ADOT Officials Seek Ways To Keep Interstate 40 ViableMarch 6th, 2008
By Tammy Gray-Searles
While compared to many major metropolitan areas, Interstate 40 across Northern Arizona isn’t congested; forward-looking officials from the Arizona Department of Transportation are working to make sure it stays that way.
A number of current and future challenges face the I-40 corridor, including overweight freight traffic, increased population, growing amounts of goods traveling to and from California, deteriorating pavement and an aging transportation system.
Arizona’s portion of I-40 was constructed over the period of 1961 to 1984, and faces significant problems even at current traffic levels. Most of the freeway was designed for lighter loads and less traffic. As shipping via 18-wheelers increased, so did the allowable weight and the number of heavy trucks on the road. Since the roadway was not designed to handle such heavy traffic, it is sustaining significant damage at a rapid rate. The money generated from fines and fees charged to shipping companies is not enough to keep up with even the maintenance on the highway. Increased vehicle traffic from a growing population with increased mobility is also taking its toll on the roadway.
Although ADOT expends tens of millions of dollars in the Holbrook district alone each year, most of the demand on the agency’s resources comes from the Phoenix metropolitan area, leaving less funding available to deal with existing and anticipated problems along rural I-40.
Even a simple look beyond the existing challenges reveals many long-term problems to be solved. Heavy freight traffic is expected to continue increasing, especially to and from California and Mexico. Because the interstate provides easy access to both Los Angeles and the East Coast, it is a popular shipping route. Local travelers can likely attest to witnessing endless lines of semi trucks each Sunday making a rush for the West Coast in order to meet ocean freight deadlines.
Over the next 10 years, the number of freight trucks on the road could begin to cause significant problems for regular travelers. Already, exits are sometimes backed up by the large carriers, and traffic is slowed down by long lines of slow-moving trucks attempting to pass each other. Along with anticipated population increases along the I-40 corridor, ADOT is predicting congestion on the interstate if changes aren’t made now.
There is no easy or inexpensive solution, but ADOT Director Victor Mendez is looking at a number of ways to address the problem. Change, rather than expand, is the key word in most of the proffered solutions, such as changing the way goods and people are transported, changing the way resources are used, changing the way roads and other transportation infrastructure is constructed, and changing the way government agencies work together. Another key solution being considered is transforming transportation regulations, programs and practices to become more forward-looking and less reactive. Providing incentives for good long-term planning choices is also being considered.
Some solutions may come without much government involvement as American society gravitates to-ward “green” living. If current trends continue, congestion could be diminished by residents who purchase foods and goods grown or made locally rather than shipped long distances, who carpool or walk more often to reduce usage of fossil fuels, who demand smaller packaging of shipped goods, and who reduce waste and consumption. Mendez is hopeful that ADOT can “ride the green wave” to encourage some of these practices and reduce the problems the agency is facing.
State budget cuts could hamper ADOT’s ability to put future plans in place once they are created, but that is not stopping officials from looking for ways to avoid future congestion on the interstate.
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