This report describes a series of full-scale vehicular crash tests conducted to evaluate the impact performance of small sign supports used by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The tests were conducted and evaluated in accordance with the recommendations of NCHRP Report 230 and the 1985 AASHTO "Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals."

Bellemont is a rural, unincorporated community with a population of approximately 1,000 residents in Coconino County that has become a suburb of Flagstaff, where residents commute to work. Three roads ó Interstate 40 (I-40), Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive ó are used to access virtually all the private land north of I-40 at Bellemont. Frequent congestion from heavy truck volumes and subdivision traffic causes traffic delays and creates concern for safety and timely emergency response. The 2008 closure of the ADOT Parks Rest Area on I-40, just west of Bellemont, has also increased vehicular traffic accessing the truck stop and restaurants. Future build-out of the subdivision and potential commercial/industrial uses in the area are expected to continue to negatively affect the Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive intersection and the I-40 traffic interchange. ADOT recently prepared the I-40 Bellemont to Winona Initial Design Concept Report, which recommended long-term improvements for the intersection and traffic interchange.

Ultimately, this access management and multimodal transportation study will provide a comprehensive review of the Bellemont area transportation system and provide guidance for determining priority needs for future improvements north of I-40, including alleviating congestion and improving/managing access, and improving and evaluating multimodal access to businesses from residential areas.

Does H20 = Growth in Arizona? That is how many people view the water-growth equation -- any introduction of "new" water supplies inevitably stimulates population growth and economic activity. However, the report by Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Growth on the Coconino Plateau, offers some surprisingly contrary conclusions. Completed on behalf of Arizona Department of Water Resources and the Coconino Plateau Watershed, this document is relevant for all regions of rural Arizona. Among the findings: - Some rural areas in the West have constructed major water supply projects only to see most of their towns languish, not prosper. - New water infrastructure in growing rural counties hasn't affected the size so much as the pattern of new development. - Leapfrog sprawl into unincorporated areas has been discouraged in regions where cities and towns hold control over the distribution of new water supplies. Bottom line, water won't automatically produce population growth. But planning for water - how it is supplied and governed - does offer a useful tool for managing future growth. Moreover, it can provide some measure of protection for the environment. We believe this report has important application well beyond northern Arizona. By providing original research and analysis on the water-growth equation, this report helps resolve one of Arizona's most critical issues. As a result, public policy discussions in the future will be able to focus on the state's most important growth drivers and how they can be managed.

The purpose of this paper is to consider alternative assured water supply approaches for Superstition Vistas and to describe potential methods of providing water service to the property. Because this paper represents a cursory analysis of the study area and available supplies, the results should only be used for scoping more detailed planning efforts. The first issue examined is whether sufficient water supplies exist regionally to support projected growth including Superstition Vistas. Additionally, estimated demands for the property are presented. Finally, there a number of issues that complicate the process of acquiring supplies for an area like Superstition Vistas. This paper summarizes some of those issues.

“What about the water?” was one of the questions Morrison Institute for Public Policy asked in its 2008 study, "Megapolitan: Arizona’s Sun Corridor". That report looked at the potential growth of the Sun Corridor as Tucson and Phoenix merge into one continuous area for economic and demographic purposes.

With its brief review of the water situation in urban Arizona, "Megapolitan" left a number of questions unanswered. This report will consider questions like these in more detail in order to examine the Sun Corridor’s water future. This topic has received less sophisticated public discussion than might be expected in a desert state. Arizona’s professional water managers feel they are relatively well prepared for the future and would like to be left alone to do their job. Elected officials and economic-development professionals have sometimes avoided discussing water for fear of reinforcing a negative view of Arizona. This report seeks to contribute to this understanding, and to a more open and informed conversation about the relationship of water and future growth.

Both the effect of climate change on our future water supply and the size of the population that will need to share in that supply are uncertainties that water planners must consider when making decisions regarding our future. We have options, but we have to be sure that we use water efficiently to meet our urban, agricultural, and environmental needs. This Policy Points offers a clear, succinct overview of the status of Arizona’s water supply and what the current drought really means for water availability.