PHOENIX - Several rest areas may close and wait times for driver’s licenses may increase as the Arizona Department of Transportation scrambles to cope with state budget cuts and declining revenues, the agency’s director told lawmakers Monday.
“We are absorbing a lot of cuts in an era of unprecedented demand,” Victor Mendez said while briefing members of the Senate Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt Committee.
Revenue in the Highway User Revenue Fund, the primary source for highway construction and maintenance, is down 7.8 percent for the fiscal year ending in June, Mendez said. The fund includes gas taxes, driver’s license and vehicle registration fees and revenue from some smaller sources.
In addition, ADOT faces a $295 million cut for the current fiscal year as part of the Legislature’s plan to close a $1.6 billion budget deficit.
After the meeting, Mendez said ADOT may close five rest areas beginning as early as next month. He said ADOT isn’t ready to announce which rest areas would close, but he said most will be on federal highways.
Some Motor Vehicle Division offices, where residents apply for driver’s licenses and auto registrations, may close, he said, and others will see longer wait times as a hiring freeze leaves vacant positions unfilled.
The hiring freeze also may mean longer waits for commercial trucks entering Arizona at ports of entry, Mendez said.
ADOT also is cutting back on routine maintenance, such as litter removal, street sweeping and tree trimming, and may reduce preventative pavement maintenance as well, Mendez told lawmakers.
In deciding which rest stops and MVD offices to close, Mendez said the department must consider federal guidelines that restrict the number of hours truck drivers can be on the road as well as the availability of voter registration and Selective Service forms, which are offered at MVD facilities.
Rep. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, said she would like to see ADOT pursue partnerships that would allow private companies to build and maintain rest stops and charge fees to drivers who use them.
“The public has always thought that it was free, but it’s not,” Gorman said. “They’re paying for it in other taxes.”
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