Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive budget for fiscal year 2019 includes $25.6 million for pavement treatments. These funds are in addition to $15 million the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is spending for the treatments.
Pavement treatments are chip seals, a mix of gravel or similar material with liquid asphalt, and fog seals, a diluted asphalt emulsion, which seal road surfaces against heavy use, wear and tear, and the weather.
It costs $36,000 per lane mile for chip seals and $3,000 per lane mile for a fog seal. By comparison, it costs $300,000 per lane mile to replace the asphalt, and replacing pavement is more expensive.
“Highway maintenance is very much a case of pay now or pay more later,” Dallas Hammit, ADOT state engineer and deputy director for transportation, said. “The requested funding would be used to prolong the life of pavement and reduce the need for more costly repairs later due to deterioration.”
ADOT will treat 14 percent of the state’s highway system lane miles, 3,000 lane miles, on higher-volume routes. An additional 132 stretches of highway have been identified for treatment, but lack funding.
Federal funding for preventive maintenance has been lacking. If the state doesn’t find proper funding roads will deteriorate faster, Hammit said.