Building a Quality Arizona

Statewide Transportation Framework Studies

The numbers tell us that a projected 16 million people will live in Arizona by the year 2050. It doesn’t take much to figure out that adding 10 million people to the state’s current population will mean our state roadways are going to get a lot busier, or to conclude that Arizona’s current transportation infrastructure is inadequate to handle the additional traffic that will occur when those residents try to get to where they work, live and play.

In a process known as Building a Quality Arizona, Councils of Governments (COGS) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) from around the state are working with the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Arizona State Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and the business community to talk about state infrastructure needs.

The BQAZ concept is being modeled after the successful approach that the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) followed in developing the Regional Transportation Plan, passed by voters four years ago. This process included developing a standard computer program or ‘modeling tool’ to analyze high growth areas. This modeling tool will help regional planners project travel demand across the state, so they can determine where infrastructure needs exist and what it will cost to build that infrastructure. 

A statewide “Reconnaissance Study” was conducted to determine the state’s future transportation needs and to establish an action plan for moving forward.

As a precursor to the BQAZ project, MAG embarked on an innovative approach to long-range transportation planning known as the Framework Study process. MAG initiated the following two regional framework studies:

• I-10 / Hassayampa Valley Framework Study
• Mapping Recommendations as accepted by MAG Regional Council, February 2008
• I-8 and I-10 / Hidden Valley Framework Study

The success of these projects led to an understanding throughout the Arizona COG and MPO association that this approach is immediately necessary on a statewide basis. This lead the Arizona Department of Transportation, with the COG and MPO Association and American Indian tribal communities, to embark on a similar process statewide. This process includes regional framework planning efforts which will be folded into an overall Statewide Transportation Framework.

BQAZ Home Page Reconnaissance Study I-10 Hassayampa Valley Study I-8 and I-10 Hidden Valley Study MAG Regional Transit Framework Study Northern Arizona Western Arizona Central Arizona Eastern Arizona MAG Regional Transportation Plan PAG Regional Transportation Plan Regional Framework Studies AZ Parkway