News

PHOENIX – Even during an unprecedented public health emergency, Arizonans have proven to be firmly committed to supporting charitable and other worthy causes through the sale of Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division specialty license plates. 

For fiscal year 2020, which ended June 30, the total proceeds raised by specialty plate sales were $11.4 million, eclipsing the previous year’s mark of $11.2 million. 

The conditions of pavement and bridges on Arizona’s interstate freeways rank among the nation’s best in an annual report by a nonprofit transportation research group. Despite Arizona’s strong standing in the TRIP report, challenges loom.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will use an innovative method to slide the new Fourth Street bridges over I-40 in Flagstaff into place later this month, cutting by months the time it would normally take to build a new bridge.

Installing the new bridges will require the closure of Fourth Street over Interstate 40 beginning at 8 p.m. Friday, July 17. The work will continue over the next couple of weeks and is scheduled to be completed early Monday, Aug. 3.

PHOENIX – A temporary higher weight limit for certain commercial trucks during the current public health situation will expire as of Sunday, July 12, based on guidance from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

In response to a national emergency declaration, and to align with the temporary increase in truck weights by neighboring states, the Arizona Department of Transportation in early April raised the gross weight limit for commercial vehicles to 90,000 pounds without the need for an overweight permit, up from the normal 80,000 pounds.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation started work on Monday, July 6, to improve traffic flow at the intersection of US 180 and Historic Route 66 in Flagstaff by adding a second right-turn lane.

The project will require restrictions on US 180, known locally as Humphreys Street, south of Cherry Avenue. No left turns will be allowed for southbound traffic at Cherry and Aspen avenues as well as Historic Route 66. Northbound traffic will not be able to make left turns at Aspen Avenue.

PHOENIX – Due to a closure of most parts of the Tonto National Forest, State Route 88 has been closed east of Tortilla Flat and between Roosevelt and Apache lakes.

The eastbound closure of SR 88, also known as the Apache Trail, begins at milepost 213 beyond Tortilla Flat, which remains accessible. The westbound closure begins at State Route 188. 

The Arizona Department of Transportation has already expanded use of the technology, with plans to do more as time and funding allow.

PHOENIX – A partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Arizona Water Science Center is helping Arizona Department of Transportation engineers anticipate the effects of extreme weather on bridges and highways and design ways to handle it.

Since its start in 2014, this collaboration has evolved to improve ADOT's use data involving flooding, natural hazards and weather-related risks through the agency's Resilience Program.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has extended through July 30 the temporary higher weight limits for commercial trucks hauling critical supplies and goods during the current public health situation.

PHOENIX – Traffic crash fatalities on Arizona roadways in 2019 fell to their lowest total in three years, according to the Arizona Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report published Tuesday, June 30.

Total traffic crash fatalities was one of several key measurements that decreased in 2019 from 2018. The 2019 report also tallied fewer pedestrian fatalities, alcohol-related fatalities, fatalities of those not wearing seat belts and distracted drivers involved in crashes compared to the previous year.

PHOENIX – Motorists who use US 60 between Superior and Top-of-the-World should expect about six weeks of daytime delays for paving work scheduled to begin Monday, June 29, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Delays of more than 15 minutes are anticipated because of the highway’s terrain, limited sight distances and relatively high traffic volumes. Pilot vehicles and flaggers will guide drivers through the work zone, which will be narrowed to one lane of alternating traffic. The work will occur roughly between mileposts 227 to 236.

PHOENIX – To help freight move efficiently while ensuring that commercial vehicles can operate safely on state highways, the Arizona Department of Transportation has expanded its use of technology that screens moving trucks for weight and identifying information.

This system, used until now at select rest areas including McGuireville on Interstate 17, Sacaton on Interstate 10 and Canoa Ranch on Interstate 19, is now operating at ADOT’s commercial ports of entry along I-10, I-40 and State Route 95 in Parker.

PHOENIX -  Staffing limitations due to the ongoing public health emergency are resulting in delays to some Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division customer service operations. 

Some customers have contacted MVD worried that registration tabs have taken longer than expected to be sent via the U.S. Mail. Even if there is such a delay, once a first-time registration or a renewal has been paid, the customer’s accurate status is updated to the MVD database accessible to law enforcement. Customers may also wish to keep their receipts after making payment. 

PHOENIX – In order to strengthen efforts to protect the health and safety of all Arizonans during the current pandemic, all Arizona Department of Transportation offices, including the Motor Vehicle Division, now require employees and customers to wear face coverings.

“Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our customers and employees,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “COVID-19 is a significant health threat and we are committed to doing everything we can to protect Arizonans, especially those in vulnerable populations.”

PHOENIX - If you’re used to seeing Arizona license plates issued with sequential letters and numbers, those days are slipping away. The ADOT Motor Vehicle Division now issues plates with random sequencing. The change vastly increases the number and type of plates that can be distributed.

“We’ve had some questions about these new plates because it is a big change and it looks so different from what people are used to,” MVD Stakeholder Relations Manager Jennifer Bowser Richards said.

PHOENIX - Throughout this public health situation, Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division offices have remained open with one caveat: Appointments are required.  

PHOENIX – The official start of monsoon season is here and Arizonans know what to expect in the coming months: occasional dust storms and torrential rain.

As the Arizona Department of Transportation marks Monsoon Awareness Week (June 14-20) with reminders to “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” when drivers encounter blowing dust, ADOT is also providing information about the first-of-its-kind dust detection system on a stretch of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has expanded a renovation project at the Interstate 40 Meteor Crater Rest Area in northern Arizona to nearly double the parking spaces available for commercial vehicles.

With 65 truck parking spaces currently available at the rest area between Flagstaff and Winslow, ADOT is adding 32 spaces to the westbound facility and 24 spaces to the eastbound facility. This $5.2 million improvement was added to a current project renovating both the Meteor Crater Rest Area and the Painted Cliffs Rest Area along I-40 near New Mexico.

PHOENIX – Visibility detectors. A weather radar system. Variable speed limit signs. Closed-circuit cameras. Overhead message boards.

These technologies clustered along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson are now operating as an innovative dust detection and warning system that’s ready to quickly tell drivers to slow down for safety when windblown dust reduces visibility.

PHOENIX – With social distancing essential during the current public health situation, the Arizona Department of Transportation has turned to virtual gatherings to engage members of the public on highway projects and studies that affect them.

These virtual tools that have been so useful of late will provide new ways for ADOT to conduct public engagement into the future.