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| Transportation inArizona | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Transit type | Rapid transit,commuter rail,buses,private automobile,taxicab,bicycle,pedestrian |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | Arizona Department of Transportation |
Thetransportation system of Arizona comprises car, rail, air, bus, and bicycle transport.
Arizona passenger rail stations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Amtrak operates theSouthwest Chief,Sunset Limited, andTexas Eagle through Arizona. TwoAmtrak routes serve Arizona communities: theSouthwest Chief passes throughWinslow, Flagstaff, andKingman, while theTexas Eagle passes throughBenson, Tucson,Maricopa and Yuma. Although theTexas Eagle passes much closer to Phoenix than theSouthwest Chief does, Phoenix is linked to the Amtrak system viamotorcoach from Flagstaff.[1]
A light rail system calledValley Metro Rail opened in December 2008, connecting Phoenix with the nearby cities ofTempe andMesa, with plans for expansion in the future.[2]
The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are served by public bus transit systems. Yuma and Flagstaff have public bus systems.Greyhound Lines serves Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, and several smaller communities statewide. TheNavajo Transit System operates bus routes throughout theNavajo Nation and connects Flagstaff to the capital of the Navajo Nation,Window Rock and connections to New Mexico.[3]
Main interstate routes includeI-17, andI-19 traveling south–north,I-8,I-10, andI-40 traveling west–east, and a short stretch ofI-15 traveling southwest–northeast through the northwestern corner of the state. In the future,I-11 travel through Arizona followingUS 93, it may replaceI-19, and will terminate at the Mexican border inNogales.
Phoenix is served by a combination ofinterstates,U.S. Highways, andstate routes, many of which were funded by a ½ cent general sales tax measure approved byMaricopa County voters in 1985. Newfreeways are being added to thearea, such asLoop 101,Loop 202, and eventuallySR 24 andSR 30. Currently, two major interstates serve the area, I-10 and I-17. In the past decade, more than 100 miles (160 km) of new freeway have been constructed in thePhoenix metropolitan area by ADOT.
TheTucson metropolitan area is primarily served by I-10, I-19, andState Route 77. I-19 departs from I-10 in the southern part of Tucson, travels through southern Tucson (including an exit serving the historicMission San Xavier) and the retirement community ofGreen Valley and terminates inNogales, inSanta Cruz County, at the international border withMexico. Destination signs on I-19 havemetric distance figures in kilometers instead of standard miles. SR 77 serves North Tucson and Tucson's northern suburbs includingCasas Adobes,Catalina Foothills,Oro Valley, andCatalina. SR 77 continues northward until it terminates at theNavajo Nation in northeastern Arizona.
SR 210 (Barraza–Aviation Parkway) is a limited-access parkway built in the early 1990s to connect downtown Tucson to the southeastern portion of the city. Few new limited-access roads are in the plans in Tucson due to strong community opposition to freeways. However, a large-scale reconstruction and expansion of I-10 was supported and completed in mid-2009.
Yuma is served by I-8, whileCasa Grande served by I-8 and I-10;Flagstaff is served by I-17 and I-40.US 95 parallels theColorado River, fromLas Vegas to theMexico–United States border near Yuma.
HistoricUS 66, a major route for Midwestern emigrants prior to the advent of the interstate highway system, traversed the northern part of the state, passing through Flagstaff and Kingman. US 66 in Arizona closely followed the route of what is now I-40 except for an 88 mi (142 km) stretch betweenSeligman andKingman now known asSR 66, where the route veered to the north passing throughPeach Springs.
TheDeck Park Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel built underneathDowntown Phoenix as part of I-10. The tunnel extends from approximately North 3rd Avenue to North 3rd Street. At 2,887 feet (880 m), it ranks as the 42nd longest vehicular tunnel in the US.[citation needed] The tunnel was the last section of I-10 to be completed nationwide. There is a plaque dedicated to the commemoration of the tunnel inMargaret T. Hance Park.
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Airports with scheduled commercial flights include:Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX) in Phoenix (the largest airport and the major international airport in the state);Tucson International Airport (IATA: TUS, ICAO: KTUS) in Tucson;Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IATA: AZA, ICAO: KIWA) in Mesa;Yuma International Airport (IATA: YUM, ICAO: KYUM) in Yuma;Prescott Municipal Airport (PRC) in Prescott;Flagstaff Pulliam Airport (IATA: FLG, ICAO: KFLG) in Flagstaff, andGrand Canyon National Park Airport (GCP), a small, but busy, single-runway facility providing tourist flights, mostly from Las Vegas. Phoenix Sky Harbor is the seventh busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft movements, and regularly in the top 15 for passengers.
Other significant airports without regularly scheduled commercial flights includeScottsdale Municipal Airport (IATA: SCF, ICAO: KSDL) in Scottsdale.
In May 2006, voters in Tucson approved a Regional Transportation Plan (a comprehensive bus transit/streetcar/roadway improvement program), and its funding via a new half-cent sales tax increment. The centerpiece of the plan is a light rail streetcar system (possibly similar to thePortland Streetcar in Oregon) that will travel through the downtown area, connecting the mainUniversity of Arizona campus with the Rio Nuevo master plan area on the western edge of downtown.[4]
