News

PHOENIX – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are an average of 35,000 to 40,000 traffic fatalities in the United States every year. In Arizona, there have been 725 traffic fatalities this year through the end of September.

PHOENIX – Northbound Interstate 15 will be narrowed to one lane over Bridge No. 7 in the Virgin River Gorge for the next several weeks so the Arizona Department of Transportation can repair damage from an August crash involving a semi-truck.

Beginning at 6 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, northbound I-15 will be narrowed to one lane at milepost 22. Drivers traveling between Mesquite, Nevada and St. George, Utah should expect delays and allow extra travel time. Southbound I-15 traffic will not be affected by the work.

PHOENIX – It’s only been a year since its inception, but ADOT’s Incident Response Unit sponsored by State Farm has proved its worth in helping decrease crashes, aid drivers and improve traffic flow on Valley freeways.

Since hitting the road in October 2019, the 14-member unit, part of ADOT’s Traffic Systems Management and Operations Division, has responded to more than 10,400 crashes, disabled vehicles, debris or other incidents in the Phoenix metro area.

PHOENIX – Fearless people are all around us. Handlers of venomous snakes. Rodeo bullfighters. Electrical workers who do repairs from the sky. But there’s one thing that terrifies these brave souls: distracted drivers.

“Distracted driving is terrifying,” Arizona Department of Transportation Director John Halikowski said. “Seeing a driver in the car next to you, looking down at their phone while driving and behaving like a drunk driver – swerving and driving too slow or too fast – no one wants to encounter that driver and it has to stop.”

PHOENIX – Drivers on US 70 west of Safford should expect delays and alternating lane closures starting Monday, Oct. 5, for a pavement preservation project between the communities of Pima and Bylas, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The project includes a chip seal and rumble strips along the center of the roadway and the shoulders.

Work is scheduled between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays and is expected for about two months. Motorists should expect delays of 15 minutes, with longer delays possible during peak traffic hours.

PHOENIX – If the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway wins a national transportation award, the $10,000 prize will be used to fund scholarships for 10 members of the Gila River Indian Community.

And Arizona residents can have a hand in making that happen.

PHOENIX - More than $23 million in emergency federal aid is on its way to Arizona to reimburse the Arizona Department of Transportation for costs to repair damage to roads and bridges during recent fires and floods. 

The funds reimburse the state for dollars used for repair work that has already been completed except in the case of this summer’s Bush Fire where work is still continuing on damage to a portion of State Route 87 north of Fountain Hills and parts of SR 188.

PHOENIX -- A survey of commercial vehicle drivers and dispatchers who travel Interstate 10 is underway to better understand the challenges and issues commercial drivers face when seeking parking at locations along the I-10 corridor. 

The I-10 Corridor Coalition, composed of the departments of transportation in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, is conducting a survey through Oct. 30.

PHOENIX – So, you’ve purchased a vehicle, completed the registration and title information, and received your tabs in the mail. But when will the title arrive?

Actually, there’s no reason to worry because your vehicle’s title information has been there all along – safely in electronic form and accessible in your free AZ MVD Now account, which all current Arizona MVD customers have.

Arizona has a lot of unique features – like having a Motor Vehicle Division instead of a Department of Motor Vehicles.

But what might seem like a simple name difference can lead unsuspecting customers to unauthorized websites and scams when they’re simply searching for ways to do business online with the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.

PHOENIX – Detectives with the Arizona Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General have arrested a used car dealer after he allegedly cheated customers and lenders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent schemes and practices.

PHOENIX -  Arizona Department of Transportation innovations designed to improve driver safety and awareness during bad weather conditions have earned recognition from the National Weather Service, which has cited ADOT as a “Weather Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence.”

PHOENIX – With the completion of new lanes for the US 93 widening project north of Wikieup, the Arizona Department of Transportation will conduct a traffic switch Monday, Sept. 21 so crews can work on rebuilding the existing southbound lanes.

The traffic switch will occur at 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21, between mileposts 116 and 119. Drivers in the area should expect a brief delay while crews switch all traffic to the new northbound lanes.

PHOENIX – Adopt-a-Highway volunteers will be joining participants across the country for National CleanUp Day on Sept. 19 with local volunteers serving in 13 of Arizona’s counties. Volunteers from all 50 states will focus on cleaning green spaces, urban landscapes and waterways. 

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will open an additional comment period for the revised 2021-2025 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program on Friday, Sept. 18. The additional comment period will extend through Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The State Transportation Board will receive the newly revised Tentative Program during its monthly meeting on Sept. 18. Earlier this year, ADOT conducted its traditional process for the annual update to the Five-Year Program and held a public comment period and two public hearings. 

PHOENIX – Drivers heading north to Payson, the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains for the Labor Day holiday weekend should budget extra time and consider alternate routes with 7 miles of State Route 87 still limited to one lane while crews repair guardrail and fencing damaged by the Bush Fire. 

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has installed six signs telling drivers to use their headlights during the daytime on State Route 169 to increase visibility and safety along the highway.

The signs were placed along the entire highway corridor between the junction with SR 69 in Dewey-Humboldt and the junction with Interstate 17 north of Cordes Junction. Drivers on SR 169 are required to turn their headlights on during daylight hours.

PHOENIX – Travelers driving between Kingman and Wickenburg will need to plan extra travel time as the Arizona Department of Transportation will be conducting pavement maintenance work on US 93 south of Wikieup from Monday, Aug. 31 through Thursday, Sept. 3.

Work will take place from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily between the Santa Maria Bridge and Alamo Road, which includes mileposts 162 to 180. US 93 will be narrowed to one lane with flaggers and a pilot car leading traffic through the work zone. Crews will only be working in sections of a few miles a day.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has been granted environmental approval to move forward with plans to improve the US 93/I-40 traffic interchange in west Kingman.

PHOENIX – An entirely new kind of traffic interchange for southern Arizona will start to take shape Monday, Aug. 24, as the Arizona Department of Transportation begins work on a project to improve access to Interstate 10 at Houghton Road.