Contributed Photo/Courtesy ADOT:
ADOT’s proposed 2025-2029 focus: upgrading pavement, improving major corridors
Contributed Article/Courtesy ADOT
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on Friday, May 17, on the agency’s recommended statewide program of construction projects for the next five years.
The in-person and virtual hearing on the 2025-2029 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Friday, May 17, at the Tucson City Hall Council Chambers, 255 W. Alameda Ave. It will be held during a meeting of the Arizona State Transportation Board that can be accessed at aztransportationboard.gov. Those wishing to provide comments remotely can request to do so until 8 a.m. the day of the hearing using instructions available at az transportation board.gov.
The 2025-2029 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program is a proposed $7.9 billion tentative program with a major emphasis on improving highway pavement and bridge infrastructure throughout greater Arizona, which encompasses areas outside of Maricopa and Pima counties. The plan would provide more than $2.4 billion for these high-priority improvements during the next five years. This amounts to an average investment of approximately $600 million per year to preserve, rehabilitate, and replace pavement and bridges, including:
- $508 million in pavement projects on Interstates 10, 17, and 40.
- $690 million in pavement projects on other routes, including US 93 and 60, and state routes 64, 160, 260, and 347.
- $170 million in bridge projects on the Interstates and $82 million on other routes.
The program provides a total of $685 million over five years for projects that improve highway safety, efficiency, and functionality, such as intersection improvements, smart technology, and adding shoulders.
The tentative program also allocates $495 million for projects that widen highways or improve interchanges across greater Arizona, including:
- Constructing the Interstate 40/US 93 West Kingman Interchange.
- Widening and improving US 93 between Wickenburg and I-40 in Kingman, including expanding three segments of the highway from two to four lanes. The US 93 improvements include the ongoing widening project near Wickenburg, along with new projects near Cane Springs and Big Jim Wash.
- Widening the last two-lane section of State Route 260 in the Lion Springs area between Payson and Heber-Overgaard. This will complete a four-lane divided highway along the entire SR 260 corridor.
In the Maricopa County region, the program features approximately $2 billion in construction projects planned in conjunction with the Maricopa Association of Governments. Those projects include:
- Widening Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Casa Grande. The I-10 Wild Horse Pass Corridor will have four projects, including the construction of the I-10 bridges over the Gila River, expected to go into construction later this spring.
- Extending Loop 303 between Van Buren Street and Maricopa County 85 starting in 2025.
- Widening I-10 between State Route 85 and Citrus Road in the far West Valley starting in 2025.
- Providing new HOV ramp connections between I-10 and Loop 101 starting in 2025
In Pima County, in association with the Pima Association of Governments, the program includes $849 million toward:
- I-10 improvements from Kino to Country Club, which includes building a new interchange at I-10 and Country Club Road, while also widening I-10 in the area starting in 2025.
- Reconstructing the I-19 interchange at Irvington Road starting in 2025.
Funding for the statewide program comes from federal and state dollars, in addition to money generated by users of transportation services in Arizona, primarily through gasoline and diesel fuel taxes and the Arizona vehicle license tax. Both the Maricopa and Pima County regions have voter-approved sales taxes for transportation that fund expansion projects.
ADOT’s five-year program is developed by working closely with local governments, regional transportation planning organizations, and Indian Tribal Communities to prioritize projects that are ready to build or design.
For the first time, ADOT is including a searchable project dashboard that allows the public to look for projects by highway number, project name, or other identifying features. The database is available at azdot.gov/5yeardashboard.
The public comment period for the 2025-2029 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program ends at 5 p.m. Friday, May 24. The State Transportation Board is expected to consider formal action on the final program at its June 21 meeting.
The tentative program is available at azdot.gov/tentative5year for review and comment. ADOT welcomes feedback via an online form that will be available at azdot.gov/5yearcomments, by email at fiveyearconstructionprogram@azdot.gov, and by phone at 855.712.8530.