Federal spending for Arizona highways and roads declined during the last funding period. The loss of money continues to be a challenge for the Arizona Department of Transportation.
ADOT infrastructure programs work in five-year plans. That means funding allocated today is locked in for upgrades and new initiatives for several years from now. In the period ending in 2013, ADOT’s federal spending dropped by 3 percent.
ADOT spokesperson Laura Douglas said although the recent drop in federal funds translates to millions of dollars, the spending loss is nothing new.
“We’ve been working through transportation funding and challenges for a few years now," she said. "And that’s really due to the economic situation being what it was, the vehicle license tax being down, the gas tax has not been raised in 20 years and really federal funding being less and less over the years.”
Douglas said ADOT prioritizes road improvements and projects and tries to include community input when making those decisions.
