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How do we get our projects into ADOT’s Long-Range Plan?
The closer you get to local and regional government agencies, the better chance of getting
projects into the plans. The COG’s supply information to ADOT’s Transportation Planning
Division (TPD), who, in turn access FHWA. Be careful to keep ADOT’s Long-Range Plan
separate from ADOT’s 5-year Program. They are two distinct items. The plan looks out to
identify the State’s transportation needs over the next 20 years, with more detail going into
the near term and much less detail in the later years. It makes assumptions about the level of
funding needed and projected. The 5-year Program is very specific, with identified projects
that are in the budget to be built. The Program is developed with input from the COG’s and the
district engineers regarding priority project needs.
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Does the long-range plan consider funding limitations, or is it just everything people want?
The long-range plan does take financial plans into account. Nothing is included in the plan
that is not expected to be able to be funded. Note that the last 10 years of the plan have
less well defined projects and include transportation possibilities, other transit modes
(like light rail, etc.), but nothing is considered that is not financially feasible.
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Is Transit planning not getting enough attention by ADOT?
Even though the bulk of the dollars go to highway construction, there is significant attention
paid to transit planning (ADOT has 7 highway planners and 4 transit planners). Also, there will
be a special transit working team to help with the 20-year plan. A new data system called Transit
Asset Management System (TAMS) is also being developed which will be more objective about
transportation needs and decisions.
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How does the Small Area Transportation (Program) Plan work?
The ADOT Small Transportation Study (SATS) Program is
administered through ADOT-TPD. The primary objective of the SATS Program is to develop a comprehensive
transportation plan for a proposed local area or region to guide multi-modal transportation planning and
programming for a 20-year timeframe.
Through its planning process, a SATS will generally identify and address current transportation
problems for all travel modes, determine future transportation system needs, and analyze alternative
solutions. In addition, the study will develop a recommended plan of transportation improvements
and provide a staged implementation guide to meet short-, mid-, and long-range needs.
Eligible participants in the Program include towns, cities, counties and tribal governments
which would administer the SATS and conduct it in cooperation with a Technical Advisory
Committee (TAC). Depending on the area to be studied, a TAC could be comprised of representatives
from local towns, cities, counties, tribes, ADOT, FHWA, and other affected agencies.
The government or a TAC will select a consultant to undertake the study and will guide the
course of the study leading to the final report.
Public input on perceived transportation problems and issues are essential to the SATS and
is conducted at public meetings. The planning process would then culminate into a locally approved transportation plan, which could become an element in the community’s overall general plan.
Finally, ventures under the SATS Program are jointly financed with ADOT at a 50/50 cost share split.
Increased ADOT cost-sharing considerations would be given to those areas requesting an update to
an existing SATS where they can show implementation of recommendations from the first study.
Identification and implementation of transportation improvements and actions proposed in the original
SATS must be identified in the request for a SATS update.
The process is for the interested government to submit a letter of request to the COG or ADOT-TPD
with a definition of the Scope of Work and estimated cost (the COG submits the request to ADOT).
For further information, please contact Manager of Statewide and Regional Planning at (602) 712-8239.
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Why aren’t there more public meetings for transportation planning and why aren’t they closer to home?
Getting public participation at
meetings regarding individual projects is a major challenge for the planners.
They want as much public participation and input as possible and there are also tradeoffs in
terms of the expense of each meeting. For example, when they held public meetings for the SR 264
corridor study, they actually held about nine more meetings than originally planned, at a cost of
$5000 each. Only about 12-30 people showed up for each meeting. The message from the Planning
Department is this – they need your help in getting the word out and encouraging people to
participate in the process. Take note of the upcoming planning meetings around the State and please
take part. Also note that the LRP policy guidelines indicate that the document will be produced in
consultation with local and tribal governments, so your needs will be included.
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Partnering with ADOT and the tribe… can this be used toward maintenance on asphalt crack sealing?
Partnering between the tribes and ADOT is encouraged
for all transportation related issues including maintenance. Contact the district engineer to initiate further
discussion. Crack sealing of BIA owned roads is done under the BIA maintenance side of the IRR Program.
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Do tribes have LRPs (15-20 yrs.) and can ADOT access them?
Yes. ADOT receives copies of tribal
long-range transportation plans from the BIA Regional Offices once they are in finalized.
For some projects, tribes also submit LRPs directly to ADOT or ADOT can access them by contacting
the tribes individually. Also, ADOT district engineers encourage tribes to contact them of LRP
updates and efforts.
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How do ADOT and BIA interact at the interface of each other’s roads?
Each agency is responsible for
maintaining their roadway section to where it actually intersects with the other’s roadway.
ADOT district offices and the BIA Navajo Region Roads Office have worked together to try to
improve intersections of State highways and BIA routes adding turn lanes and re-striping, as
funds are available. Also, interaction takes place through memorandums of agreement, especially
where BIA roads intersect with state highways. A request to cost share for intersection improvements
is made to ADOT. Coordination is between the BIA (usually the Agency Roads Office), the ADOT
district engineer and/or local maintenance supervisor. Construction easements are obtained
for connections to the each other’s roads.
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Where does ADOT currently get their information or data about Navajo lands?
From both BIA and Navajo Nation.
The Navajo DOT can provide information.
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ADOT criteria – why is road construction only improved to the reservation boundary?
To the best of our knowledge this
question focuses on SR 77 north of Interstate 40 and the continuation of the roadway north of
the reservation boundary at N6. SR 77 ends at the reservation boundary and the state does not
have responsibility for the roadway north of the boundary.
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How can ADOT/tribes collaborate on combining funding to coordinate adjacent road projects?
Work with the respective ADOT district engineer and COG.
Also, MOAs can be used to fund jointly sponsored projects.
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How can ADOT work with tribes to establish realistic schedules to complete projects?
Partnering between the tribes and ADOT is
encouraged for all transportation related projects/issues and has been very successful when the tribes
and ADOT have worked together; e.g., the tribe doing archaeological, R/W and environmental work and
ADOT doing the construction. It is also possible to leverage ADOT funds with BIA funds to get
projects completed. An ongoing dialog between ADOT and the tribes is the key to keeping projects
visible and on track. Also, knowing the requirements to properly clear a project helps set a
realistic schedule.
Participate in the programming and the
design of the project. Participation will help the project team understand tribal issues and
processes so that realistic schedules can be developed and followed. Stay in contact with the
tribes respective Districts where projects are planned so that priorities and schedules can be
developed concurrently.
ADOT encourages tribes to get involved
with their local Council of Governments. ADOT has a good relationship with them and active tribes
are getting projected funded. Keep the lines of communication open with the District Engineer,
Maintenance Engineer, Senior Resident Engineer and the District Development Engineer.
“We are all approachable and will listen to your needs.”
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How can ADOT Maintenance and TERO’s work together, particularly on a maintenance contract?
ADOT maintenance contracts should include Tribal
Employment Rights Office (TERO) contacts if work is exclusively on Indian Reservation land.
In some cases, the maintenance contract may be over a larger area and not exclusively on Indian land.
those cases, the TERO contacts may be included in the contract documents but the method of addressing the
TERO requirements will change due to the location of the work.
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Need to develop some type of local communication chart to identify contact points at ADOT Districts, Maintenance organizations and Tribal Districts & Chapter Houses.
There are organizational charts available on the ADOT Web
page at http://www.azdot.gov/index_docs/Contact_ADOT.asp. If the chart is not available on the Internet,
contact the District office nearest the tribe for more information.
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How are tribal transportation plans coordinated with Statewide Planning?
ADOT receives copies of tribal long-range plans from
the BIA Regional Offices once they are finalized. For some projects, tribes also submit their LRPs directly to
ADOT for review and comment. ADOT can also obtain tribal LRPs by contacting the tribes individually. Also, ADOT
district engineers encourage tribes to contact them of LRP updates and efforts. The coordination process for
statewide planning is a group effort. Anyone wishing to be involved can contact the ADOT Statewide and Regional
Planning Office at (602) 712-8239. The greater the involvement, the greater the benefit.
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What type of budget funds the engineering portion of ADOT (percentage)?
ADOT is primarily funded through
the State Highway User Revenue Fund. A portion of the Department’s budget is appropriated by
the State legislature and the remaining portion is used to match federal aid funds for the
construction program. There are other programs such as the half-cent sales tax in Maricopa County
that funds specific activities performed by the department.
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What mass transit funds may be available from ADOT?
ADOT distributes “federal” transit funds
directly to tribes that have qualifying transit programs. Please see the following website for
more information: http://www.azdot.gov/PTD/index.asp.
ADOT itself does not distribute ”State” transit funds.
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Could ADOT notify tribes with current STIP?
The STIP information is available on
the ADOT website and is updated regularly.
Please see: http://tpd.azdot.gov/pps/pdf/stip/intro.pdf.
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Can ADOT provide a list to the tribes, which includes names and telephone numbers for the district engineers and local maintenance supervisors, as well as ADOT Board Members?
Contact the district offices to get the
maintenance supervisor information for your area. A list of board members can be found on the ADOT
website at http://www.azdot.gov/Board/index.asp.
The district office information is also available on the ADOT web site, please see:
http://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Districts.asp.
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Why hasn’t ADOT set up a mechanism for consulting, coordinating and funding with tribes or tribal organizations similar to that which it has with COGs?
There is a process for tribal transit plans that can access funds directly, either federal or other.
COGs look at the entire region so they can take a broader view of total transportation needs in the area. This is the same
reason ADOT does not work directly with individual towns, counties, etc.
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What is the role of the Transportation Board (is that MPO/COG)?
The board approves the agency’s policies
and they award projects. They provide council to the total agency. Board members work within their
own communities regarding funding. Please see: http://www.azdot.gov/Board/index.asp.
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What is bundling in the Project Analysis Method?
Bundling refers to the process of
grouping related individual projects within a segment of a State Highway System corridor together.
An example of a project bundle is a series of passing lanes in a highway corridor. Another example
is a highway-widening project that includes reconstruction of two bridges and construction of a bus
pullout. The projects in a bundle are evaluated as a group, not individually. The strategic
advantage is to group related project needs together to improve priority positioning and to
better coordinate corridor projects.
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How is bundling going to impact the distribution of money equitably across the state?
We have to analyze the whole highway
system. Each project bundle will compete with other bundles for funding. Combined related projects
(such as multiple passing lanes in a given corridor segment) may compete more effectively as a group.
Bundling can enable rural projects to compete more effectively as a group as well as with major
metropolitan projects, which could help the rural areas.
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Can you be more specific on bundled projects? How may tribes apply? Are there workshops for these projects? MoveAZ is not very clear.
Bundling refers to a portion of the MoveAZ
performance planning methodology relating to the grouping of projects on the State Highway System for
evaluation purposes. Workshops are now planned. We are, however, working out this process.
Needs for projects on the State Highway System should be introduced through the state highway system
planning process.
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Do MPOs-COGs decide what projects will be bundled?
ADOT requires use of performance
planning, so a representative of an MPO or COG will not be doing the bundling.
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Bundling will be a major problem if it is not coordinated with the correct sections of ADOT. Under the new asset management requirements, projects with multiple routes have to be broken out into individual projects if costs exceed $250K.
That is true, coordination is essential.
The Transportation Planning Division will be working with district engineers and will coordinate
with ADOT transportation management system managers (e.g. Safety, Bridge, Pavement). New asset
management requirements have caused some changes in accounting for projects, necessitating the
breakout into separate projects.
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Budget cuts have impacted rural highway maintenance. Safety is a critical issue. Can any project funding be utilized for safety reasons? Identify which program funds can be used.
There are several issues to consider in response to this question:
- HES has some funds available
- District Minor Program may have some funding available
- Emergencies are addressed in the best possible manner
- Accident data is required to justify the use of funds (must show cost/benefit ratio)
- Top priority is always safety
- Cost sharing assists in providing funding
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Are tribal transportation plans being utilized in the project analysis process relative to the identification of state highway improvement needs?
Tribal plans were collected by ADOT-TPD,
forwarded to the MoveAZ consulting group and reviewed at the outset of the MoveAZ effort.
On a regular ongoing basis, tribal transportation plans should be shared with the district engineers.
They will then coordinate state highway improvement needs into the ADOT programming process.
District engineers noted that they have not had much experience in getting tribal plans as input
to the process. Programming requires a long lead process, so the tribal needs/plans must be
communicated as soon as possible.
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Under pending IRR program rules, tribes will be required to have long-range transportation plans. How does ADOT plan to incorporate these tribal plans into the MoveAZ plans?
Tribal plans have been reviewed to identify improvement needs to
state highways within tribal land. A good time to improve this coordination process will be during
the next update period for the Long Range Transportation Plan. This update will start with the
completion of MoveAZ in 2004 and conclude in five years. MoveAZ project recommendations won’t appear
in the State Transportation Construction Program until about 2010, so we have some time.
Don’t underestimate the importance of using performance measures as the major criteria for selection;
it is incumbent upon rural areas to make sure we have our ducks in a row so we can compete with the
metro areas.
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Does ADOT incorporate tribal land use plans into the project selection and planning process?
This issue should be part of the
discussion for safety projects and corridor profiles studies, etc. We have been getting good
advance notice and that is important so that we can coordinate with our highway plans. Developers
are the biggest wild card; they often don’t coordinate with each other or the tribes or ADOT. It
is important that this be a three-way conversation.
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Do district engineers ask each tribe for input to the Five-Year Program?
The Yuma District Office contacts the
Cocopah Tribe monthly and the CRIT on a periodic basis to get input. In Phoenix, meetings are held
with the tribes regularly in the MAG region, especially regarding land use planning. We are
continually reinforcing the need to plan ahead. In Globe, the district office utilizes the road
committee, health services, BIA and Chairman’s’ offices. Input from the COGs is also used.
Needs are accommodated more quickly and effectively through the use of sub-programs rather than
major programs. This is a good strategy for rural areas and smaller project needs. There is
approximately $550 million to maintain and improve roadways, half of which is in sub-programs like
bridge, safety, environmental, etc. In rural areas, there is $90 -$100 million a year in major
reconstruction.
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Planning and funding are important. Why is there not a Native American on the State Transportation Board? Tribes have requested this. State highways run through our reservations, our miles and population are utilized for funding. What will it take to get a native on the board?
The Governor appoints the Transportation Board members. That is where you will need to lobby.
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Does ADOT have a leasing program to help areas with equipment needs?
ADOT does not have a program.
There may be some potential for surplus equipment acquisitions. Some follow up will be required.
Wording changes may be required to allow tribes the ability to use state contracts.
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How do you bundle corridors, segments, etc.?
Decision guidelines are as follows:
- Use $50M as a rough guide for bundling projects
- Group short widening segments together
- Bundles include necessary infrastructure replacement (interchanges, bridge replacements, etc.)
- Bundles include design items (landscaping, bike lanes, new interchange, etc.)
- Combine multiple passing/climbing lanes for a corridor even if several miles apart
- Combine projects on different roadways if they intersect in an urban area
