Cactus Village Community

Rubberized Asphalt

Jul 09, 2003

In 1985, Valley citizens voted to increase sales taxes by a half-cent in order to build a long overdue freeway system. Since then, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has built 147 miles of freeways. No other metropolitan area in the United States has built more freeways during that time frame. As a result, Phoenix has one of the finest freeway systems in the nation and certainly the newest. The problem is, the freeways are paved with concrete, and high speed traffic produces a lot of noise when it travels on concrete. Phoenix, other Valley cities and ADOT have received hundreds of complaints from residents living in neighborhoods next to the freeways, even from those that are shielded by noise walls.
Fortunately, there seems to be a way to reduce some of this freeway noise. Through research, it has been found that repaving concrete freeways with rubberized asphalt can significantly reduce neighborhood noise levels and remove a lot of old tires from the environment (rubberized asphalt is a blend of shredded tires and asphalt). Rubberized asphalt also makes for a smoother driving surface for the automobile driver.

Late last year, ADOT developed a plan to pave all concrete freeways with rubberized asphalt that were next to residential areas. The total program would cost about $34 million and take three years to complete. At project completion, nearly 90 miles of freeway would be repaved.
Public reaction was overwhelmingly positive but citizens asked, ?“Why does it take three years to complete??” The City Council Transportation Subcommittee, which I am a member of, discussed the issue and developed a creative way to complete all Phoenix repaving in 18 months. The Transportation Subcommittee membership includes Councilmember Bilsten, Siebert, Lingner, and Mattox.

To achieve this, ADOT needed a city loan of $8.2 million. We suggested that staff explore some short-term borrowing to cover ADOT?’s shortfall. Staff returned with the numbers. For approximately $450,000 in interest payments we could borrow the $8.2 million for a couple of years and then be repaid by ADOT.

That was a solution that we couldn?’t ignore.
Armed with the numbers, the subcommittee recommended that the city lend ADOT the money over the next two years so that Phoenix freeways could be repaved with rubberized asphalt by the end of 2004. For most sections of freeway, that would accelerate the ADOT schedule by two years.
This is a great example of city/state cooperation to improve the quality of life in Phoenix. Although it will cost the city a fraction of the full cost to make this loan, current low interest rates make the deal a real winner. The repaving will reduce one of the biggest complaints that residents have about the freeways ?– neighborhood noise. . .☺