The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) met with some of the Greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce representatives on Thursday, May 31 to start a communication effort to let local businesses know about what the future holds for state transportation and to look for ways to work together make the system better.

ADOT’s Public Affairs Manager Kathy Boyle informed to chamber members that the Department faces a daunting challenge; prioritizing nearly $89 billion of transportation needs over the next 25 years with only $26 billion of expected revenue.

In order to face the challenge, ADOT needs to create a transportation plan in which it is needed to include the vision of how Arizona will be by 2035.

“We have looked our revenue projections and if everything stays constant, which is the gas tax revenue that we receive and vehicle’s registrations and licensing we will get about $26 billion dollars, and the state has projected that transportation expenses could go up to $89 billion,” Boyle expressed. “So, we have got a revenue gap of $63 billion dollars that we really need help to figure out how we are to push that gap.”

She said that ADOT’s intention is to work closely with Arizona’s businesses in every town and city to find more ways to get revenue over the next years to fill the gap the department will be facing for state projects that emphasize infrastructure preservation, and modernization while addressing system expansion and travel choice needs.

“We are targeting chambers, trading associations, economic development groups and key industries throughout all this year to engage everybody in this conversation about transportation,” Boyle said. “And we are trying to change the transportation issue into one of the priorities for the communities in Arizona because we never know what kind of ideas people can bring to create additional revenue that we know we are going to need to fill this gap.”

Boyle said that she will continue visiting the rest of the cities in Arizona to promote the dialogue between businesses and ADOT; she also remarked the possibility of returning to Douglas if businesses are interested in receiving the same presentation the chamber had this time.

For more information people can visit ADOT’s web page at www.azdot.gov or get in contact with the Greater Douglas Chamber of Commerce by calling (520)364-2477.