Crews have broken ground on a project to add commercial truck parking at the Interstate 10 Burnt Wells Rest Area near Tonopah, and the Arizona Department of Transportation says the rest stop will stay open the whole time construction is underway. The agency expects the work to continue through summer 2027, though it cautions that the timeline could shift depending on weather and other unforeseen factors.
The announcement came Friday via a post from Arizona DOT
on X, which confirmed the project is underway at milepost 86 in Tonopah. Both the eastbound and westbound rest area parking facilities will remain open to passenger vehicles and commercial trucks throughout construction, according to the same post. ADOT is advising drivers to use extra caution entering or exiting I-10 near milepost 86, since construction vehicles and heavy equipment will be moving in and out of the active work zone.
Part of a Bigger Statewide Push
The Burnt Wells project did not come out of nowhere. ADOT developed a Statewide Truck Parking Implementation Plan in fall 2023 to address a growing shortage of parking for large commercial trucks passing through Arizona, according to azdot.gov. That plan recommends constructing a total of 842 truck parking spaces across 10 locations along the state's interstates, as reported by The Trucker.
Within that broader list, the plan specifically identifies Burnt Wells as a candidate for 103 additional spaces, per the same report. The Trucker also notes that ADOT is prioritizing three locations for the first round of additions — Burnt Wells, Meteor Crater, and a proposed new safe lot near Willcox — with that initial push backed by $32 million currently available through the National Highway Freight Program.
Other Arizona Rest Stops Have Already Seen Upgrades
Tonopah isn't the first stop on ADOT's truck-parking list to see dirt move. The agency opened a new truck parking lot at the Sunset Point Rest Area in January, part of the same statewide effort to add hundreds of commercial truck parking spaces, according to azdot.gov. ADOT also launched a separate project to boost truck parking at rest areas along Interstate 40 and Interstate 17, listed with a project cost of $18 million on the agency's project page.
For drivers who want updates as the Burnt Wells work progresses, ADOT says project information and email updates are available at azdot.gov/burntwellsparking, and the agency's bilingual project information line can be reached at 855.712.8530. With construction stretching into next summer, ADOT's core message for now is simple: the rest area stays open, but the work zone demands attention from anyone passing through milepost 86.
