Arizona’s highway planners just dropped a monster wish list: a tentative $9.85 billion construction program that leans hard into fixing pavement and selectively widening key corridors from rural highways to packed metro freeways.
The draft program covers fiscal years 2027–2031 and lays out which stretches would get fresh asphalt, new bridges and extra lanes. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is now asking the public to weigh in through May 22, so communities have a narrow window to argue for their favorite (or most pothole-riddled) routes.
Pavement improvements and highway expansions are the focus of ADOT's $9.85 billion Tentative Five-Year Transportation Facilities Construction Program for 2027-2031. The plan is currently available for review and public comment until May 22. MORE: https://t.co/KijKvioGnK https://t.co/37PgNFIeWJ
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) March 2, 2026
Plan at a glance
ADOT’s tentative 2027–2031 program clocks in at $9.85 billion and carves out about $4.1 billion for projects in “Greater Arizona,” meaning everywhere outside Maricopa and Pima counties. According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, that Greater Arizona slice breaks down roughly as follows:
- $2.7 billion to preserve and replace pavement and bridges
- $431 million to add new capacity
- $939 million to improve safety and efficiency on rural routes
Inside the big metro areas, Maricopa County projects are tracked in a separate $2.04 billion bucket, while Pima County is lined up for about $615 million in coordinated work.
Key projects to watch
Within Greater Arizona, the tentative plan singles out several big-ticket widenings that drivers have been grumbling about for years. Among the highlights:
- Roughly $83 million for State Route 260 east of Payson, targeting the Lion Springs segment
- About $82 million to widen U.S. 93 at Big Jim Wash between Wickenburg and Wikieup
- Roughly $86 million to widen State Route 347 south of Phoenix in Pinal County
ADOT pulls these capacity figures from its public materials and its project dashboard, which lets users hunt by highway number or project name. You can dig into the interactive map and the line-item details on ADOT’s dashboard.
Timeline and how to weigh in
The tentative program dropped on March 2, and ADOT is taking public comment through 5 p.m. on May 22, 2026. A public hearing is set for 9 a.m. on May 15 in Cameron, giving northern Arizona residents an in-person forum to sound off before the State Transportation Board makes its call.
The board is scheduled to consider the final 2027–2031 program on June 19, according to its official calendar. ADOT is collecting feedback online, by email, phone and traditional mail. For how to file comments and where to send them, see the Arizona Department of Transportation comment page and the schedule posted by the State Transportation Board.
Local context
In Maricopa County, that $2.04 billion allocation is being coordinated with the Maricopa Association of Governments and will be layered with voter-approved Proposition 479 money, which is supposed to keep freeway and major arterial projects humming for decades. The Maricopa Association of Governments outlines how the half-cent sales tax will flow into regional work that intersects with ADOT’s five-year lineup.
Down south in Pima County, ADOT’s roughly $615 million share will be worked out with the Pima Association of Governments as that agency updates revenue projections and decides what gets built when under its RTA Next planning process.
What to watch next
Over the coming months, expect MAG and PAG to refine their project lists and cost estimates, which will clarify which Maricopa and Pima County projects move from concept boards into actual design and construction windows.
The full Tentative 2027–2031 document, along with ADOT’s searchable dashboard, lays out all 217 projects in the program and the year-by-year funding breakdown. If you want to know exactly when your stretch of highway is penciled in for work, that is where to start reading the fine print.
