Arizona Department of Transportation

ADOT is proud to partner with the American Society of Civil Engineers Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) for the 2025 Transportation Conferences, June 8-11, 2025, in Glendale, Arizona, where the International Conference on Transportation and Development (ICTD 2025) will be co-locating with the International Airfield and Highway Pavements Conference (Pavements 2025). Interested in presenting your work at these conferences? Learn more about submission topics by visiting the ICTD 2025 and Pavements 2025 websites. #ICTD25: https://www.asce-ictd.org/ #Pavements25: https://lnkd.in/edqDC-Y

A new research partnership between the Arizona Department of Transportation and the state’s three public universities will help keep ADOT at the forefront of innovation, nurture a new generation of transportation professionals and support Arizona’s economy. ADOT has entered into an agreement with the newly formed Arizona Transportation Institute (AZTI) to leverage the expertise of University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University faculty and students to propose and conduct research. The ADOT Research Center administers state planning and research funding that the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation provides to state departments of transportation and subrecipients. “We’re tremendously excited to partner with talented faculty and students in a way that can improve the lives of Arizonans, support our state’s economy and promote transportation engineering as an exciting and essential career,” ADOT Director Jennifer Toth said. Through the Arizona Transportation Institute, based at the University of Arizona, faculty at the three universities will submit proposals to conduct transportation research, with the Arizona Transportation Institute encouraging collaboration among universities. This collaboration aims to foster innovative transportation technologies, planning methods and engineering approaches that can improve Arizona’s transportation system and create better communities. “Arizona will benefit tremendously from establishing this coordinated structure for the brightest minds at the three universities to optimize transportation, a huge quality-of-life issue for every resident,” said Arizona Transportation Institute Director Yao-Jan Wu, a University of Arizona professor of civil and architectural engineering and mechanics. “I’m grateful for this investment and eager for the institute to assess, develop and implement the researchers’ ideas.” University researchers have already begun work on a number of research projects requested by ADOT. For example: ?? Researchers at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University will look into the impacts of heavier and oversize vehicles on roads and bridges compared to other vehicles in terms of construction, maintenance and repair costs. ?? Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona researchers will develop Arizona-specific factors to aid ADOT’s decisions on the location and types of safety countermeasures intended to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes. ?? Arizona State University and University of Arizona researchers will explore whether landscaping and vegetation management that encourages recovery of native plants following wildfires can reduce repair and maintenance costs for roadways. To learn more about research at ADOT, please visit azdot.gov/research.

On weekdays, they serve the public working on Arizona’s highways. On weekends and when called to duty, they serve the country through the National Guard and Reserves. This double duty can be challenging for service members who also work at the Arizona Department of Transportation, but it’s something ADOT works to ease by being supportive and flexible with employees who serve in the military. That commitment was recognized this week by the Department of Defense’s Employer Support for Guard and Reserve (ESGR), which honored ADOT and two Tucson-area supervisors for supporting employee and National Guard Specialist Ariel Platt. Platt nominated Jeremy Moore and Anthony Torres for supporting his service with flexible schedules, time off for training and an appreciation for the skills he brings back to ADOT. “If I’m gone on military orders, I’m not exactly having time off. I’m training. I’m serving,” Platt said. “That understanding means a lot.” Platt nominated his supervisors for ESGR’s Patriot Award, an award supervisors can only receive through being nominated by one of their employees. According to ESGR, ADOT employees have honored nine supervisors in the past two years for their support of service members. Platt is a construction inspector who has worked at ADOT for more than two years, serving in the National Guard for 12 years. ADOT Director Jennifer Toth said the agency has actively recruited and hired military veterans because of the skills they’ve developed while serving their nation. “We believe their skills are very valuable, especially from a leadership standpoint at the agency,” Toth said. “The adjustments you have to make for the time away are well worth the leadership skills they bring to the agency.”

ADOT's Traffic Operations Center is on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It's the nerve center for our daily efforts to safely connect Arizonans and empower our state's economy. You've probably seen what we call the TOC (we sound out letters T-O-C) in news coverage or in pictures shared on ADOT's social media accounts. Operators face a massive wall covered by 40 55-inch monitors that allow them to keep an eye on traffic conditions and coordinate responses to crashes, closures and other incidents. In this episode of the On the Road With ADOT podcast, host Doug Nintzel chats with David Blue, head of ADOT's Traffic Management Group and the person who oversees the TOC. Spent a few minutes with them and you'll come away with a much better idea of how our Traffic Operations Center operates. Listen to the full episode Spotify: https://spoti.fi/40M038H Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40M03pd

ADOT's vision includes safely connecting people, but did you know we also help look out for monarch butterflies when they travel through Arizona? Our 'On the Road With ADOT' podcast recently featured Biologist Alexa Lopezlira and her work to support pollinators along state highways. She's been featured recently in an ADOT Kids blog and in a public radio interview. Spend a few minutes listening to Alexa chat with our host, Doug Nintzel, and you'll learn how ADOT helps monarch butterflies and other pollinating insects by planting milkweed and taking steps such as adjusting roadside mowing schedules. APPLE: https://apple.co/3ZZnriO SPOTIFY: https://spoti.fi/3OaSbWZ

With the I-10 Broadway Curve Project in the home stretch, On the Road With ADOT has the lowdown on upcoming milestones and finishing touches drivers will be seeing. Marcy McMacken, our communications lead on ADOT's largest construction project to date, looks toward the imminent launch of eastbound collector-distributor roads. Like the westbound collector-distributor roads that opened over the summer, these lanes allow drivers to make local connections while other drivers going farther on I-10 stay in the through lanes. Marcy also tells our host, Doug Nintzel, about the upcoming completion of a new interchange connecting I-10 and State Route 143. This will be a big improvement for drivers, including those traveling to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Listen to the episode Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4eSDoM6 Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3UnEAyM

Do you know a teen driver planning to take the road test and get their Arizona driver license? As part of Teen Driver Safety Week, we’re sharing this video, which shows teens what to expect when they take the road test, from scheduling an appointment to passing the road test and everything in between.

The Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and its Arizona Minority Business Development Agency Business Center have honored ADOT’s work with minority- and women-owned businesses. For the ninth straight year, ADOT has been inducted into the Arizona Million Dollar Circle of Excellence, established in 2012 to recognize entities spending more than $1 million annually with minority- and women-owned businesses. ADOT awarded nearly $65 million to these businesses in 2023. The honor, presented as part of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Business Diversity Summit, notes ADOT’s efforts in the area of supplier diversity. Through its DBE Supportive Services program, which is part of the Business Engagement and Compliance Office, ADOT helps small businesses get certified as disadvantaged business enterprises, enhance their ability to get work on federal-aid transportation contracts and become self-sufficient in their respective industries. ADOT provides a variety of training programs and technical assistance, along with events such as the Oct. 22 ADOT DBE & Small Business Conference in Mesa. To learn more about ADOT DBE Supportive Services, please visit azdot.gov/DBE.

Thousands of Arizonans participate each year in ADOT's Adopt a Highway volunteer program. Their stories and their impact are truly inspiring, from a small army that has a one-day litter along all 45 miles of State Route 286 in southern Arizona to the hundreds of groups that adopt highway segments as memorials to loved ones. This episode of On the Road With ADOT discusses the Adopt a Highway program. Listen: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gH6TWujN Apple: https://lnkd.in/guaQMa6d

Through his work to ensure safe travel by commercial vehicles, Officer Mike Dees with our Enforcement and Compliance Division (ECD) embodies ADOT's commitment to safely connecting people while empowering the state's economy. That's why the Arizona Trucking Association recently honored Officer Dees as its 2024 ADOT ECD Officer of the Year. Officer Dees, at right in the picture above with Doug Dwiggins, Chairman of the Arizona Trucking Association, has been with ECD since 2000. He has a well-earned reputation for relentless dedication to commercial vehicle safety and protecting Arizona's transportation infrastructure. He and other ECD officers promote safe commercial travel at the state’s ports of entry and mobile inspection stations. ECD also conducts vehicle identification inspections and investigations related to vehicle dealers, title fraud and driver license and state identification fraud. Working out of the Interstate 10 San Simon port of entry near the New Mexico line, Officer Dees is assigned to the Southern Region of the Arizona Commercial Vehicle Safety Partnership, which is made up of ECD officers and State Troopers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. During the fiscal year, ending June 30, he conducted 759 Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspections and 579 commercial vehicle traffic stops. But promoting safe commercial travel is about more than enforcement, and the honor recognized the way Officer Dees educates drivers about safety while holding them accountable for state and federal laws and regulations. It also noted his consistently impartial and friendly demeanor no matter the circumstance, winning him regular compliments from motorists, peers and supervisors. We couldn't be prouder to see Officer Dees' good work recognized by the Arizona Trucking Association.