think very much about the “supply chain.”

In an economically vibrant country like ours, we’re used to getting things when we want and as much as we want, depending on what we can afford and so on. Now, the jammed-up supply chain is a part of our national conversation. 

ADOT is, of course, a part of that conversation. Transportation is woven inextricably into the supply chain, so we see the issue every day. Since ADOT’s mission is, “To connect Arizona. Everyone. Everywhere. Every Day”, we’re happy to be a part of an effort to ease this problem. 

Governor Doug Ducey has issued an Executive Order designed to ease the process for getting a Commercial Driver License, temporarily reopen two long-closed rest areas to give truckers more options and commit to a forward-looking process for Arizona to collaborate with other states on other improvements. 

All the details can be found in this news release from the Governor's Office.

The bottom line is that ADOT is committed to serving the people of Arizona and those who travel through our state, whether for commerce or pleasure. In this case, keeping vital economic corridors open and using safe and commonsense ideas to allow commercial drivers to do their jobs efficiently are ways we can be part of the solution.