Arizona State and Local Government Documents Collection

Project Summary

Passing and climbing lanes provide additional lanes for vehicles to safely pass other vehicles while maintaining speeds. Implementing passing and climbing lane projects provides traffic operational and safety benefits at a cost that is far less than fully widening a highway. In an effort to enhance safety and mobility on Arizona's roadways, the Arizona Department of Transportation is currently updating the 2003 Passing and Climbing Lanes Prioritization Study. This update intends to further refine the identification and prioritization methodology previously utilized and to develop a prioritized list of candidate locations that would provide the most benefit to the traveling public.
Study Objectives

    Review previous studies and research current best practices.
    Analyze the safety and performance benefits of passing/climbing lanes constructed since the previous study.
    Develop a revised methodology and ranking criteria.
    Obtain feedback from ADOT District Engineers and other stakeholders, such as rural COGs and MPOs.
    Develop a new prioritized list of candidate passing/climbing lane projects. 
 

The Office of Highway Safety produces the annual Highway Safety Plan to serve as the implementation guide for highway safety projects throughout Arizona. The Plan also is an application for funding through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Project selection is data driven and utilizes state and national traffic safety data (e.g., crashes, fatalities, injuries, citations, etc.). Knowledge of the Arizona political, economic, and demographic environments, as well as highway safety expertise on the part of staff and other partners also are taken into account where appropriate.

Under the four areas of focus--Ready Families, Ready Programs and Schools, Ready Teachers, and Ready Communities--projected outcomes include enhancing and developing methods to provide parent education; enhancing children’s social-emotional development and literacy skills; ensuring that families have access to health care, strengthening basic early childhood education infrastructure such as licensing, subsidies and market rate while working toward improving the quality of early childhood education; supporting adequate compensation for teachers; enhanced education and training for early childhood professionals; encouraging universities and community colleges to develop articulation plans for early education coursework; and encouraging the building of capacity of communities to implement high-quality early childhood education.