DALLAS - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is supporting a coalition of business leaders seeking to win voter approval for a $42 billion transportation plan over 30 years, an initiative that defies the state's current economic weakness.
To place the as yet unwritten proposal on the crowded November ballot, backers would need 153,365 signatures from registered voters by July 3.
Napolitano and others are expected to pitch the proposal as a way to relieve costly congestion on the rapidly growing state's freeways while creating jobs in a possible recession.
Business leaders working on the proposal have created an organization called Transportation & Infrastructure Moving AZ's Economy, or TIME.
The coalition is also asking the Legislature to provide $500 million in immediate funding to pay for a portion of the most urgent statewide transportation projects.
The coalition's members include regional groups such as the Metropolitan Tucson Chamber of Commerce as well as the Flagstaff Chamber. Statewide organizations such as the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Multihousing Association, and the Arizona Bankers Association are also involved. Other groups include the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and Southern Arizona Leadership Council.
"Over the past year or two, there have been transportation summits held throughout the state," said spokesman Marty Shultz, vice president of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. and chair of Vision 21 Transportation Task Force, "Different places had different needs, but one thing was clear: we need to accomplish more on transportation as soon as possible. We hope that the TIME coalition can help make that happen."
Unable to persuade lawmakers to refer the proposal to the voters, the coalition began building the organization for a costly petition drive and campaign for voter support.
Shultz said the coalition believes it needs to get the proposal on the ballot as soon as possible.
Like other growing states, Arizona is struggling to fund its transportation infrastructure, deferring new projects for maintaining existing roadways and bridges.
The proposed $42 billion outlay represents about a fourth of the $160 billion in funding needs identified by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Funding for the proposed transit plan could come from borrowing backed by impact fees on new homes, and a sales-tax increase up to 1 cent on each $1 purchase.
Several Arizona lawmakers said they doubt that voters will be willing to pay higher taxes for transportation, particularly four years after Maricopa County voters approved a 20-year, $14 billion road program for the metropolitan Phoenix area. Legislators are seeking budget cuts in the face of a $3 billion funding shortfall in the current and coming fiscal years.
In addition to roadways, the plan includes commuter rail between northern Arizona and south of Tucson with expanded light rail in the Phoenix area. Tucson would get rapid-transit buses and/or a streetcar system.
Members of the TIME coalition include the Southwest Rail Corridor Coalition, created in 2004 to further efforts of the Arizona Rail Passenger Association, and the National Association of Railroad Passengers.
The group is seeking to link the Union Pacific Railroad, freight and commercial interests, governments, and tourism-oriented businesses in an effort to promote rail transit from Los Angeles to Arizona cities and eastward toward Texas.
