By Arizona Department of Transportation
The Arizona Department of Transportation will hold a public hearing on the agency’s recommended statewide program of construction projects for the next five years.
The in-person and virtual hearing on the 2026-2030 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Friday, May 16, at the Bullhead City Council Chambers, 1255 Marina Blvd. 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 aztransportationboard.gov.
The proposed $12.7B program emphasizes improving highway pavement and bridge infrastructure throughout Greater Arizona, which encompasses areas outside of Maricopa and Pima counties. The plan would provide more than $4.47B for these high-priority improvements during the next five years. That includes $2.8B to preserve, rehabilitate and replace pavement and bridges, including:
- $455M in pavement projects on interstates 8, 10, 17 and 40;
- $573M in pavement projects on other routes, including US routes 60, 70, 93, 160 and 180, and state routes 64, 72, 79, 80, 82, 85, 179, 260 and 347, and
- $237M in bridge projects on interstates and $112M on other routes.
The program provides a total $592M that would be used for Greater Arizona projects that improve highway safety, efficiency and functionality, such as intersection improvements, updates to ports of entry and rest areas, smart technologies and new signals, signs and shoulders.
The tentative five-year program allocates $1.05 billion for projects that widen highways or improve interchanges across Greater Arizona, including:
- $137M to widen I-10 south of Phoenix from the Gila River Bridge to Gas Line Road;
- $110M to widen SR 260 east of Payson (Lion Springs segment);
- $68M to widen US 93 north of Wickenburg (Vista Royale segment);
- $50M to widen US 93 at Big Jim Wash between Wickenburg and Wikieup;
- $66M to replace the Colorado Bridge on I-10 at the California border, a joint project with CalTrans;
- $240M to widen I-17 from Sunset Point to SR 69, and
- $62M for the new land port of entry road and facility in Douglas.
In Pima County, the tentative five-year program proposes $831M in coordination with the Pima Association of Governments for projects including the following:
- $600M for widening I-10 from Kino to Country Club, which includes building a new interchange at I-10 and Country Club Road and reconstructing the Kino Road interchange;
- $290M to widen I-10 from Alvernon Way to Valencia Road;
- $47M to reconstruct the I-19 interchange at Irvington Road, and
- $97M to improve the interchanges on I-10 at Park and Sixth avenues.
In Maricopa County, the tentative five-year program features $2.38B for projects planned in conjunction with the Maricopa Association of Governments. This funding will be supplemented with funds from Proposition 479, which voters approved in November. With the passage of Prop 479 in November 2024, MAG is now working on updating project schedules and costs for its Freeway Life Cycle Program. Those updates will be reflected in amendments to MAG’s Transportation Improvement Program update and will be subsequently incorporated into the ADOT five-year program.
Finally, the tentative five-year program includes $135M for the Airport Capital Improvement Program, which provides funding in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration for projects to design and construct safety, security and capacity enhancements, prepare various plans and studies, and fund improvements at the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, which ADOT operates.
Funding for the overall statewide Five-Year Construction 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, the Arizona vehicle license tax and various aviation taxes. Both the Maricopa and Pima county regions have dedicated, 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.
The public comment period for the 2026-2030 Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program ends at 5 p.m. Friday, May 23. The State Transportation Board is expected to consider formal action on the final program at its June 20 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, by phone at 855.712.8530 and by mail at Attn: Nancy Becerra, c/o ADOT Communications, 1655 W. Jackson St., Room 179, MD 126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007. (Source)