A long-planned roadway upgrade and improvement project in the Navajo Nation may begin shortly with an infusion of $20 million in federal funds.
The project, stretching over a 7-mile rural span in northeastern Arizona on what is officially called the Bureau of Indian Affairs Route N-15 will see a widening of the existing roadway, as well as the building of a shoulder.
In an area of the country where wildlife and livestock roam, the project will also see the building of both cattle guards and livestock underpasses.
According to federal Department of Transportation documents, the project area has historically been prone to a “high number of lane departure, road departure, and wildlife-related crashes.”
Funding for the project is coming through the Transportation Department’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program, a massive $2.2 billion initiative designed to support transportation infrastructure projects across the country.
Of that amount, Arizona is receiving a total of nearly $61 million for five separate infrastructure projects. In a statement, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema said the funding is “reaching all corners of our state, connecting communities, improving transportation safety, and fueling a healthy economy where everyone benefits.”
The Navajo project will also see the construction of drainage structures. Notes the Transportation Department narrative: the project addresses “installing properly sized culverts.”
The route is additionally a “vital connection to provide a rural community access to employment, schools, health care facilities, government offices, residential areas, and commercial areas.”
The N-15 Route is part of complex of historic trails formerly used by indigenous people decades before the creation of highways and railroad lines.
The routes are visually distinguished by the presence of signs featuring the image of an arrowhead pointing downward, with the number of the route displayed within that image.
By Garry Boulard
