Tim Hammond who lives in Kingman, tells ABC15 his drive every day along I-40 is unsafe.
Hammond wonders if they are forgotten, "You're part of Arizona but you were the forgotten part of Arizona".
"Is it one person, is it several people that have to lose their lives before they actually do something? I hate that it's coming to that but that's what it seems like," said Hammond.
Seligman Fire Department tells ABC15 there have been several pothole-related crashes just within the past few weeks.
In April, ADOT announced they were allocating $50 million to make immediate pavement repairs at 23 locations, mostly in Northern Arizona which were damaged by winter weather.
This comes weeks after ABC15's Operation Safe Roads began highlighting the public's concerns.
"I appreciate what ABC15 is doing. That's why I sent you guys an email because of what you're doing," said Hammond.
Now crews are set to begin the first of several I-40 projects on July 5, which include:
- I-40 Needle Mountain Road to Lake Havasu (mileposts 2 - 9)
- I-40 eastbound US 93 to Seligman (mileposts 72 - 123) (3 projects)
- I-40 westbound Cross Mountain to Willow Ranch (mileposts 89 - 95)
Several more projects will begin on August 21st.
- I-40 Seligman to Ash Fork (mileposts 123 - 146)
- I-40 Riordan Bridge to I-17 (mileposts 190 - 195)
- I-40 Walnut Canyon Road to Townsend-Winona (mileposts 204 - 211)
- I-40 SR 99 to Tucker Flat Wash (mileposts 242 - 249)
- I-40 Pinta to McCarrell (mileposts 319 - 331)
ABC15 is told the top two inches of pavement will be milled off and replaced. The repair could last up to five years.
As part of ADOT's five-year plan, the department is reallocating an additional $40 million toward other highway pavement repairs, including I-40 during its 2024 fiscal year.
"Now these are permanent repairs. They can include cutting out a small section of bad pavement and putting layers of new asphalt. It could be a thousand feet at a time or, on state road 260 we'll be doing 20 entire miles of highway. So, could be very small project to very large project," said Garin Groff, an ADOT spokesperson.
In addition, Governor Hobbs and the Arizona State Legislature approved $54 million for pavement repairs in rural parts of Arizona for the state budget for the next fiscal year. Although, some people believe this should all be done sooner rather than later.
"It was terrible before the winter weather. The winter weather made it worse. We're going into monsoon season... I'm afraid the 40 is going to be totally undrivable in certain sections," said Hammond.
