ADOT Projects Loom Large in Arizona
by K. Robert Wendel

After finishing off the Loop 101, one of the state's largest construction projects, the Arizona Department of Transportation is turning its energies to other areas of the Valley.

Construction crews are working fast and furious on new sections of the Loop 202 in the southeast Valley, with plans to finish the loop by 2007, seven years earlier than scheduled.

Now, ADOT, along with the rest of the construction industry, is looking to the future with a November ballot question that could generate a total of $15.8 billion over the next 20 years.

Voters must decide whether to continue the half-cent tax initially passed in 1985. The tax, which sunsets in 2006, raised $3.2 billion and funded the construction of 213 miles of freeway.

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"This is the number one economic initiative to hit the state in 20 years," said Associated General Contractors executive director David Martin. "It's so incredibly important for our community to have a good transportation infrastructure. Often times, it is taken for granted, yet it's the most important public facility that is used by constituents."

If the extension is passed, it would fund 345 mi. of new freeways, 275 mi. of arterial street improvements, rapid transit improvements, a regional bus super grid and 20 mi. of light rail.

State DOT officials are also keeping an eye on the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. The legislation is currently tied up in Congress, with the president threatening a veto of a $318 billion Senate bill. The White House has introduced a $256 billion counter proposal.

"We are supporting the highest level of funding possible," said ADOT Director Victor Mendez. "Our hope is to have a bill as soon as possible so we can start long-term planning. If we don't get adequate levels of funding, the nation's entire infrastructure could be hurting."

ADOT completed their fiscal plan through 2007, with plans to spend more than $3.6 billion over the next five years.

More than $590 million in funding has been designated for Maricopa County freeways.
ADOT has also put aside another $71.6 million for the proposed South Mountain Freeway, which would free Ahwatukee, Ariz. from its status as the world's largest cul-de-sac. The route would offer a Phoenix bypass for trucks.

Tentative plans call for the freeway to follow a Pecos Road alignment through a pass between South Mountain and the Estrella Mountains at 59th Avenue.

"Loop 202 will go under I-10 and connect with Pecos Road, but we are still studying where the freeway will go after that," said ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel. "An alternative place for the freeway could be on Indian community lands, so we are involved in discussions with them."

In Phoenix, ADOT is building eight new overpasses along Grand Avenue to lessen congestion along the street. Studies are also underway on widening I-17 from the Loop 101 interchange to the Carefree Highway. ADOT has requested a study on a double-deck road on the Black Canyon Freeway in Central Phoenix .

The state is teamed with the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Western Area Power Authority to construct the $234 million Hoover Dam Bypass project. That project features approach roads (see page 24) as well as a 1,500-ft. bridge span over the Colorado River, just south of Hoover Dam. When the project is completed in 2010, motorists will only be able to access the dam from the Nevada side.

The largest chunk of money in the five-year plan, $1.3 billion, is dedicated to corridor improvements throughout the state. Among the proposed projects are more U.S. 93 improvements between Wickenburg and Hoover Dam, as well as $27 million for a U.S. 93-Wickenburg bypass.

U.S. 93 between Wickenburg, Ariz., and Kingman Ariz. will see the deadly 110-mile stretch of two-lane blacktop turn into a new, modern, four-lane divided highway with shoulders. The existing 12-foot lanes without shoulders will be widened to two travel lanes and an outside shoulder, equaling 38 ft. of new roadway for the more than 8,000 vehicles that use the road daily.

In Tucson, plans are calling for new lanes from Picachio Peak to downtown Tucson.

Pavement preservation is also high on ADOT's list, with $443 million in projects planned through 2007. The state is pondering the more wide-spread use of rubberized asphalt on state roads, after the success of the U.S. 60 project in the East Valley. For more information on that, see the story on page 28.

>ADOT Overview
>Where the Rubber Meets the Road
>Connecting the Communities
>I-10/I-19 Interchange
>Hoover Dam Bypass - Nevada Approach