The State Transportation Board has approved its latest Five Year Construction Program for Arizona's highway system. Officials are still dealing with a huge drop in revenue.
Last year, the Arizona Department of Transportation faced a $350 million deficit due to lower gas and vehicle license tax collections and less money from the federal government.
The revenue picture this year isn't much better, so the construction plan approved Friday continues to focus on preservation.
"We can't remain in preservation mode indefinitely," said ADOT's Laura Douglas. "We have projects on the horizon that the public (and) lawmakers want to move forward, so something does need to change in terms of transportation funding. ADOT continues to work to start that conversation with those who can help make those changes."
Douglas said those changes could include increasing the gas tax, or more money from state and federal sources.