ADOT's $5.7B CIP Budget Cuts Highway Spending to $3.5B

Friday

Volume 4 Issue 37

Issue Date: June 28, 2013

CONNECTING THE LOCAL BUILDING INDUSTRY

ADOT’s $5.7B CIP Budget Cuts Highway Spending to $3.5B

The gavel pounded “approved” on a challenging $5.7B ADOT budget. When you take out $2.6B from Maricopa and Pima county taxpayers more improvements and projects, and $1.2B for airports, the rest of the agency had to slash more than Arizona gets a paltry $1.9B for roads. $350M from its projected budget.

In a ꢀme when maintaining the system and meeꢀng growing

economic demands screams for

the detailed subscriber-only 2013 Capital Project Issue. The subscriber- only 2014 Capital Project Issue will be published July 30). This includes

Maricopa and Pima county taxpayervoted revenue, airport and transit

spending—most of which is paid with federal grants.

By Eric JayToll for Arizona Builder’s Exchange

Legislaꢀve robbery, improved fuel

economy, and recession-caused revenue declines combined to drain capital dollars from the Arizona

Department of Transportaꢀon.
To put the current ﬁve year plan into perspecꢀve, last year ADOT projected that it would spend $5.5B for highways between ﬁscal 2013

and 2017 (AZBEX, July 31, 2012 and

State Spending Drops $2B over 5 Years

The ﬁve year capital budget covering ﬁscal 2014-2018 is a $500M drop

from last year. Combine this year’s

reducꢀon with cuts last year, and the 2014-2018 budget is $2.2B less

than the 5-year plan adopted in

2011. At the same ꢀme, the state’s

road system cries out for increases maintenance and expanded capacity at an even higher pace as the state

starts its post-recession growth.

There are capital projects planned

for Fiscal 2014 (AZBEX, June 11). ADOT plans call for $400M in statewide projects for the coming year. However, a year earlier, ADOT thought it would spend $774M in 2014 for state highway projects.

Separately, Maricopa County has

$500M and Pima, $80M, to spend in ﬁscal 2014, about the same numbers they projected in the ﬁscal 2013

budget.

C o ntinued on page 3

Project Solicitations in this Issue:

Commercial

Products & Equipment

Design/Consultant Development Opps
Horizontal Utilities

20

45

31

0
17

Maintenance

Bid Results/Awards

33

26

41

The Arizona Builder’s Exchange is a compilaꢀon of informaꢀon gathered from the public domain. Individual arꢀcles are protected by their respecꢀve copyright. The publicaꢀon as a whole is copyright protected to the Arizona Builder’s Exchange.
To forward or share the informaꢀon with others outside of your ꢁrm is a violaꢀon of that copyright, punishable by law.

Volume 4, Issue 38

2

Table of Contents

Articles

4

4567

$7.8M for Tucson Convention Center Improvements Norville, Rio Nuevo Open Talks on Building Downtown Hotel Homeowners Concerned about Germann Road Plan Casino Foes Lose Another Legal Challenge

889

Controversial Mesa Condo Project Gets 7-0 OK Mesa Bond-Election Wish List Takes Shape

10 23 48

Avondale Mayor Urges Restoration to Block Grant Funds
10 Geographic Expansion Is Key Focus for CRE Executives

11 ASU Payson Land Sale Moves Project Forward 12 Eloy Awaits Final Decision on Local FTZ 12 Prescott Economic Development Group Revs Up Economy 13 Tolleson Budget Will Fund Downtown Face-Lift 13 Pinal Public Works: It Was Like ‘Animal House’ Over There 14 Yavapai-Apache Nation Explores Dev of Detention Center 14 Ft Mohave Tribe Purchases Desert Lakes Golf Course 14 Goodyear, Mesa Subdivisions Move Towards Development 15 Payson Schools Need to Expand 15 Elrus Hires First Employees At Eloy Site, Opens Sept. 16 Work on $1.3B Tucson Rosemont Mine Could Begin In Winter 22 West Valley Hospital Projects Take Differing Paths

Sections

Project Opportunities

16 Classiﬁeds

26 Planning/Design/Inspection/Consultant 30 Horizontal 37 Utilities
17 Local Industry Professionals in the News 19 Bid Results & Project Awards 23 Local Projects Making News 25 Industry Events
40 Commercial 44 Maintenance & Alterations 47 Products & Equipment 48 AZBEX Trending Graph

Friday, June 28, 2013

3

ADOT $5.7B Budget Cuts Highways to $3.5B

Meet the Team!

Continued from page 1

To compare, there were 28 statewide projects with values over

Rebekah Morris - Publisher

Mega Blocks

$10M in 2013. In the

budget for 2014, only ﬁve highway projects

valued at more than $10M; four of those are

“preservaꢀon” projects.

480-709-4190

[email protected]

Rachel Kettenhofen - Editor

Legos

ADOT Needs New Funding Formula

480-227-2620

rkeꢂ[email protected]

Earlier this year, there

was a call to find new ways to finance capital projects (AZBEX, March 15), but the plans flailed in a legislature unable to solve criꢀcal state capital funding requirements. ADOT, and federal, highway

funding is based on taxes collected on the number of gallons sold rather than a percent of sales revenue. Fuel

conservaꢀon programs and the bad economy combined

to reduce the number of gallons purchased, undermining

revenue growth. The legislature conꢀnued its recessionera raids sweeping highway user trust fund money into the

state’s general fund to balance the budget.

Eric Jay Toll - Senior Correspondent

Lincoln Logs

602-617-3797

[email protected]

Michele Carey - General Manager

Kinex

480-686-4315

[email protected]

While the legislature breaks arms paꢁng each other on

the back for not raising taxes, voters in Maricopa and

Pima counꢀes raised their own taxes to provide for major transportaꢀon projects. Even with the locals carrying the state ﬁnancial burden, only four major projects can move forward in Pima County and 15 in Maricopa County. These projects are a few of highway improvements needed to keep the state’s transportaꢀon and transit networks meeꢀng the needs of a growing populaꢀon.

Arizona Builders Exchange 1400 E Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85014

AZBEX News

Rural Arizona Suﬀers the Most

AZBEX will not be published on

Friday July 5th.

Rural Arizona—including the burgeoning traﬃc increases in Pinal and Yavapai counꢀes—gets few projects as the State Transportaꢀon Board focuses on preserving the exisꢀng system over the next ﬁve years.

AZBEX - Tip of the Week

The Fiscal 2014-2018 Five-Year Transportaꢀon Faciliꢀes Construcꢀon Program heard hours of public and local government input over the past few months. In an

unprecedented public outreach, the board selected the

opꢀon of preservaꢀon over new construcꢀon.
We know that if a project doesn’t get funded, it will not get built. This is why why always follow the money. If we ﬁnd it relevant to potenꢀal work, we are on it!
With the limited budget and strongly compeꢀng needs, there was almost no money for needed road projects in rural areas. The state put what liꢂle discreꢀonary money it had for new construcꢀon dollars into rural counꢀes and leﬅ Maricopa and Pima on the hooks for most of their own needed highway projects. Over the next ﬁve years, $350M was cut from the budget—nearly ten percent of the total— and most of those cuts occurred in 2014.

Editor’s Picks from the Last Issue

Statewide Construcꢀon Acꢀvity Increases

••

3.2% Casa Grande City Council agrees to

study I-10 interchange as necessary for

PhoenixMart

Read the complete ﬁve year plan at ADOT

Click here to return to Table of Contents

Volume 4, Issue 38

4

$7.8M for Tucson Convention Center Improvements

Describing the exisꢀng Tucson Convenꢀon Center arena as dreary

and dingy, the Rio Nuevo board

approved a $7.8M project to revive

$7.8M forTucson Convention Center Improvements

the ‘70s-era event center. Replacing the seats, adding a video

scoreboard and acousꢀc material, replacing signage and lighꢀng, painꢀng with a new color scheme, and renovaꢀng the breezeway,

bathrooms and concession stands

are all part of the scope of work

approved by the board at Monday’s

meeꢀng. The $1.7M in new seats won’t

change the arena capacity, but they

will be more comfortable and have

cup holders.

No new bathrooms will be added, but the exisꢀng ones will get aestheꢀc upgrades.

AZBEX Note: Swaim

Associates Ltd Architects

designed the renovaꢀons.

The district has adopted

a new procurement code, and it will be a month or two before a solicitaꢀon for

GC is available.

The south wall, now block and conduit, will be covered with acousꢀc material that will look nicer

and improve sound quality. The point is to generate more

money at the convenꢀon center, which board members said has

been “blacklisted” by some event planners.

Some of the money will come from bond proceeds and some will come

from sales-tax revenue. The city is doing its part, having spent $17.5M on TCC repairs in the

past year or so, including work on carpets, sidewalks and escalators,

city general-services director Ron

Lewis told the board.

Read more at AZStarNet

Visit www.precision3dscanning.com

to learn more or request a free demonstration by calling (480) 510-1049 or

email [email protected].

2013 Mulꢀ-Family Market Forecast

Our July Breakfast Event will bring back the Mulꢀ-Family Market Forecast for a second ꢀme! Come listen to a panel of industry experts weigh on the return of the mulꢀ-family market and where it’s going in the future. Tom Simplot of the AMA will return as moderator and we are currently seꢁng up a fantasꢀc speaker line-up.

• 3d modeling in Revit, CAD, Civil 3d, SketchUp, etc.

• Scan for exisꢀng as-built condiꢀons

• 2d and 3d deliverables available • Laser scanning to BIM

SPEAKERS ••
Jack Hannum, Vice President - Transwestern

Melanie Morrison, CPM, Co-Owner - MEB

Management Services
•

More Speakers to be Announced Soon!

MODERATOR

•

Tom Simplot, President/CEO - Arizona Mulꢀhousing

Associaꢀon Phoenix City Councilman, District #4

Click here for more detail and to register

(Early-bird) Cost: $30 member. $45 Non-member, $25 Student

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

7:30am - 9:15am

Phoenix County Club
2091 N. 7th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85014

Volume 4, Issue 38

6

Developers Interested; Homeowners Concerned about Germann Road Plan

Three opꢀons were presented to property owners and future developers for improving Germann Road between back to the Germann Road alignment. The Union Paciﬁc south to Riꢂenhouse Road and then weave northwest

By Eric JayToll for Arizona Builder’s Exchange

Queen Creek and Mesa. The Corridor Improvement Plan, funded by ADOT’s Planning Assistance for Rural Areas program, covers future needs for the arterial

between Ironwood and Power roads. Development representaꢀves were interested in improvement ꢀming, but area homeowners quesꢀoned ADOT and town representaꢀves whether the proposed ﬁve lane cross secꢀon and features are really needed.
Railroad cuts through that intersecꢀon with a surface crossing. The study’s focus is on ﬁnding the right design to connect Germann Road to the west, accommodate the intersecꢀon with Sossaman, cross the Riꢂenhouse

Channel and the railroad. Four original concepts presented have been revised into

three plans for public comment. Revised Alternaꢀve A is

similar to the original Scenario A, and curves Sossaman

Road east to an at-grade intersecꢀon with a northerly curving Germann Road. Both roads conꢀnue south and east with separate ﬂyovers. The other three scenarios were dropped from consideraꢀon for the public meeꢀng.

In its June 18 story, AZBEX reported levels of service on Germann Road in the Corridor Improvement Planning

area were currently rated E and F. This was erroneous; the arꢀcle should have read that the LOS raꢀngs were forecast to drop to E and F if improvements were not in place when development occurred in the corridor. The ADOT study did not specify a date when this would occur, but esꢀmated traﬃc based on projected general plan land use paꢂerns.
The revised Alternaꢀve B liﬅs Germann Road over Sossaman, the channel and UPRR. A connector with two T intersecꢀons links Germann and Sossaman roads. The new Alternaꢀve C also liﬅs Germann Road over Sossaman, UPRR and the Riꢂenhouse Channel. The connector between the two roads takes less space, and a ramp for eastbound Germann Road traﬃc to get

to northbound Sossaman Road is part of the project.

Wilson & Company, the ﬁrm charged with preparing

ADOT’s only involvement is funding and projectmanaging the corridor plan. Queen Creek requested the study for the MCDOT-funded road. The plan does

not idenꢀfy improvement dates nor does it mean construcꢀon will be added to MCDOT CIPs. Queen Creek the alternaꢀves, cauꢀons that other concepts could be

says that some of the costs are going to be developer-

funded. ADOT will not be involved in any aspects of construcꢀon or design. The project will be a joint venture with MCDOT, Mesa and Queen Creek.

considered if future studies take place. Queen Creek has not included the improvements on its

ﬁve year transportaꢀon capital improvement plan, but town engineer Chris Dovel told AZBEX that the city could amend its plan were the need for the improvements to

come into play.

A major component of the study is the intersecꢀon of

Germann and Sossaman roads. Currently, Germann

road Ts into Sossaman, and westbound traﬃc must cut

7

Casino Foes Lose Another Legal Challenge

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out O’odham Naꢀon in 2002, personally

Tuesday’s ruling is another major

setback for foes of the casino who

have tried -- and lost -- various

By Howard Fischer for Capitol Media Services

the last vesꢀges of a challenge to a new casino in Glendale, saying it’s legally irrelevant whether the state

-- or even voters -- thought the deal

they were approving precluded it.

represented to editorial boards of

two Tucson newspapers that the gaming compact meant there would legal eﬀorts to prevent the Tohono be no addiꢀonal casinos in the

Phoenix area. Nor did Campbell get

into the issue of whether lobbyist

O’odham from building a casino on land they bought a decade ago. Campbell and federal appellate

Judge David Campbell did not dispute Joe Abate told lawmakers that the

courts have previously rejected other

contenꢀons, including that Congress,

contenꢀons by the state and two

other tribes that Edward Manuel, who was chairman of the Tohono

number of casinos in Maricopa

County at that ꢀme would be frozen. in allowing the tribe to purchase the

land, never intended to let the tribe

What Campbell did

build a casino on the property.

conclude is that it the only

thing that maꢂers is what But it is unlikely to be the last word

is in the compact itself.

in the court ﬁghts that have dragged

on for years. Gregory Mendoza,
“It does not contain a ban governor of the Gila River Indian

on new casinos in the

Phoenix area,’’ the judge
Community, called Tuesday’s ruling a “setback’’ and said an appeal is being

wrote. And Campbell said considered. there is no way to read its terms in any other way, even with all the outside evidence of what might have been what some

people understood.