PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation will conduct a public hearing Friday, May 16, 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., according to an ADOT release. It will take place 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 $12.7 billion program emphasizes improving highway pavement and bridge infrastructure throughout Greater Arizona, which encompasses areas outside of Maricopa and Pima counties,” the release stated.

“The plan would provide more than $4.47 billion for these high-priority improvements during the next five years. That includes $2.8 billion to preserve, rehabilitate and replace pavement and bridges.”

Recommendations include: 

• $455 million in pavement projects on interstates 8, 10, 17 and 40.
• $573 million 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.
• $237 million in bridge projects on interstates and $112 million on other routes.

The program provides a total of $592 million that would be used for 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, transportation officials said.

The tentative five-year program allocates $1.05 billion for projects that widen highways or improve interchanges that include:

• $137 million to widen I-10 south of Phoenix from the Gila River Bridge to Gas Line Road. 
• $110 million to widen SR 260 east of Payson (Lion Springs segment).
• $68 million to widen US 93 north of Wickenburg (Vista Royale segment).
• $50 million to widen US 93 at Big Jim Wash between Wickenburg and Wikieup.
• $66 million to replace the Colorado Bridge on I-10 at the California border, a joint project with CalTrans.
• $240 million to widen I-17 from Sunset Point to SR 69.
• $62 million for the new land port of entry road and facility in Douglas.

In Maricopa County, the tentative five-year program features $2.38 billion for projects planned in conjunction with the Maricopa Association of Governments. The funding will be supplemented with funds from Proposition 479, which voters approved in November. With the passage of Prop 479, MAG is 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,” the release stated.

The tentative five-year program also includes $135 million 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.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.