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Opinion-Editorial: ADOT, Oh, ADOT
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On Sept. 27, 2009, the Arizona Republic reported on a plan the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) will release to expand highways around the state. What ADOT hasn't told you is that if they widen the I-17 from New River to Cordes Junction, it will COST YOU $500,000,000. But the million dollar study to determine that has no construction funds attached. As one opinion stated, regarding the Arizona Republic article, "The BQAZ.gov committee has not advocated sustainable communities." And that's correct - I was on the committee. Many Arizonans will remember last year's pubic meetings held by the BQAZ.gov committee where taxpayers were asked about their transportation preferences. The article failed to state that Sally Stewart (not Sheffield) of ADOT acquired and spent 11-million dollars on the BQAZ study. The Republic article was wrong when it said they held hundreds of meetings - unless you count the strategy meetings by the consultants who were billing $100 an hour. I was there; it was dozens of "public meetings", and in Winslow, a highly paid ADOT consultant hung a 5x5 foot plastic coated map with the heading WINDSLOW. Nice spelling, but heck, we were only paying her $150/hour. The ASSUMPTION of the study is flawed: that the population will keep coming because Arizona is a one-career field state - CONSTRUCTION. (It was the failure of the construction industry in Arizona that caused lost jobs and the highway budget to lose tax revenue. ) As another one opined about the article: WHY keep building out - this shows NO vision. Sally has failed, she assumes the economy will stay the same as it was when she started gathering statistics. But the BQAZ report is not a vision for Arizonans, it is job security for the 30 consultants who burned through the 11-milion dollars in less than a year, and it is job security for Stewart, who couldn't find work anywhere else. Shouldn’t tax payers have a real say in where and how? BQAZ.gov meetings asked tax payers highly convoluted questions citing three scenarios such as: do you want to ride the rail, less cars and more horse paths? Awful! And it confused the heck out of the attendees. We really don’t know if Arizona will have 18-million people when the “new highways” are initiated. All projections are based on a construction industry driven economy. We definitely won’t have the money to pave or even acquire the right of way, or be able to afford the environmental studies required by all highway regulatons. Soon, ADOT will reveal to you that the cost of widening I-17 from New River to Cordes Junction will be $500,000,000… presumably the cost to keep us out of those rollover backups and holidays-to-Flagstaff backups. Arizona will NEVER have the money for that, but ADOT director Halikowski won’t tell you.
And in ADOT’s new 5-year plan, they will set aside $15-million for public relations firms to sing the praises of ADOT’s work. The plan and the studies were to be revealed under Governor Napolitano's government, so she could leave that as her legacy. But, whoops, she got a job with Obama. So, Halikowski (and Brewer) are stuck with 6 pounds of manure, in a five pound bag, labeled BQAZ.gov.
