Mazatzal not among rest areas ADOT is reopening

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is gradually reopening the rest areas it closed last fall, but Mazatzal Rest Area at the junction of Arizona highways 87 and 188 will remain closed.

ADOT reopened three rest areas along state highways Monday, removing barricades that have been in place since last fall. Sacaton (I-10), southbound Canoa Ranch (I-19) and Ehrenberg (I-10) are now open for travelers.

The northbound side of Canoa Ranch will open later this week, in addition to Meteor Crater (I-40) and San Simon (I-10), as repairs and maintenance issues are finalized. By July 31, five previously closed rest areas will again be in operations.

Four more rest areas are expected to reopen this fall.

Rest areas were temporarily closed last October as a result of the state’s budget crisis, declines in transportation revenues and a need to focus on critical wintertime safety. Those rest areas are now reopening, due to a stabilizing financial situation and through careful planning and budgeting by ADOT.

Once all nine rest areas are reopened, the total number of operational rest areas around the state will be 14. Those rest areas are: Bouse Wash (I-10), Burnt Well (I-10), Canoa Ranch (I-19), Ehrenberg (I-10), Hassayampa (US 60), Haviland (I-40), McGuireville (I-17), Meteor Crater (I-40), Painted Cliffs (I-40), San Simon (I-10), Sacaton (I-10), Sentinel (I-8), Sunset Point (I-17) and Texas Canyon (I-10).

Four additional rest areas – Mazatzal (SR 87 and 188), Mohawk (I-8), Parks (I-40) and Salt River Canyon (US 60) – will remain closed due to serious repair issues.

Each year, Arizona spends about $320,000 per rest area for maintenance, electricity and water services. Funding for these facilities comes from the State Highway Fund, which is comprised of revenue from the state fuel tax and vehicle license tax.

Rest areas are required to be funded from the same ADOT budget source as critical public safety services, like snow removal, roadway maintenance and highway crash response. This budget—ADOT’s operating budget—is the same one that also funds MVD customer service and law enforcement support. It’s a budget that is often severely constrained by a requirement to balance critical needs across the state.

Arizona is pushing for reform at the federal level to change how rest areas are funded nationally. Long-term solutions still need to be considered to keep rest areas open and operational year after year.

ADOT Director John Halikowski says states with younger infrastructure, like Arizona, need changes at the federal level to allow for partnerships to operate rest areas, or privatization. Only states with rest areas in operation before passage of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act are eligible to privatize, outsource or engage in public-private partnerships for rest areas. Arizona has none of those options, and unlike East Coast states, has long stretches of open highway, some with few driver services.

Arizona continues to work toward a program to join forces with appropriate businesses adjoining highways to designate existing establishments as state-certified rest areas. Our state also continues to work with its Congressional delegation and other states to seek changes in federal law to allow for alternative funding strategies and the flexibility to use federal highway funds to support rest areas.