BULLHEAD CITY – The Arizona Board of Transportation voted last week to transfer Highway 95 between the Laughlin Parkway bridge and Sterling Rd to the City of Bullhead City.
“We’re excited to have full control of Highway 95 in Bullhead City,” said Bullhead City Manager Toby Cotter. “It’s more than just a roadway. It is the heartbeat of Bullhead City, providing access to jobs, tourism, healthcare, economic development, housing, education, and more.”
The agreement, approved in the consent agenda, is the culmination of years of work from the City to improve the highway and gain additional control over its operation.
On April 21, 2023, City Staff and Mayor D’Amico traveled to Winslow, AZ, to make their case before the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) that Highway 95 in Bullhead City desperately needed reconstruction. Armed with a PowerPoint presentation and physical photograph printouts of heavily cracked asphalt and large potholes at various locations within the City, the City’s representatives pleaded with the board to approve funding to fix the road. The board agreed and approved nearly $30 million to repave the highway throughout Bullhead City and south through Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley.
Over the coming months, the City further negotiated with ADOT for an additional $8 million to build right turn lanes along the highway to enhance safety and to assume control of the highway upon completion of the repaving project. The City will manage the future projects to add righthand turn lanes.
“It’s been a lot of work, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last few years,” said Bullhead City Mayor Steve D’Amico. “We got it paved. We now control the highway and have the funding to add numerous right-hand turn lanes where needed. We’ll make it safer and less congested.”
Mayor D’Amico praised the City’s legislative representatives, Senator Sonny Borrelli, and Representatives Leo Biasiucci and John Gillette, for championing funding in the state’s budgetary process for repaving the roadway and adding righthand turn lanes.
Highway 95 carries between 35,000-45,000 cars daily throughout the city, providing a primary thoroughfare for motorists. The highway connects Bullhead City to other major cities, including Las Vegas, Laughlin, and Lake Havasu. It also plays a crucial role in facilitating commerce and tourism throughout the city. During peak holidays, the highway has seen traffic as high as 60,000 cars daily.
“It connects our residents to the essential services they need daily,” said Cotter. “It’s a lifeline and the most important piece of our transportation infrastructure.”
Assuming control of the highway will give the City of Bullhead City all responsibilities that previously rested with ADOT. Many other responsibilities were already being managed by the City.
“Part of our case to ADOT was that we’re already doing so much of the work,” Cotter explained. “We were already filling the cracks and potholes; we were already cleaning the trash, sweeping the streets, fixing the sidewalks, cleaning up after storms, and paying for street lighting.”
Plans are already in place to handle the additional responsibilities the city wasn’t previously managing.
Cotter stated, “We’ll maintain the highway regularly to ensure it never gets that bad again.”
The City will also draw from internal and external funding sources to upkeep and maintain the highway.
“Our grant writing team is exceptional at what they do,” Cotter stated. “We’ve secured millions of dollars in grant funding in the last year, and we’ve got our eyes on future grants for street infrastructure, as well funding from the state legislature and the Highway User Revenue Fund. We also expect help from our new Metropolitan Planning Organization for future reconstruction in 2035.”
Residents could begin to see the benefits of the City’s management of the Highway very shortly.
“Our management of the Highway now allows us to streamline business permitting,” explained Cotter. “We can move quicker to clean up homeless encampments from the culverts under the highway; we can decorate the utility boxes at the intersections, install our signage, decorate the medians, and begin to improve the overall aesthetic of our City’s primary thoroughfare. The City can also fix the timing of traffic lights as needed.”
Mayor D’Amico stated local control is important to him and the City Council.
“Most importantly, residents can now come directly to the City Council and staff with questions or concerns about Highway 95,” D’Amico said. “It is now your local street.”
